A Little Ohio & A Little Michigan

We survived our first camping experience by ourselves. Was it easy? Not even close. Were there times where we thought about packing up and going home? Probably.

Most importantly we had some fun!

Before we left Milan, OH we stopped at Thomas Edison’s birthplace. For some reason it was just cool to tell the boys that the guy who came up with the light bulb used to live here.

From Milan we drove to East Harbor State park and got our feet wet in Lake Erie. We thought about swimming but the beach was crowded and it was chilly out.

This was the boys first time seeing a great lake. Shannon and I were soaking in the moment. The boys had spotted a playground across the street and were done with Lake Erie in less than two minutes. We spent a couple minutes at Lake Erie and about 30 minutes on the playground! That would be the life of young boys summed up in one sentence.

After lunch we hit the road again. Destination Pure Michigan!!

We arrived at Van Buren State Park, where we would be staying for the next two days, around 6:30 pm. It was a good four hour drive from Port Clinton, OH. Today we drove through Ohio, Indiana (for about 20 minutes) and Michigan.

Our campsite at Van Buren had plenty of room for the boys to do their thing.

Things started out so well. The boys were playing, Shannon was getting dinner ready and I was setting up the tent.

Did I mention our three boys are all 4 years and under?

To say that evening was a trying time would be quite an understatement. It wasn’t all that hot out but our campsite had plentiful afternoon/evening sun. The boys were tired. So were we. Let’s just say it was a good learning experience.

The next day we got to lay eyes on Lake Michigan for the first time. She did not disappoint! Or he. I’m not really sure. The water was clear and filled with rocks of seemingly all colors. We saw red, orange, green, white and black. We kept some as souvenirs. We are letting the boys take home one rock from each of the Great Lakes.

In the evening we went to see the lighthouse at South Haven, MI. It’s a very neat harbor town on the coast of Lake Michigan.

We found a neat playground called Kid’s Corner right on the lake as well. You will probably notice a playground trend on this blog.

Two words.

Free entertainment!

Unless you’re on the gulf shore, you don’t get to see many sunsets over a horizon of water on the east coast. What a sight!

The following day was moving day for us.

Woke up just before 8. Took down the tent and packed up our things. Three and half hours later we were on the road.

How could it possibly take three and a half hours, you might ask?

Did I mention we have three boys 4 years and under?! We also didn’t prepare well enough the night before.

So, what did we learn from our first few days and nights of camping?

• The boys don’t like being out in the heat (unless they are in the water)
• We had to ask “Where is the (fill in the blank)?” way too many times

We are off to learn from our experiences and headed to Muskegon State Park.