Ahhh, vacation, you were very much our friend this time around, and parting was such sweet sorrow, as was returning home to mounds of laundry and empty cupboards.  We spent five days basking in the sun (and one day of clouds) in Holland, Michigan, staying only 115 steps (the vertical kind) from the beach.  I love the sound of the waves, the sight of the sunset, and the cool breeze that comes off the lake, not to mention the feel of sand between the toes and frigid (oh so frigid!) water on the ankles.  When we visited in May my parents came with us, and this time we were joined by Jon's parents for a few days.  We grilled, we sipped wine, we walked the beach, we hunted for stones, and some of us even swam and constructed sand castles, sand pancakes, and sand hamburgers (or something of that sort).  Calvin delighted in having his grandparents to dote on him, and we delighted in a little extra adult company, plus a little extra alone time, which we filled with pretending to be able to play tennis on the condo court, which was, thankfully, rather private.  Unbelievably we actually had wonderful weather during all of our waking moments.  Though Friday was overcast the rain held off until the wee hours of the next morning when a storm swept across the lake with the violence of driving rain, blinding lightning, and a power outage that lasted just long enough to force us out to eat in order to get our morning coffee.  then the clouds cleared, leaving us with two more days as brilliantly sunny as the first.  Five days was just the right amount of time away, and while we enjoyed every minute of those days, we also enjoyed the thought of spending that next night at home in our own beds.  That did not, however, stop us from spending all of the last day soaking up the sun and lake air before heading home just before sunset on the final day.  Thankfully it's an easy drive and we have an angel of a child, who handled the whole vacation like a happy, well adjusted pro.  And now that the extra vacation laundry is done, real life is welcome to resume.