Somewhere in Mackinaw City

At the end of July, we took a small family vacation to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw-if you don't say it right, they call you a fudgie and know that you are a tourist).  This island allows no motorized vehicles, so everything is bike or buggy driven.  This is where the movie Somewhere in Time was filmed.

We stayed in Mackinaw City for two nights on the shores of Lake Huron.  (There was a bit of a problem with the hotel, so long story short, always put down that you have at least 2 kids when making a reservation).  Here are some pictures from the beach our first night:

In the morning of our first day there, we headed to the dock and caught the ferry across the island.

Our first stop was Ft. Mackinac.  They had people dressed up in authentic clothing, and gave us a pretty good history lesson on the place.  The kids even got to play some games from that era.

That afternoon, we went on our own, "self-guided" buggy tour.  After a quick lesson for Rich, we piled in the buggy, and Rich drove us around the island.  Our horses name was Bud.  The only picture that I got was the back of the horse, so I'm not including any.

We did some walking around after that and just saw what was there.  I'd love to go back again, but maybe without the kids next time.  I wanted to go into the Grand Hotel (again, Somewhere in Time), but they charged $10 a person just to walk in.

We caught a ferry back that evening.

The next day, we toured Mackinaw City.  We went to several state parks, including a light house, the old fort, and a Discovery Park.  I enjoyed that the most.  They had a zip line and climbing wall.  Rich and Aiden did both.  And, they had an actual water wheel powered saw mill.  It was very cool.

So, go when you get a chance.

The Lake

There is lots of water here in Michigan.  There is a lake with a beach about two miles from our house.  It has a great swim beach, a playground, volleyball, fishing, and a nature walk around it.  We love it and go there often.

Rich's Birthday

We FINALLY got around to celebrating Rich's birthday a couple weeks late.  Oye!  (I hope he'll forgive us).  Out here by ourselves, we just had a small celebration with our family, including Rich's favorite cake.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find the round cake pans, so we ended up with this:

The Cake

Make a Wish, Dad!

Birthday Boy

Beautiful Baby

Growing up TOO fast!

Love the smile

The Grandma Magnet