Traverse City!

We spent a week in Traverse City with our friends Lourdes and Jonathan and their children Mae and Ian. It was such a nice, needed break, especially for Joe who had been working a ton.  We stayed in a house on a lake that was great for relaxing, canoeing and sitting around a camp fire.  It was also only 10 minutes from Traverse City proper where there were nice beaches, parks and restaurants.  One day we took a day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes.  Of course, we should have done a bit more research before we went.  I assumed it was a beach with dunes that you could climb if you wanted to.  I envisioned myself hanging on the beach with the girls while Finn and Dad tackled the dunes.  Instead there was a "Dune Climb," which from the parking lot looked like one big dune.  I was a bit worried about our ability to tackle this challenge, but Joe and I strapped the girls into their baby bjorns and started climbing with Finny holding our hands.  Well we got to the top a little winded, but thinking that wasn't so bad after all.  Except once we got to the top, there was another dune.  Okay, we can handle one more dune so up we climb.  During this second climb, Finn was a bit more vocal about how he was tired and was getting sand in his eyes.  Well we get to the top of the second dune only to see a sign that said we'd climbed .75 miles and had 1.2 miles to go.  At that point, we turned around.  There was NO WAY that Finn was going to make it another 1.2 miles. And even if he did, there was NO WAY he would walk 2 miles back.  So we will tackle the dunes another time, when the kids are a bit bigger.  Our last day there, we took a more reasonable day trip to Old Mission Peninsula.  We hung out on a very nice beach during the morning and then had a nice lunch at a brewery.  That was a bit more our speed for now.

It is AMAZING how much stuff you need for a week long trip.    

Finn is thankful he's not strapped to the roof for our 5.5 hour drive.

We finally made it and the kids were psyched to get out and play!

Finn on our little pier with his bubble wand.

The first time I had bathed all three of them together.  They had a blast!

Finn's favorite part of our house was the canoe and the paddle boat.

Jonathan affectionately named that little island that Joe and Finn were canoeing towards "bird shit island."

The goggles went over HUGE!  The kid wouldn't take them off!

Jonathan helping Finn roast his first marshmallow.  It was supposed to be for smores, but Finn preferred just to eat the chocolate.  He thought the marshmallow was a bit too messy.  That's crazy talk!

One day while the girls were taking their morning nap, the rest of the crew took a trip to the Traverse City Children's Museum.

Another afternoon, Joe stayed home with the girls while they napped and the rest of us checked out a local park.  It was shaped like a train, so Finn was into it.

Our trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes.

Finn was much happier rolling down the dune than he was climbing it!

Our last day adventure to Old Mission Peninsula started out by checking out the lighthouse.

And then we were off to the beach.

 

Mae and Finn saying goodbye.  They were inseparable during our vacation!  Mae taught him all sorts of fun things like playing princesses and making money in the "money closet."  Hopefully I don't look back on this vacation as what sparked Finn's criminal career in counterfeiting.