Fun "Firsts" in South Haven

Ahhhhhh! What a wonderful couple days! We are so glad we squeezed this little side trip into out travels. The weather has been so great. It rained last night, but that was already after munchkin was asleep, so Aaron and I were just chilling in the room. Sorry to all of you who got a gazillion blog update emails from my post lat night. The internet connection here is archaic and I kept getting errors from the site. But I guess everything was posting after all and all my attempts to "fix" it only resulted in bombarding you. Oops!

We arrived yesterday and couldn't check into the hotel until 3:00 so we just strolled around town and had lunch. Aaron enjoyed reminiscing about his days living in South Haven, I enjoyed the quaint little shops, and Clara enjoyed everything! It is just so fun watching her learn about and explore her world. After checking in we headed to the beach. It was Clara's first time to one and she loved the "pool" as she kept calling it. So cute! Hey, really, isn't a lake just a big pool in the sand? :) Lake Michigan is so beautiful! It was a little cold, but we quickly acclimated. Clara was laughing and loving the waves when they hit us. She would exclaim "Weeeeeee!" when they crashed into us. Our swim lessons really prepared her well because she wasn't bothered at all when the water splashed in her face. The sand was another story, however! When we first sat down in the wet sand to dig and play she kept holding her feet in the air and wouldn't touch it with her hands. My little sensory girl! But, it didn't take long and she was grabbing handfuls and bringing them to Daddy to share in the fun.

This morning we had planned to go back to the beach, but it was a bit cool, so we improvised and hit the park instead. We all had a lot of fun exploring the great playground, swinging, sliding, and climbing. Back to the hotel for nap time, then we headed back out for some shopping and exploring. We stocked on some much needed essentials such as toys, clothes, and a new purse for mommy! We had dinner at our favorite South Haven establishment, Clementine's. Aaron and I absolutely love their fried zucchini, and it turns out so does Clara! Actually, she liked the dill dip it comes with even more. She was eating the dip with her fork like it was soup and saying "mmmm" after nearly every bite! And Clara had her first restaurant "kids meal". Until now, we've always given her part of whatever Aaron or I were eating. But tonight, we decided to get her her own dinner. She enjoyed a gourmet grilled cheese and apple slices. She may have filled up on dip, because she didn't eat much!

After dinner we treated ourselves to ice cream! You got it, Clara's first ice cream cone! We were certain that thing was gonna fly and hit the pavement the way Clara was swinging it around as she walked. She managed to keep a death grip on it and get good and sticky! We opted for vanilla because I just couldn't bring myself to let her cover herself in chocolate. I'll need to get over that, I know!

We head to Detroit tomorrow. I know Grandma, Papa, and Auntie Keri are anxious and excited to get their hands on munchkin. And Aaron and I are going to let them dote over her while we enjoy some date nights! Looking forward to the party Saturday and hope to see many of you there!

Enjoy the slideshow of the rest of our South Haven pics! xoxoxox