We finally got a good camping trip in this summer! After a couple of weather related fails, the past week at Holland was beautiful. We headed up there on Monday and were set up at the State Park by about dinnertime, and even though it was a bit rainy, we all wanted to go to the beach if for no other reason then to put our feet into the lake. By Tuesday though, it was clear blue sunny sky, warm (water was a bit chilly but the kids didn't care) and an awesome beach day. I may have said this before but the canopy we bring to the beach makes going to the beach so much better. Just a bit of shade and we can stay for hours. The kids and I did some hiking and geocaching later on, and we even dropped in on an event at the park. From the description, there was going to be a gathering near the lighthouse to learn how to paint with watercolors, and we thought everyone could participate, adults included. Actually it was an event for little kids. Ours were maybe the oldest there. But they did paint the lighthouse in watercolor and we got to take them home. We did some shopping around downtown Holland and even went back to Dutch Village (just to the shops...not to go into the park). There is also a Delft factory just outside of town, apparently the only place outside the Netherlands where delftware can be made and called Delftware. It's not as high quality as the real Dutch stuff but worth getting a mug or ornament or something. We also went to the candle shop at Dutch Village to look at replacing our wedding candle, which neither Beth nor I can remember what happened to. We think it was ruined in a move years ago somehow. Anyway, we went ahead and bought a new one that we even like better than the original. And we caught the sunset at the beach, but I did not see a green flash. Oh yeah, we were also camping just down the lane a bit from a slightly older couple, who had a very retro looking camper that looked to Beth just like to one her family had when she was a kid. Turns out, it's not retro, it's old! She had restored it and remodeled it. They were both authors, he writes mostly westerns and has several published (like 75 of his books for sale on Amazon). I started reading one of his about the Earp brothers. We hit it off pretty well and hung out together by the campfire a couple evenings.  Friday I got up early and did a bunch of bike geocaching. We headed out later Friday afternoon, only going as far as Plainwell because Saturday was Beth's 30-year high school reunion. Friday everyone got together for a pre-reunion party at a bar/restaurant in Plainwell (terribly uncomfortable for me); we met up with Beth's friend Amy at a pizza place down the road after mingling at the bar for a while. While we were doing this we had dropped off the kids with Judy at the cottage, where they stayed overnight without us. Beth and I stayed at a motel by the airport (way too far away from the action). Ditto for the next night, the kids were with Judy while Beth and I went to the actual reunion, held in Plainwell at a conservation club. She seemed to have a good time. We stayed overnight without the kids a second night, then headed home today.