I’ve often thought that the ideal vacation would be one with other families, where the kids would collectively entertain themselves while the adults took turns relaxing and managing what I lovingly call the rabble. This fantasy seems to be widespread among our friends with kids, such that when the LaCroixs suggested a group vacation to Saugatuck, Michigan we (along with the Bohnenkims and TingCadouxs) jumped on board without hesitation.
Saugatuck is a little town on the west coast of Michigan about 3 hours drive from Chicago. We had been to Saugatuck several times before, the last time with Anne’s folks when Lukas was just 18 months old. Now Lukas is 5, he’s got a sister who’s almost 3, and parents in desperate need for a little vacation.Eight adults and seven children all under one roof for three days and two nights — it was our first (and entirely successful) experiment in communal vacations.
For Lukas and Lilly, the prospect of non-stop entertainment and two nights of sleepovers with friends was almost two good too be true. Every morning for days before our Friday departure Lukas asked us if today was the day we were finally going to “Sockersocks,” his transliteration of the unfamiliar Michigan artist colony’s name. We rented a big house with five bedrooms near enough to the beach to walk.
The inspiration for the trip was the annual Tulip festival in Holland, Michigan, about 20 minutes north of Saugatuck. Unfortunately, the spate of unseasonably warm weather in February fooled in the tulips into coming out a month ahead of schedule, so that by the time we and the festival got there there weren’t all that many tulips left. In any event, it was raining quite heavily the Saturday morning slated for the festival, so we took the kids to a Dutch-themed amusement park in Holland instead.
It rained much of the weekend, but there were always at least a few hours of sunshine, typically in the evening, to allow a trip to the lake. Anne, Ting, Antoine, Mike and the kids all went swimming, which is incredible given the water was barely 60 degrees. It hurt my feet just to stand in it.
We also spent an afternoon in quaint little Sockersocks itself, mainly to east ice cream and visit the municipal playground, though we also took a stroll along the seafront.
When we weren’t out an about, we were generally preparing and eating meals. We at all meals at the house, both to save money and to avoid what we knew would be the impossible task of having seven kids sit still in a restaurant.
After dinner the kids played while the adults cleaned up. Then it was time for a movie, story time, and, for the kids, bedtime. I’m not sure the “race down the stairs on pillows” event was officially sanctioned, but it entertained the kids for a good while. So, surprisingly, did Battleship, apparently a very popular game among the six and under crowd.
I was probably not the only one a bit worried about the prospect of any real sleeping taking place with so many kids in the same room and half in the same bed. So was Lukas, who decided he would sleep on the floor in our room. But the rest managed to at least fall asleep together, even if, later in the night, some (Lilly!) migrated to their parents’ bed.
In between their falling asleep and midnight migrations, the real relaxation of the vacation could begin, aided by a good-sized hot tub adjacent to the back deck. I was reluctant at first — not being the biggest fan of “boiling together” — but after snapping the picture I too made it into the communal tub.
Sunday morning was devoted to cleaning up, packing, and reloading the cars. Below is a photo of the group at our beach house just before pulling up stakes.
But no one was in a big hurry to get back to the city, so we drove to the nearby state park for a short hike and a final few hours of fun and frigid waters on the beach.
Even after three hours in the car for the trip back to Chicago, Lilly became suddenly irate as it dawned on her that we were back home and not at the beach house. And she still asks almost daily when we can go back to the beach, and doesn’t seem consoled when I tell her there’s a beach just down the road. I think we’re all looking forward to the next communal vacation opportunity, which I hope will come sooner rather than later.
Edit: Ting has many terrific photos and a video compilation from the trip on her blog. See the video here. Photos are here and here.
