78 Michigan Parks: Lake Hudson Recreation Area #77

After a pleasant first park visit, Lake Hudson was a little underwhelming. It was surrounded by farmland, instead of forest, and the signage left something to be desired.

The twins checking out other dark sky preserves in our adopted state.

The third side of this informational sign had a map of the park, so we were able to locate the picnic and beach area. The park redeemed itself a bit when the twins found the sandy beach!

Felt nerdy and took a picture of the "blood leaf**" looking plants.

Since we brought no tools or toys, the girls got creative when it came to building their sandcastle.  This green leafy seaweed made a decent sponge, and allowed them to bring water to their structure.

It was an absolutely beautiful day to visit the beach, and since we were there so early, only one other family was visiting during our time there!

The finished product!

Zoom in to the stick and rock adornments.

At around noon we started our trip to the dentist.  The girls took turns on this trip being the navigator with my phone, and both did an excellent job!

We were quite early, but they had Zootopia playing in the waiting area, so it made the wait go faster, and Juliet's appointment was also surprisingly quick, considering they did a couple of fillings and reattached her crown!!!

As always, it's really nice to have goals when it comes to exploring this 'new' state, and the parks today were a pleasant adventure to help offset the drive to the dentist.

later days

**A fallout 76 reference.

If you want to see all the ones we've visited so far, here are the links to the posts:

Tahquamenon Falls #15
Keith J Charters #33
Silver Lake State Park #49
Muskegon State Park #50*
Newaygo State Park #51
PJ Hoffmaster State Park #52
Grand Haven State Park #53
Ionia State Park #54
Sleepy Hollow State Park #55
Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area #56
Seven Lakes State Park #58
Holly Recreation Area #59
Algonac #60
Holland State Park #61
Island Park State Recreation Area #63b
Highland Recreation Area #64b
Pontiac Lake Recreation Area #65
Dodge #4 State Park #66a
Bald Moutain State Recreation Area #66b
Fort Custer Recreation Area #69
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Pickney State Recreation Area #70b
WJ Hays State Park #71

Belle Isle Park #72
Van Buren State Park #73
Sterling State Park #78

78 Michigan Parks: WJ Hays State Park #71

Last week Juliet lost a crown on one of her molars!  Thankfully she wasn't in pain, and we were able to get her into the dentist in just under a week.

Her appointment wasn't until 2:15pm, so we opted to do our adventure before her appointment!

Alice, Emily and William were still in school, so it was just me, Grace, and Juliet!

When we first arrived, we found two turtles who let us get super close!  It was still quite chilly, so they may not have been quite awake just yet.  Both of them looked like they were nesting , so we gave them a wide berth!

The playground did not disappoint at this park!

Both of the girls loved the ship!

Juliet either tossing Grace or rescuing her...

rearview!

Juliet helped Grace spray her hair the night before.  It was pretty vibrant at the start of the day!

At first glance, it looked like someone had spilled giant candy corns at the bottom of the slide!

This bird was being assaulted by one of the red winged black birds!  I don't know what the argument was, but he eventually moved far enough away that the other bird left him alone.

As the day progressed, Grace's skin and shirt became more and more green, and her hair less and less green. lol.

We drove over to the beach area once the girls were finished with the playground.  The ice cream shop wasn't open at 1015 on a Tuesday morning, weird, I know!

If you look carefully, you can see a flock of geese running around!

I dipped my toes in, but that water was cold!!!  Beautifully clear though.

My footprint near a goose footprint trail.

Juliet's cute little shell!

Can you spot it from far away?

Grace found the rock and said it looked like a twilight, and Juliet found a heart leaf.

These flowers were tiny! But they were oh so cute!

The sign that we found was on the opposite side of the road on a small pull off.  We stopped to grab a picture, but it was a tricky spot to pull over and pull back on to the road!  I'm glad it was a slow time of day.

As we were heading for park number two, we saw the traditional sign, as seen at the start of this post.  Sadly, it was at the t-intersection of two busy roads, so we had to park and walk, but it did allow me to snap a picture of this cool locale to show Billy!

This park was really fun, and we were sad to leave, but didn't want to miss out on a second park before it was time to go to the dentist.

later days

If you want to see all the ones we've visited so far, here are the links to the posts:

Tahquamenon Falls #15
Keith J Charters #33
Silver Lake State Park #49
Muskegon State Park #50*
Newaygo State Park #51
PJ Hoffmaster State Park #52
Grand Haven State Park #53
Ionia State Park #54
Sleepy Hollow State Park #55
Metamora-Hadley Recreation Area #56
Seven Lakes State Park #58
Holly Recreation Area #59

Algonac #60
Holland State Park #61

Island Park State Recreation Area #63b
Highland Recreation Area #64b

Pontiac Lake Recreation Area #65
Dodge #4 State Park #66a
Bald Moutain State Recreation Area #66b

Fort Custer Recreation Area #69
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Pickney State Recreation Area #70b
Belle Isle Park #72
Van Buren State Park #73
Sterling State Park #78

Alice Spring Band Concert

The night following her awards night, Alice played her spring concert.  Sadly, it was her final concert, as she will no longer be a part of the band. = (

After the concert, Alice and Grace were the only two who stayed for the awards.  Grace had time to decorate the table with her candy.

She did win an award because her band earned a I in the equivalent of UIL rankings.

Night two of her wardrobe standing out.  She sported a very "vintage" smocked dress.  At least she didn't have duct taped shoes.

I'm super sad that Alice will not be in band next year, but she is not, and has grand plans!  Emily will be in band, so at least it's not an absence for yours truly.

A smile at the end of a long night was a win, and next year Alice will do other great things, even when not in band.

later days

edit 6-6-25: backdated for continuity.