Onekama 2012: Part 1

This summer we headed back up to the Michigan coast. Vacationing with children in the same spot where I vacationed as a child is a juxtaposition of experiences and memories. My childhood memories are of endless reading around the fire, on the beach, in the car. I remember jigsaw puzzles and fiercely competitive games of Aggravation and gin rummy. We sailed in Portage Lake or body surfed the waves of Lake Michigan during the day, catching toads in the woods along the trail to the water.


As the girls have grown over the past four summers from infants, to babies, to toddlers and now preschoolers, our time in Michigan has become less about grabbing a walk on the beach between naps and piece by piece, year by year, starting to resemble the vacations of my youth. The girls got out puzzles and board games in the cottage. For the first time, they slept in the big kid beds (notably, the same bed because they both wanted a view down the stairs to my bed), they remembered the joy of s'mores on the beach. While I valued the cottage as an unplugged place without TV or phones, the girls still managed to finagle screen time with the help of iPhones and iPads.

Lucy loved the backpack carrier so much, she was ready to carry herself. 

Remembering the days when they slept cross-ways in their shared crib. Now they are long limbed and joined by so many stuffed animals and pillows and blankets!

The shower house from the cottage steps.

For all the familiarity to my cherished childhood vacations, Brian and the girls have made the experience to the their own. Berry picking is now a part of the new traditions - complete with Brian's baking of fresh pies. Yum!

Sage berry picking - without a shirt because blueberries and white shirts are not a good combination...

Lucy blueberry picking

Our favorite U-pick berry farm.

Another fresh blueberry pie masterpiece by Brian.

Constant through the years is the continued exploration of this beautiful part of the country and finding its unexpected pleasures.  

The trains at the Elberta playground and Farmers Market. We played here while waiting to visit with my college friend, Emily Votruba, who now lives in Elberta. 

One of our few opportunities to use our umbrellas this dry summer! At our friend Jennifer Worthington's favorite spot.

Sage flies down the slide in Onekama park

Lucy-Pink-Monster-Hair on the slide

I assume we won't come back every summer of the girls' youth, but I anticipate we'll be back again next summer. Onekama is beloved. It is known. It is a place to build memories.