This is a big part of my family history. It was built around 1904 and shared by my great-grandfather and his sibling families. The families would sign up for their time slots in the summer. It started out as a pretty basic cottage with rooms separated by curtains and nails in the studs to hang things. There was no running water and you had to use a flashlight to go tinkle. It originally was two stories with bed "rooms" and the kitchen on the first floor and solely sleeping quarters on the second floor, including a sleeping porch. Over the years it has slowly evolved into a fully insulated year-round home. About 20 years ago my grandparents raised the entire cottage to put in a basement and finished other improvements as they prepared to retire there.
This cottage is full of great memories for me. I have spent many summers there, especially as a teenager. When I was 13, I stayed longer than my parents and ran around with my second cousin - it was the year of the Dirty Dancing soundtrack!!! Ah, good times.
My grandma had a table that she used for her four kids. She has kept it through the years and brought it out for Josh to use. It's a pretty cool square table with a cut-out in the middle for a seat. Makes for a good feeding and play table.
I guess the chair also folds in such a way to close the hole and make it a complete tabletop. Josh was a little too young for us to figure that feature out though.
Josh had great fun throwing things down for us to retrieve. Especially when it would fall through the center hole down to his feet.
We were all so excited to introduce Joshua to his great-grandmother. He was a bit shy with her, but we were so glad to have them together.
Another thing we were looking forward to was giving Josh a bath in the kitchen sink. Who knows how many relatives have been washed in this little basin throughout the years. Now we can say Josh has continued the family tradition.
And boy did he LOVE IT!!!
I mean, really loved it!!
He squeeled with delight.
Do you see those poor little red dots on his torso? One thing we learned is how Josh reacts to the heat. It was quite hot our entire trip with A LOT of humidity. This poor kid would get a heat rash so fast! He got these little dots and his face would turn pretty red. Some stranger told me to "get sunblock on his face" as if I hadn't. It was just his poor reaction to the heat!
My boy!
We also took a day to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. This is a lovely place where artwork is incorporated into beautiful gardens. It was a blazing hot day, but we managed to survive.
The main exhibit currently being displayed is glass blown art by Chihuly. (You can see a couple pieces in the background of the above photo. They kinda look like taco salad shells.)
Here are some of the glass-blown pieces incorporated into this waterfall.
An amusing story to me. Shortly after arriving at the Gardens it was time to feed Josh. As we were meeting up with all our people and getting tickets squared away, I was slathering sunblock on Josh and scoping out a location that I could nurse. I noticed a little ways down at the end of the hall there were quite a few mothers and kids. They were essentially camping out eating and having down time. I told Jim I was going to head over to "mommy central" to nurse Josh. There are times when I am still adjusting to being part of this "mommy" world and I think sometimes I still feel like a foreigner - and it felt a little strange to be joining these women.
I know there is controversy surrounding nursing in public. I think this was the first time I ever wondered if I would face any opposition. But where better to nurse than near other moms who would likely "get it" (and honestly might even defend me if anyone approached me in a bad way - or at least strength in numbers would keep them away). I haven't nursed in public very often simply because Josh and I have a hard time with it. He squirms too much and pulls at the "hooter hider". But he actually did very well. I was able to find a chair that was somewhat hidden and had no problems at all. Jim joined a little later (and was the only guy at mommy central) and he fed Josh his solids. It was great!
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