Vacation, Part 2

PART TWO!!

Day 4:This day was set aside for the beach and renting a jetski! Since the lake we were on does not allow motorboats on it, we had to go to Otsego Lake, (a sad reminder of back home) :-( and use their state park. The park was very nice! They actually had picnic tables ON the beach so we were able to eat our lunch without having to move up to the grass! The beach was large, but wasn't very wide, which made plodding through the sand so much easier! The restrooms and concession stand had a long path and split like a clover with a picnic table in one "leaf",  a tall wash off area in another, and the other leading to a waterproof mat to the water. It was probably the nicest beach I'd ever been to!

The swimming area was right next to the boat area so we were able to set up our spot between the two! We parked the jetski, (not that it ever stayed there long) right by us and took turns on it. I think Lucas had the most fun on it! He was constantly zipping across the water at full speed (about 60) and trying to get some air over the small waves. After a couple rides, Lucas, Dad and Ethan went out. Mom and I were left behind with Min and Ana. We kept talking about how long it was taking them to get back when we suddenly noticed a boat towing a large object. At first it looked like just a tube, but as it closer we recognized Dad's yellow lifejacket and two familiar heads in the boat. They finally made it to shore and we immediately wanted to know what happened. The guys explained that they had stopped so that Dad could warn Ethan of the wind as they headed back. Suddenly a big wave came up and knocked over the jetski, tossing all three of them into the water! According to Dad, Ethan did extremely well and didn't seem to be frightened at all! They took too long to get the jetski back up so it became filled with water and wouldn't ride right. Some people (who also happened to be some people we had seen at Applebees a couple nights before!!) had stopped to helped them and offered to tow them to shore. At first it looked like the jetski wasn't gonna work, but after managing to tip some water out of the boat, the jetski was back to normal! Shortly after the accident I decided to try out driving, but took Luke along for support. And it's a good thing I did, because I freaked out! I would hit 35 and then get scared and drop to 5 and back and forth. Then I was too scared to turn because I didn't want to tip like the boys had done! Lucas had to end up driving us back! Mom took a ride with Dad once and once with Luke. When she came back with Luke her hands had marks from how tightly she had held on to his lifejacket! He likes speed! Minte and Ana both had their turns. Dad says Minte did NOT like going fast! Ana on the other hand was pretty confident after her first ride and didn't mind going fast with Luke! The jetski was a lot of fun and zippy!!! I think we all want one now!

Day 5: Wednesday we checked out the Lakes of the North community pool. It was inside the community building, therefore the water was very warm! We put Minte in his lifejacket and set him loose. He loves to splish splash around and is getting very confident the water. He really does not like his face in the water though. Or water in his nose. Not that I blame him! Ethan showed off his skills swimming and would jump in the deep end without a lifejacket or anything and swim back to the shallow end. Since taking swim lessons this summer he swims a ton and is very good at it! He used to be scared to death of water, but not now!! After the pool we rented Heidi from their video selection and brought it home to watch in the afternoon while Dad and Mom went on a long walk. That evening we went to Gaylord for supper and shopping. We went to The Sugarbowl, a restaurant that has been around for a long time. Dad and Mom ordered an appetizer of a cheese soaked with brandy and then set on fire. They say it was very good! It was a very interesting place. They put us in booths and then lowered the middle wall so that we had one big table! After supper, the girls went to the chocolate shop next door. They had cool candy pictures on the floor and tooons of candy! They had a lot of chocolate covered food. When Mom asked they said they actually have sold chocolate covered bacon before! Yuck!

Day 6: We were supposed to go to Mackinac Island Wednesday, but the weather didn't cooperate so we ended up going Thursday. On the way to Mackinaw City we were concerned with the weather as it was very dark outside and gloomy, but by the time we made it to the island, the weather was looking brighter! They were getting ready to load the ferry when we finally made it with all our bikes to the line, but we missed it. We were the first in line for the next trip a half an hour later!When the ferry returned, it had a few people on board and some kids on top were soaked to the skin! The captain warned us that the open top of the ferry would get sprayed and we were likely to get soaked. Ana, Luke and I didn't want to sit in the stuffy bottom though so we braved the top. The closer you were to the captains room and on the right, the less wet you'd get, but Luke wanted to sit in the middle on the left. Ana and I saw the soaked seats and decided we'd rather sit closer to the captain on the left side. And it was perfect! Perfectly wet! Haha!! Ana and I got very wet, but not nearly as wet as Lucas did, stubbornly seating in the middle. It was so worth it though, the wind in your face and hair and water surprisingly attacking you!

After eating lunch and choosing a double seated bike for Mom and Dad to share, we took off on a 8 1/2 mile bikeride around the perimeter of the island! It was a gorgeous ride! It's not a part of the island that a whole lot of people see! We were by the lake the entire ride and took a couple breaks to wade and throw rocks into the water. We also stopped at the halfpoint mark for icecream at a concession stand!

After the bikeride we locked up our bikes and took a walk past the Governor's mansion and Grand Hotel. Both very pretty places. It was past 6 though at this point so we couldn't get close because we weren't dressed up! Haha! Oh my gosh! After 6 you must wear a suit and dress. Too fancy for me!!!

After our tour we discovered that the keys to the bike locks and van were missing. Frantic looking followed. Fortunately we had spare keys in our camera case and Mom had "accidentally" brought her keys with us and even though we weren't able to find the keys, it didn't end up being a catastrophe!!

We looked through the shops next and headed back for the ferry. This time only Dad, Minte, Ana and I were brave enough to go on top. We didn't get as wet as we had before though! But whenever we DID get hit by water, Minte would jump!

Day 7: If we weren't too tired Friday we were going to go to Sleeping Bear Dunes, but we ended up not going. Instead we went to minature golf in the afternoon. Luke won! The course was really neat and fun to do! Minte even participated. After 1 stroke, we sort of just gave up on him finishing with a par. ;-) After golf we were told of a place where you can see elk! We decided to check it out and were greeted by some very friendly people who offered to share some apples they were feeding to the elk. It was fun to feed them! Minte even fed some by tossing them over the fence. Course he bonked some in the process, but elk are tough! Haha! Dad kept trying to touch their antlers, but they would move away when he tried. We were so glad we decided to come!

Day 8: We packed up and left Saturday. It was sad, but good too. I think we were all ready to sleep at our house! And of course, we had to have some kind of problem that day too. We couldn't find the boat keys!! We never did find them. We looked while we unpacked too, but no luck! :-(

Overall, vacation was a lot of fun!! It was great to have a lot of family time and to explore new places! The kids watched a lot of Lassie. And I think I'll have the whistle theme song stuck in my head forever.  :-/ Dad, Mom, Luke, and I watched a lot of Harry Potter and Cranford while eating tons of icecream!! Much fun!!! :-) Pictures will hopefully come soon!