We spent Fourth of July Weekend at Lake Bella Vista celebrating with family. Festivities included tubing, the annual bags tournament, multiple rounds of birdie ball, sparklers, BBQing, boat rides and a fantastic fireworks show put on by the neighborhood association. Celebrating Independence Day at the lake is a Kladder Family tradition that gets better and more refined with every passing year thanks to my MIL Mari. We’ve all got our favorite parts about the weekend… sharing meals together around the dinner table, tubing with cousins, toasting with sister-in-laws, playing games… but no matter the answer, our favorite parts always entail spending time together.
Golf leagues and tournaments continue with current scoreboards landing my partner Jamie and I behind first place by 4 points in our division, Jeff still contending in the Men’s President Cup summer long tournament and my team won first place at the ‘Mulligan’s Island’ Women’s Outing. Natalie is also working her way through the golf season with weekly junior golf. We’re looking forward to much more golf to come over these next few months.
Last month Jeff and I checked out the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit at DeVos Place followed by dinner at the newly opened Real Seafood Co. The exhibit was a three part experience: the first was a series of displays where you could read about Van Gogh’s life story. The second was a smaller room where his artwork was manipulated into a digital display where it flowed from the ceiling to the floor in a three minute loop. You could stand amongst the cascade of light and it was pretty neat. The third was a nearly 40 minute loop where the entire, very large space would transition between Van Gogh’s art pieces and populate in sketch form or fill out color as time lapsed. It was something new and we enjoyed it!
Dinner at Real Seafood Co. was great too. It’s located right across from Reserve and DeVos Place so it made for an easy jump across the street after the exhibit. The vibe there was upscale but also casual. We honestly couldn’t put our finger on it. People where there to celebrate special occasions but at the same time we watched multiple people walk in with sneakers and gym shorts. The menu was good and included some expected seafood items like paella and some surprises like the ahi tostada starter. The service was excellent and it made for a fun date night out together.
With both of our Dads/Grandpas out of town this year for Father’s Day we were able to give all of our attention to Jeff. The kids opted for making him a special breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast (his favorite) followed by a round of golf together as a family. Jeff is the love of my life and the best father to our children… I would celebrate him every single day if he would allow me. But he hates being the center of attention so we’ll just settle for bragging about him here on the blog. We love you Jeff!
Speaking of Fathers… my older brother Jason and his wife Rachel welcomed their second baby and our very first nephew last month. Roman James Smith was born on Monday, June 20th weighing in at 10 pounds 8 ounces. Both Rachel and Roman are doing awesome and we cannot wait to meet him this weekend at his baptism in Kalamazoo.
The Dutch Mafia Camping tradition continues after year three out on Silver Lake. This year we gathered 6 families totaling 12 adults and 16 kids at Dunes Harbor Campground. Us Kladders held strong in our nylon tent surrounded by a sea of RVs and Campers. We had the best time spending time with friends around the campfire, playing games, sharing meals, fishing, riding ponies and this year we spent the afternoon at the dunes swimming in Lake Michigan watching the 4-wheel drive vehicles climb the hills - it was a riot!
We also took the kids to Michigan’s Adventure out in Muskegon for a day of fun together. We arrived at 10a when the amusement park opens and spent two hours riding the roller coasters and carnival rides. Natalie and Thomas were still a bit too short to get on some of the larger rides but we found a handful of rides throughout the park that they loved. As it turns out Thomas has the need for speed and loves roller coasters. We giggled our way through the tea cup ride, the scrambler and the one that goes in fast circles with carts that swing back and forth. Natalie loved the bumper cars and preferred the water park, which, by the way was awesome! After a lunch of burgers, tenders and fries at Coasters we changed into our bathing suits for an afternoon at the water park. The kids spent about an hour in the wave pool and we enjoyed a leisurely ride altogether in the lazy river. We all agreed our favorite part was the giant water slide that you could ride down together in groups of three. So fun! I remember going to Michigan’s Adventure when I was Natalie’s age and having a blast. I hope we made those same happy memories for our kids with our visit this summer.
It has been one fun thing after another so far this summer and we are grateful for spray on sunscreen, friends who host, wine spritzers, grandparents to do overnights and to Mother Nature for this incredible summer weather! Until next time!
