Day 31

Well, the weather forecasters were right. We had rain starting about 1:00 am with light rain continuing until about 9:00am. The two kids in the other tent were up for some of the storm so they ended up sleeping in until about 8:45. This place isn't the best for rain because instead of gravel or grass the campground is mostly sand and dirt. Not good for flip flops or feet. Think grocery store feet to a whole new disgusting level.

My kids are really enjoying this heat because I'm not wanting to cook so they get cereal. They can probably count on one hand the number of times I've purchased cereal in the last few years and they're getting it every day now! I almost choked on my granola when Brayden recited from his box that it only has 10 grams of sugar per serving. They're going to have to go into detox when we get home!  Ryan thought 10g meant 10 gallons so at least it wasn't that bad!

Once we got ready we headed to the ranger station to check in and check out anything fun to do in the area. The girls flooded my arms with brochures of zoos, water parks, and aquariums while I tried to figure out some hiking trails for us to do. I really wanted to take advantage of the overcast morning to get moving in the forest down the Batsto Trail for a little while.

We stumbled upon a historic village on the way so Ryan suggested we go see it since this is a history trip. Inside the visitors center there was a wonderful display where we learned all about the animals in the area as well as the iron works industry the small town was built around.

  

The village had been restored several times but looked as it had back when it opened in the late 1700s. The village also had a gristmill, blacksmith shop, wheelworks, as well as a general store. The kids loved reading all the prices of things at the general store, especially that toys were only 29 cents per pound!

  

 

We hit the trail with clouds still helping us and enjoyed the walk. It's always nice to get back into the woods after a break. Laney navigated us through the trail as well as through several spider webs. I like her taking over my job!!

   

About halfway through the hike the sun popped out for good so we were pretty soaked by the time we finished. We stepped back in the visitor's center for a snack and to soak up the air conditioning for awhile.

Brayden suggested we hit one of the libraries close by next so the kids could check their email and I could update the blog.  We found one in the tiny little town next door with a tiny little kids area. The all enjoyed a few minutes to hear from everyone and respond.

Next door to the library, Eagle Eye Laney spotted a cupcake place. Of course. They don't see the socks on the floor 6 inches in front of them, but they can spot a cupcake shop from 300 yards away! She said they were winners of Cupcake Wars so we just had to stop in!  Of course, they were scrumptious!

The kids were anxious to swim at the lake so after the quick trip back to the campsite we changed and headed to the beach.A New Jersey lake beach is quite a bit different than a Pensacola Beach! My kids are so spoiled with their crystal clear blue-green waters there was no way they were stepping into the rust colored lake. We talked about tannins from the pine forest causing the dark color but they decided to play volleyball on the beach instead.  They've been inspired by yet another Olympic event.

Once the sun got low we played on the playground and swings then headed back to the campsite for the night. Since it had been so long since we'd read we made it through four chapters before everyone's eyelids got heavy.  Tomorrow was going to be another fun day of exploring!

Day 33

With us being up close to 11, we all slept in and had a quiet late breakfast.  I would have loved to have been up early to try to get a sunrise photo, but I had to settle for this.

We were hoping to make it over to Mackinac Island on the 9am ferry, but we ended up just making the 11:05 boat.  The day was beautiful and perfect for a boat ride!

The ticket lady last night made the mistake of mentioning the word Lego in front of my children, so of course that was to be our first stop.  Brayden was so excited to be going into this place that he claimed we would be spending about 2 hours there.  We probably did end up spending more than an hour!  I really enjoyed just walking around the city they had built as there were tons of funny things to spot.  Most of them were pop culture inside jokes that I ended up having to explain to Brayden.  Of course their favorite part was the area where they could build and temporarily display their creations. The guy manning the store was super nice and I could tell he just enjoyed building all day - what a job!

Next up, Ryan really wanted to go up into the fort.  And when I say up, it was seriously up a giant hill onto the top spot of the island.  Once we made it, we were treated with a wonderful view of the village and lake below.

We enjoyed going through all the exhibits and learning about life at the fort defending the Straits of Mackinaw.  Of course a big favorite with my kids is the reenactments, so they stood staring with mouths open as these guys demonstrated a company firing drill.

But more fun than that was the "Kid's Quarters" where they could learn and play a bunch more. I truly believe Laney was born in the wrong century!

Brayden had been looking forward to renting bikes for about a month, so that was next on the agenda. I was ok with renting bikes here because there are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Maybe I'm overprotective, but I just like a parent and the beginning and end of the group with kids this age.

Laney and I got a tandem bike since she is usually our pokey rider.  And we were off to search for Arch Rock.  It took me a few blocks to get used to steering and balancing the tandem with a wiggly kid and around horse carriages, but we finally got the hang of things.Once we left the village area we were cruising pretty fast and enjoying the beautiful view along the way.  Before we knew it we spotted arch rock, parked, and walked the 207 steps up.

This arch was much less impressive than the ones in Utah, but the view through down to the water was fabulous.  Brayden spotted some rocks through the arch in the water where someone had conveniently spelled "USA" down below.

Once we got back down (and I remembered to get a picture), we headed to the other side of the village to the Grand Hotel.  Grammie had mentioned this was a nice spot to relax on the porch with some sophisticated people and take in a view of the I should have realized the hotel was going to bridge.  Once we made it through the maze of horse carriages we started the climb up to the hotel. And when I say climb, I mean straight up with a 70lb kid on the back who is pretending to pedal with you.  I absolutely had some jello legs by the time we made it to the top!

The view was beautiful and so were the people!  We all felt extremely out of place in our shorts and backpacks walking around with ladies in cocktail dresses and men in three-piece suits.  We headed to the balcony corner and grabbed some rocking chairs while Brayden and Ryan played a giant game of chess.  The hotel was absolutely beautiful and we talked about all the things you could probably do there as we walked out.














The very best part about scaling a crazy steep hill is speeding back down!  Laney screamed just about the entire way as we raced past Ryan to the bottom.  We narrowly missed several piles of horse poo, so she may have been screaming about that as well!

After turning in the bikes, we went in search of fudge for Dad and ice cream for us.  I'm not sure this is possible, but I think I may be about ice-creamed out.  I still got some this time, but I think an ice cream break might be in order for this mom.

We had timed it just right to get back to the docks to make the boat that took a quick detour under the bridge before dropping us off at the docks in St. Ignace.  The top deck was packed so I had two hams sitting in front of me the whole time.

The bridge is pretty spectacular up close and I can't seem to fit it all with the lens I brought!  It was still pretty neat to watch the cars go up over us way up there!

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got back so we headed to the showers.  It is about time for my kids to sit in a hot tub and soak the layers of dirt that have caked on their feet.  I would like to dismiss it as "that's what happens when we camp", but gracious those things are gross.

Once we were all clean, we headed back to the tent, read a chapter or so and were fast asleep within minutes. I wanted to take a picture of the bridge at night with all the lights but I dreamt about it instead.

Quote of the Day: "This bike is AWESOME!" says Brayden after his first experience on a mountain bike.  One child converted, two to go!