We arrived in East Jordan, MI (right by the Ironton Ferry) to our VRBO rental on July 24th after a long morning at the Safari Zoo in Port Clinton. It was about a 5-6 hour drive from there, with any additional stops for food, potty breaks and the like. The girls were VERY ready to be out of the car by the time we got there.
We were right on Lake Charlevoix, a 2 minute walk and we were on our beach and docks/slips, where we could access the water. Needless to say we spent A LOT of time down on the beach, playing in the sand, water, and tides. The family even brought a floating trampoline for the kids, and rigged up an amazing line of floating chairs for adults and kiddos who wanted to use them.
We as a family (group of adults) wound up chipping in and renting a pontoon boat for 5 days, and parked it on our dock/slip for use whenever someone wanted to take it out. Marty also brought a wave runner as well which we beached. Our vacation was full of possibilities, pending on what you wanted to do, or felt like doing!
On the 28th of July our family (the Petrey's) went on a Pontoon trip over to Charlevoix city, which borders Lake Michigan. The girls had a fantastic time on the boat to and from, and we got to spend some time in the city and have lunch there, before meeting back up to ride back home.
On July 29th we all went across the Ironton Ferry (by foot) and had lunch across the water at the restarunt there called The Landing. They had really good food!
Despite it being a chilly and kind of windy day, it was still a good memory. Later that evening once the sun peeked out, all of the kids got their traditional 'Tomes Family Vacation' shirts on, and sat on the dock for our yearly group photo. Great seeing all the kids together, and so happy.
On July 30th, some of the families (the Petrey's, The Stilwell's, the Estrada's, and the Tomes [Marty] ) took a trip in the morning over to Mackinac Island.
We headed over to take the Star lines Ferry with our bikes and carrier over to the island.
This was probably my favorite part of our vacation, and I truthfully hope that we get to go back to Mackinac Island one day to spend more time there, perhaps even stay there overnight. Lake Huron, previously a lake I'd never seen, is so beautiful and blue around the shores around Mackinac.
The day couldn't have been anymore perfect for our bike rides and small excursion hikes up to an old watch tower. Then on our way back around and through town, we stopped to do some touristy things that we do. Buy the girls t-shirts from our destinations, and a Christmas ornament from the location(s). It's a wonderful way to remember things you've done! We also treated the girls to some Moomers ice cream, because it would be uncivilized not to. ;)
Our time in Michigan was coming to a close for our vacation here in Charlevoix, but we wanted to make a special stop (sort of out of the way), but we felt very worthwhile on our way home. Then we took Nana & PeePaw's suggestion of booking overnight in Frankenmuth, MI as well; which I'm extremely glad we did.
July 31st, all packed up and ready to head 'back home', the girls had no clue we were planning to make a lateral move to head over to Traverse City, MI to the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
The girls absolutely loved it! They've never seen so much sand! (ha ha ha) Paisley didn't know what to do, and it took her a few minutes to figure out how to navigate the sand. This was all perfect timing though, it was right before lunch, and the kids ran themselves silly, and had a great time.
We got some lovely videos, photos, and made great memories.
Later after we got back in the car, and fed the hungry children we made our way to Frankenmuth, MI. It was about a 4-5 hour drive, which wasn't that bad actually. A lot of it was on quiet back roads with great scenery. Despite one tired Paisley who didn't want to nap... until she passed out from exhaustion, the drive was good! We rolled into Frankenmuth not knowing what really to expect in all honesty. We had also heard about Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, and truthfully peaked both of our interests. Abby wasn't sold, going as far as saying "Christmas in July is dumb, why are we going to a Christmas store!" (ha ha ha). After we got settled into our hotel, had dinner, we decided to venture out to find Bronner's, kicking and screaming 9 year old and all. Boy did that attitude change when she saw it.
#NightSalvaged We had a fantastic time at Bronner's, truly a wonderful store to visit if you ever get the chance.
We then even drove into downtown Frankenmuth to find the Cheese Haus and buy some cheese curds!! Heaven on earth! After that it was swimming at the hotel, and pj's. Happy kids all around. I love our little family, love them to death.
Comments