Family Vaca (the UP)

I asked Joel to pick out his favorite memory of family vacation. He said that was an unfair question, because our vacation could technically be divided into 5 parts. On Wednesday afternoon we drove up to the UP. It was our first time north of Bay City in over four years of living in Michigan. We both agreed that northern Michigan is absolutely stunning. We stayed two nights at the Tucker cabin with the Harmon family. Friday we headed back towards the bridge and took the ferry to Mackinac Island. We returned to the mainland that evening and had our first, and might I say highly successful, camping experience (just one of a number of blessings that we visibly saw given to us by our Lord!). Saturday morning we drove along the lake, hitting up the various well-known towns along the way Harbor Springs, Petoskey, Bay Harbor, Charlevoix, etc... we hit up the beach in Harbor Springs (and visited the spine surgeon and his artesian springs too), and went to the waterfront festival in Petoskey. At the waterfront festival, Joel started calling around to find a  place to stay that night. Unfortunately, many places were already filled for the evening. Northern Michigan + the last days of summer = a bad time to not plan ahead. The cheapest rooms we were finding that were available were on average $300. Not our idea of fun! Just for kicks and giggles, Joel called Great Wolf Lodge. Never did we ever imagine staying there, but lo and behold... they had a handicap room available and were willing to give it to us for half price (Joel figured it's probably because it was 6pm and what were the chances of them renting it that night...). So we ended our trip with a fun-filled day at their indoor waterpark. :)

Both Joel and I decided that we were hugely blessed this vacation. We are so thankful that God gave us such wonderful memories and experiences with our little family, our friends and the many places we traveled!

Our favorite memory of the UP (part 1)... Joel enjoyed playing football, volleyball, four-wheeling, etc and we both loved watching Liam and Aiden interact (and be loved) by the Harmon's as if we were a part of their family.

 Aiden holding onto some of his favorite things as we head the long (6hr) trek up north

 the bridge

 view from our cabin

 smiley, happy boys... even in the morning :)

 out fishing...

 how big was that fish you caught?!

enjoying wildlife

 Aiden probably got at least 4 people to push him on the swing...

finding seashells...

Doug skipped 4-wheeling with the boys and instead asked Liam to join him for a canoe ride...

and then they counted their seashells they found afterwards :)

this guy finally decided to enter the water when the sun started setting. Since the day was only in the low 70's, imagine how cold the water was...

so after he finally got out, Ben warmed up his shivering little body

We decided it would be wise to test Liam out in the tent before we were actually really roughing it. Just in case.

Sarah told Doug not to eat a cucumber. Just for fun spite, he ate it whole.

And of course a day with the Harmon's wouldn't be complete without some type of board game...