Vacation

Well, things are finally starting to slow down enough for me to be able to write about vacation. We had a GREAT time, this was our first real family vacation. We left on Saturday and went to Mt. Pleasant, we stayed there for 2 days/nights with Doug's sister, Debbie.. free lodging, free food, free babysitting.... The Inn also has a pool, so the kids were happy. We then took off Monday morning and headed North to WhitefishPoint... where we went to the Shipwreck museum, the kids LOVED it, we also toured the lighthouse, which is still a working lighthouse.. and then we walked out to the beach where the kids walked around in Lake Superior... yes, it was cold. After that, we then when back into Paradise to find our Lower Falls state park campground.. where we made camp , The grounds where nice, when it finally got quiet, you could hear the lower falls all night... Doug got up once to use the bathroom, he thought it would be a piece of cake getting there and back , since they were lit up... what he didnt' think about was the campsites weren't,... the only reason he found our campsite was from the anti theft red blinking light in the Jeep... He woke me up after I had just Finally gotten to sleep,.. I was sooooooo cold!!! I shivered pretty much the rest of the night. We got up early, showered and made a fire to get warm, and then started breakfast... the kids slept for awhile... We then started to pack up , while we were packing, I was begging to stay in a hotel, Doug said if he got me in a hotel, he'd never be able to get me out... ( Have I mentioned, I don't like dirt?) After we left the campground, we went to the Upper Taquamenon Falls... It was beautiful, the kids loved it. After we left there. we headed toward Sault Ste. Marie ( Michigan) where we went on the Soo Locks boat tour.. it was great! The kids LOVED it!! Ryan was a little concerned when he found out we had left not only Michigan, but also the USA... We went through the American lock the first time, and on the way back , we went through the Canadian pleasure lock... it's too small for freighters.. Bradley saw "Candadian " Geese... in Canada ... he thought that was cool.. After the boat tour we headed South , towards Mackinaw City... It was very windy that day, but sunny and beautiful. On the way, Doug decided, we should find a hotel room for the nght, since it was so windy... ( He was worn out..) So I remembered Mary Pat form work had just stayed at the Comfort Suites with her girl scouts and there was an indoor water park there.. So I went to see if they had a room available.. All they had was a King Suite but would bring in a rollaway bed and reduce the price.. The price was awsome, so I was thrilled... #1 the price , #2 I was staying in a hotel. Then as I was getting the room reserved, they had a suite open up with 2 king beds and 2 queen beds also with a seperate sitting area with a sleeper sofa and a coffee maker, fridge & micro... they also had a hot breakfast every morning... So after I got the room, I went back to the car and told Doug about the great deal I got... so Doug said, did you get it for 2 nights?? Of course I didn't , I thought I was going to have to sleep in a tent again... so I quickly went in and got the room for a second night.... I was THIRLLED to say the least. That was a great place for the kids to unwind after lots of riding.. so we went that evening after supper. Then we got up the next morning and caught the ferry to Mackinac Island with our bikes and spent a good 4-5 hours there riding all over, checking out the butterfly house ect. it was sooooo much fun, I took lots of really good pictures... Then back to the hotel, we orderd pizza in and then back to the water park for hours of fun.. These boys are water boys. The next morning, we checked out and headed towards home , after stopping at a park and getting a few more pictures of the Bridge.. we went home via US 31.. the scenic view... when we got to Traverse City, we stopped at a mini golf place so the kids could play golf, and they could get out of the car and stretch thier legs and run off some energy, worked like a charm, they were geeked!!! Then towards home. We never hit any rain the whole week we were gone, until we got into Muskegon, where it got darker and darker as we approched.. Ryan fell asleep, so he missed the heavy downpours and the thunder & lightening, it rained the rest of the way home. The kitties were so happy to see us!! They even had the nerve to grow while we were gone! The rest of the vacation consisted of sleeping in our own beds.. and getting a couple new storm doors for the house. It was nice and we had a great time!