Glen Arbor Michigan

Good morning everyone!  We had breakfast of eggs, bacon and cereal IN OUR ROOM.  Very thankful for the coffee from the hotel.

The room was a bit cramped for this family of 5, but the location was AWESOME - so its a give a take right?

Lets go hiking - all over the sleeping bear dunes - These 2 hikers were total rock stars.  Nick a natural and Drew ULTRA determined - 

Shane was more interested in helping Jackson

The views were beautiful.  The morning was a bit rainy which made climbing a bit more bearable.

Each time you crest a hill, you thought you were close to the water's edge, but there was another hill. and another hill, and another hill

So we found some other things to do.

https://youtu.be/3ANwlKaf9iQ

A portion of the video is actually in slow motion - 

Why not jump into the ultra soft sand!

Loved that my sister caught this one in mid air

of course Drew did it!

Jackson needed a bit of persuading

Jason was happy to provide it

Riley tried it too

Chris went and traveled through the air faster than we were prepared for =)

Cannonball!

Shane had the best landings (check the video for that)

We drove to the final hike - sleeping bear dunes - check out this sign.  Don't attempt, 2 hours, rescue fees.  They caught our attention

We took some photos,

Did a portion of the climb - and left

See, just a photo should suffice right?

Went back to the shoreline (I snapped a photo of these guys coming through town - totally normal right?)

So we hit the local beach to chill a bit

The waves - apparently created by the wind - we perfect for the kiddos

The played for hours!

For a bit, Drew sat quietly here just having the waves crash around him.

Then he started jumping over them which I loved to watch

Maddie was just happy to play in the sand.

We went over for a Lyla demonstration - it was a hook they used to shoot out to ships (people really) in distress to give them something to hold onto and drag them in.  The parks and rec puts this on every week to keep the tradition and history preserved.

Kiddos even got to help bringing the line back in (crazy thing is, this photo was taken by a MOPs friend I knew in Germany - found it on her FB page later)

remember seeing that sign?  2 hour hike, beware, rescues are often needed?  Who do you think wanted to do it - yup, all of these guys.  Drew opted to back out - although looking back we all wished he would have joined us.  He was great and VERY motivated.  He would have crushed it!

Than we started the decent - I captured some of it on film - check it out

https://youtu.be/fKmVrHNLII4

Here we are at the bottom celebrating our decent and the beginning of a great workout!

On the up and up

are the there yet?

We made it!  It took Nick 23 minutes, Chris was right after him, Shane and I about 10 minute later and Uncle Jay after that.

Now we can sit and enjoy

Funny listening to all the folks debate, talk decide if they could make it, most left.  I would say do it, just forget the shoes =)!

My climbing partner

Now lets order and grab some pizza - while I am standing in line, i see a face flash and than at the same time, both of us realize we know each other - from MOPS in Germany!  She totally remembered as I was leaving I was pregnant with my 3rd boy and she with her 3rd girl!  She also just had a boy - so yes, they have 3 girls and a sweet little guy too - (no I am NOT going for 4) They live in Dexter Michigan now and its amazing we just ran into each other - Thanks for snapping the photo Shannon - small small world.  She was at the Lyla demonstration earlier - so loved grabbing photos from her too!  Love my MOPs moms!

We finally made it to Stacie's hotel with some much needed pizza to feed the masses.  

The next morning was a bit slow here - Had to capture some photos of morning time.  Glad they had this little table for us to eat at.  

Check out these super cute chairs. (and the boys on them of course)

Yup, I had to figure out how to get a family shot =)

See, they are Michigan Chairs - if only we could tuck those into the Mini van

Chris had this great idea of tubing along the river - its Friday morning and PEFECT!

Just what this crew needed

The 5 of us, each in a tube just chilling down the river

We loved it!

Lets check Shane's balance

Yup, not so much

Something about toes up and relaxing it relaxing right?

So relaxed even the dragon flies had to join us

Nick action shot?

Rock skipping at the end

Even Drew figured it out (of course he did)

The carrying trip home - there was a bend in the river, so the trip home wasn't too bad.

Now we leave this beautiful nature and head to Great wolf lodge - much different vibe so we are soaking THIS ONE up.  I honestly cannot wait to see my family, cousins, uncles, aunts, GREG and Carrie too!  Wedding weekend here we come!