Thursday

Thursday morning we walked around and shopped downtown South Haven, of course we ended up in a chocolate shop (there's like 3 on every block)!  After our chocolate fix we walked down to see the boats up close.  The Friends-Good-Will ship or the "pirate ship" as Declan called it was really cool.  We looked into going out on it, but 4 years old is age minimum, so we enjoyed watching go out every night.  Down at the piers we feed some ducks, Conall really liked watching them.  We hit up an awesome park up on the bluff.  It was a huge wooden ship/castle...the boys loved it.  Then we walked down the to beach to play!  I can't tell you how much fun they had:)  It was so fun to watch them dig, run and splash around.  Finding sticks and "sea pods" (shells) kept them quite busy!  We had dinner on The Idler, which is a big boat in the marina that has been turned into a restaurant.  We ended our evening with a stop at Sherman's (this turned into a nightly routine).  Declan had Blue Moon and BC and I split Mackinaw Island Fudge.  Conall even got in on some of it! 

 Picking out white chocolate covered pretzels!

 On the bridge by the marina:)

 Peeking at the ducks!

 In front of the Friends-Good-Will ship.

 At the park!

 Swinging:)

 The three guys on the beach!

 Conall D!

 Making our mark in the sand.

 Trying to get a picture with mama:)

 Drawing in the sand.

Climbing the dune.

 Declan B!

 Our beach boo's!

 Dinner on the boat.

 Looking at boats:)

Sitting with mama:)

 Picking out Blue Moon ice cream!

 Mmmm...tasty:)

Just a couple bites for Conall!

Friday

Friday morning was bit chilly and drizzly so we took a short drive up to Earl's Farm to pick strawberries!  Declan LOVES strawberries and we rarely eat any of the ones we buy because he scarfs them all down first, but since we picked 13 pounds we're going to enjoy them too!  It was so fun looking for the big, red ones and putting them in the box...everyone we picked was the biggest!  Declan was very careful to put them nicely in the box as to not squish them, Conall just squished them (he even squished one all over my the shoulder of my white sweatshirt!)!  After strawberry picking we drove up to Saugatuk for lunch.  Although our food wasn't great, the name of the restaurant was!  As we were walking around it started to rain, so we ducked into a chocolate shop (surprise, surprise) before heading back to South Haven.  That evening we hit up Su Casa for dinner...so, so good!  To work off our huge, awesome dinner we walked down to the lighthouse on the south pier.  The big "pirate ship" was setting sail as we walked so the boys were entertained the whole way down:)  The two big guys hit up Sherman's while I put Conall to bed.  They split the tour, which consisted of 6 different ice creams...Mint Chocolate Chip, Blue Moon, Butter Pecan, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Fudge Mania:) 

 Finding a big one!

 "I think this would be nice to squish!"

 "Put in the box Conall!"

Getting the little ones too!

 Here's a good one!

 Dada and the little guys:)

 Yay for the name of this restaurant!

 Dada and Declan at Su Casa!

 Mama and Conall:)

 The "pirate ship" at sea!

 The two big guys:)

All of us at the lighthouse!

Saturday

It was still a bit overcast and chilly so we drove up to Holland to visit The Dutch Village.  It was pretty cheesy, but the boys had fun going down the slide and on the train.  They also got to pet some little goats and bunnies:)  Thank goodness for hand sanitizer!  Declan even tried on some wooden shoes!  We also hit up an indoor aquatic center before heading back to South Haven.  Declan had a blast in the play area and in the whirl pool.  Conall liked the little sprinklers:)  After a nap we headed out to dinner at Su Casa again, grabbed some chocolate and walked down to the beach to watch the kite surfers and boats.  The night was complete after our last stop at Sherman's for ice cream.  Declan had his new favorite Mint Chocolate Chip, I had Birthday Cake (so good) and BC had Mackinaw Island Fudge again:)  Those two are really going to miss Sherman's!

The bell tower

 Our ridiculous family picture...BC really wanted to do this and thinks it should be our Christmas card photo for this year:)

 Declan and his little wooden shoes.

 The boys in the big wooden "boats"!

 Declan manning the fire hose!

 It was bit too cold for Conall at first:)

 Nap time!

 Our boys on the boardwalk at South Beach.

 Family photo!  Check out Declan's chocolate pretzel and Conall's veggie sticks!

 Feet in the sand:)

 Dada and Conall:)

 Our last walk up from the beach, the "pirate ship" was heading out!  Thank you South Haven for a wonderful trip!

Splish, splash birthday bash!

Yesterday we celebrated Declan turning 3 and Conall's first birthday (a bit early, but a lot of fun)!  So many family and friends made the hot, hot day such a blast!  Thank goodness the pools were cool:)  We had wonderful weather, good food and splashes galore to wish our boo's happy birthdays!  Thank you so much to everyone who enjoyed the day with us!

Here's Declan and his one juice of the year:)

Pop pop cooling off Conall!

 Pizza time!

 Uncle Seamus, Conall, Declan and Dada

 Eating fruit and pizza with Grandpa Jack and Pop pop:)

 Ashley, Phil and Ciera

 Blowing out the candles, Conall wasn't too interested in this, Declan has the hang of it now!

 Digging in!  Conall wasn't too sure about the frosting or the cupcake!  Declan knows it's good stuff:)

 Milena, Lizzy, Kylie, Erin and Declan all enjoying their cupcakes!

 I think dada had too much  birthday fun, he was asleep before the little guys!

In just less than 2 weeks we'll be mama and dada to a three year old and a one year old!