Mackinac Island

Two weeks ago we spent a long weekend up on Mackinac Island. We had a great time... loved the place we stayed, enjoyed all the time spent outdoors, and the weather was great! One of my favorite parts was that everything was in bloom on the island -- tulips, lilacs, and the cherry & apple blossoms. It was like we got to experience Spring all over again! The sun was shining and the temperatures were slightly on the cooler side (about 70dF), which was actually perfect for all the walking we did (we must have logged several miles -- next time I'll have to remember to bring a pedometer!). We didn't worry about trying to bring our bikes with us and decided just to stick with our feet for our mode of travel. This ended up being nice since it gave Em good opportunities to take naps in her stroller and we saw a lot of the inner parts of the island, explored the roads along the upper bluffs, and marveled at many of the beautiful homes. It was also a nice time to visit since the busy/peak season hadn't yet begun, so it wasn't quite as busy walking around town and we never had to wait to get seated at one of the restaurants.

The drive up went really well, we stopped at a great park in Cadillac (Kenwood Park) to give Em time to stretch and play. It was a great little spot right on Lake Cadillac. She liked it so well that she really put up a fuss when we scooped her up to get back on the road. However, she played so hard that she fell asleep soon after getting in the car.

We made it to Mackinaw City in time for a late lunch. We picked up some sandwiches and found a park on the beach. Em enjoyed trying to "catch" one of the seagulls and running around with her water bottle. I had just put on this new cap I had gotten for the trip and she was SO excited that she could hold on to the bottle and drink all by herself! I think this was her first timing seeing a seagull. She'd point at one and then so after it, which kept her very busy.

We spent some time swinging and then headed off to the ferry...

While waiting for the ferry (we were way too early!), Emerson helped rearrange the brochures. This actually kept her busy for a good 20 minutes! Take some out, put them back, and repeat again and again.

We stayed at Mission Point Resort and loved it! Not only was it a beautiful place to stay, but there was an huge grassy area right along the lake that gave Emerson plenty of space to run (we spent a lot of time in this area just relaxing and watching Em play), the staff was SO friendly & helpful, and we had a very comfortable room with a big king size bed. The best part of our room was that it had big windows to open to catch a great lake breeze, give us a nice view of the lake, and every evening the resort Bistro had live music that we could listen to while in our room. So after a long day outside, we could completely relax and enjoy being in our room while getting Em ready for bed and winding down to sleep.

Taking time out to say cheese while eating...

(Yes, that is a baby wipe container. We ALWAYS keep an extra empty one with us when going out to eat. For some reason, it provides great entertainment for Emerson, which we discovered while on our trip to Savannah. We were so frustrated trying to keep Em occupied that we were trying everything in the diaper bag and, to our surprise, the wipe container worked! Now, she loves to open and close the top and stick things, like Cheerios or goldfish, inside and try to get them back out.)

Can you guess what Em is doing here?

This picture completely makes me laugh. There was an outdoor wicker seating arrangement set up by the gazebo and Em figured out that she could crawl in from the side. She had a ball rolling around inside.

She also loved running around the gazebo ...

I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted because I was usually trying to keep up and after Em. She loved being able to run free. She did really good staying on the sidewalks and got in the habit of waving at anyone that we passed. She also really liked watching the horses and always waved at them as well.

The drive home didn't go nearly as well... Em didn't sleep at all and really didn't want to be strapped in her car seat. I rode in the back with her the entire way and must have sang ABC's and "Emme" Had a Little Lamb about 100 times each. We were ALL very happy to be home.

Despite the long ride home, we all had a nice getaway and think we might have to make this an annual trip.