Mackinac Island

One of my favorite places growing up, and still to this day is Mackinac Island. I'm starting this post with a brief geography lesson for my non-Michigander friends. Michigan consists of an upper and lower peninsula. (I am learning that people out west don't know this.) The LP (shaped like a mitten) is where I grew up. There is a bridge that divides the two peninsulas called the Mackinac Bridge. It is 5 miles long, and runs between Mackinac City (LP) and St. Ignace (UP). It is beautiful! It also divides Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. And in the middle of Lake Huron, between the 2 peninsulas, is Mackinac Island!

Taken from the ferry, on our way to the island

We came in on one of these ferrys

I girl that I cheered with in High School worked in the front lobby of our hotel. Megan Frost. Crazy!

My mom booked us a really nice suite. It had a great view of the harbor.

So good that I had to wake everyone up to see the sunrise

There are no vehicles on the island, just bikes, horses and buggies. While the smell gets a little old, it's fun to experience. We could hear the clicking of their hooves from our hotel room.

Jeremy biked the 9 miles with us around the island on our bicycle built for two. :)

Skipping rocks

I can't believe I didn't take pictures of any fudge shops. There are over a dozen on the island and we took advantage of the free samples that they all offer. Kyle bragged as we were leaving that he was sure he had eaten a whole slice just in samples. We made sure to bring some back for my in-laws after bragging to them about it the week before.

This is the fort on Mackinac island, originally built by the British

They had real artifacts from the war. Things like that are always fascinating to me.

This room looked identical to this picture taken back in the day (Kyle definitely made fun of me for taking a picture of a picture)

Last but not least, because it was actually one of my favorite parts of the trip, was hanging out in the hotel's game room. Kyle and I started with Battleship and Sorry before everyone joined us. My dad and brother played several games of pool while the three of us played exactly 21 games of Uno. We started with the best of 5 until the competitiveness in me came out when I started losing and I suggested best of 10.

Excuse my dad's unique picture taking skills

I think every hotel should have a game room!

Such a fun week that we'd been looking forward to all year. I'm a little sad it's over, but I'm already planning what to do next year. We're thinking a road trip and want to bring Kyle's parents with us. Help me entice them! :)

Camping

The Sunday before we left for Ludington we had our grandmas over for a bbq to celebrate Kyle, Mitch, and Bernie's birthdays. Watching Gracie eat her corn was priceless.

Setting up camp

Skyler was trying really hard to wait patiently for Kyle to be done so he could play with her. She LOVES her Uncle Kyle.

It was pretty hot in the tent so Steph tried letting Gracie nap outside.

Needless to say, it didn't really work.

Our campsite is the one you can see under the slide.

Skyler spent most of her time on the playground and often brought her buddy along.

Skyler and I had fun burying Kyle in the sand

Once we returned home from camping we unpacked, did laundry, repacked, and headed out the next morning for Mackinac Island. More pictures to come!

LAKE MICHIGAN!

I did it. Kyle and I have been together for almost 3 years and it wasn't until last week that I finally brought him to Lake Michigan. Every other time we had been home it was too cold. I flew in a few days before him to do eyelash extensions and attend my cousin Brianne's baby shower. He arrived on Saturday and we took off Monday for 4 days of camping in Ludington, my family's favorite spot. We had a nice campsite not too far from the state park. The weather could have been better, but also could have been worse. We were able to spend at least an hour each day on the beach, and with the wind the way it was, that was enough for me. My brother-in-law couldn't make it because of work which was a bummer, but we still had lots of fun. It was pretty comical to see how fast the girls were able to cover themselves in dirt each morning, but also a little scary because once in a while Gracie liked to taste the rocks she found. Our site was right next to a sandy playground and I think our actual site had more sand than grass. We went to the beach a couple different nights to watch the sunset. Here is a video of Kyle touching the lake for the first time.

Gracie showed a little more excitement.

And so did Steph....

Pictures to come once I figure out how to upload them on our new camera...

Kick the can

I spent an hour a couple weeks ago on this same post only to have it deleted when my computer did something weird. So annoying! The pictures aren't the best quality because they're on my phone (again) but hopefully this is the last time because Kyle surprised me with a new camera last week! This may be a shorter version than the original post as I have lots of catching up to do after our recent vaca.

This illustrates another typical day with the fam. Kyle and our nieces and nephews began a game of war, and I loved how seriously the boys took it. Even the little ones!

The girls are never afraid to join in, but this day they had something else on their agenda. Picking and replanting acorns.

I'm not sure who "won" but when the war was over, Kyle taught them all how to play kick the can. Brought back memories for me of my cousins and sister and I playing in my parents driveway.

The "can" was a ball. Made for a slightly dangerous game. I eventually joined in and could barely beat the kids to the ball. I blame the altitude....

And this is what Maddox looked like soon after we all came inside: