P.J. Hoffmaster State Park

Several people have recommended P.J. Hoffmaster State Park just a little north of Grand Haven for a good family outing.  So we decided to check it out as a family.  Before we left Russ did some work at the seminary while I did the taxi thing for cello and violin lessons and got a few things done at home in the morning.  We then took off  around 11:30 for the State Park.    The Park has a nature/visitor center that includes a gallery explaining the history and formation of the sand dunes, as well as all the wild life and plants that live in this ecosystem.  In another room they had several aquariums of live animals:  turtles, fish, snakes, etc.  We even got to watch a snake eat a frog!  If you look closely you can just see the end of the frog legs going into the snakes mouth!

After visiting the nature center we walked a trail and up several steps to the top of a back dune (as opposed to a fore dune).  This is where the following pictures were taken.

We then got back in the car to drive to the beach area.  We first ate a picnic lunch in the picnic area up by the parking lot.  Then we changed into our beach gear and spent a few hours enjoying Lake Michigan.  After spending time in the water we decided to climb a huge dune.  I decided that going up steps to climb a dune was much easier than climbing sand to get to the top of a dune.  It was much more fun coming down, but the view at the top was well worth the climb.  We are very much enjoying  Michigan's natural beauty.

At the top of the dune

 

 

 

 

 

As a side note, I know I mentioned this to some family, but maybe not all.  Russ was offered a job by Dr. Murray at the seminary to be his research assistant for one of his OT classes for the rest of the summer.    We are grateful for God's provision in providing work for Russ (especially work that he loves to do!)