A Family Trip

We had heard that a delightful stretch of Indian summer was heading our way.

So a short and impromptu family trip was decided upon to celebrate.

One wonderful benefit to homeschooling is that we can vacation whenever we want.

What a luxury!

We also discovered that the hotel rates in tourist towns become very reasonable after the school year starts.

It's past prime season, I suppose.

We thought we'd take advantage of the weather and the cheaper rates, and drive the kids up north to see Mackinac Island.

Our hotel room window faced the lake, and it was lovely!

The sun was warm, but never hot...

The air cool, but never cold...

The sky was bright and clear.

What a wonderful way to say good-bye to summer!

We felt so lucky.

The kids had never been on a ferry boat before.

The ride over to the island is a delightful twenty minutes or so.

The kids did great!

It sure was fun to watch them experience it!

Micah and I made this same journey twelve years ago during the summer we were dating.

On that trip, we had our picture taken under this round gate...

(July 2006)

I was determined to find that gate again and snap another picture!

Micah remembered exactly where it was.

It's still there!

So Roman took our picture...

(Sadly, I can see that a bit of aging has already occurred. *sigh)

The gate is the entrance to a private home and property, and I remarked to Micah how I couldn't believe we had unlatched it and stood inside!

We were young and gutsy then.

This time, we were respectful and just stood on the outside.

As this was going on, a bright and bubbly couple walked past and began to chat with us.

I told them about how we had spent a day on the island twelve years ago when we were dating, and someone took our picture under this gate.

The woman said, "Well, you should have a picture of the whole family under the gate!"

How great! I thought.

So I handed my phone over to her, and she took this family picture for us...

The Lord has blessed our twelve years.

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Mackinac Island sure is a charming little place.

There are no cars on the island. All transportation (other than walking) is either horse and carriage or biking.

It was weird to watch my children bound across the streets there and know that I didn't have to yell, Watch for cars!

Although we learned quickly that it was helpful to yell, Watch for horse manure! instead.

Haha!

It was early Sunday morning when we first arrived and were "fresh off the boat", as the saying goes.

So we thought we'd grab a small coffee and walk around until we found a church we could attend.

(I pretended I was a local, and a peaceful stroll down the quaint and quiet streets, with coffee in hand, was my usual way to church each week.)

We found this darling little stone church...

I told Micah I felt embarrassed to go to church in our tourist clothes.

He assured me there'd be other casually dressed folks there.

We approached the entrance and were greeted at the door by the pastor and his wife. They were, of course, dressed for church, and so was everyone else! And there we were in our t-shirts and walking shoes.

I felt silly.

I whispered to Micah, "Everyone's dressed up here but us!"

"It's ok," he said. "Nobody cares."

I certainly would never want to be disrespectful to a pastor, or discouraging to a church's members, but Micah was right. Nobody seemed to care. Everyone was extremely kind and welcoming to us.

Our casual appearance had caused me to be extra vigilant about my children's behavior, though.

The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to our row!

And we did take up an entire row! Haha... It was a very small church.

But once the service had ended, a man who had been seated behind us commented, "What a nice bunch of kids. You ought to be proud!"

What a sweet little church family.

I left there feeling uplifted, and not at all thinking about our casual clothes.

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The rest of our trip was very relaxing and enjoyable.

The kids had been given a little spending money from their grandma before we left, so we enjoyed popping into a few shops.

There were trails and roads and beaches to explore, too...

Sometimes a passer-by would notice us struggling to try to cram six heads into a selfie...

So they would offer to take our picture for us.

We always said, "Yes, please!"

Memories are made of this!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Driving back down through Michigan, we kept passing signs for homemade pasties.

This is true Michigan culture and tradition, of course. So we had to stop and eat a pasty before we could even think about going home!

You know what they say, When in Rome...

I asked our waitress, "What can you tell me about these?"

She said, "This is an old Cornish recipe. They used to make these for the miners - easy to wrap up and take with them to eat."

(I love finding out little nuggets of information like this.)

Yes, this was a wonderful little trip.

It's satisfying to give your children experiences and pleasant childhood memories.

If you ever find yourself driving through the upper peninsula of Michigan (sort of between Escanaba and Manistique), may I suggest you stop in the little ghost town of Fayette?

It is now an awesome state park, with a beautiful beach and the original structures from the 1880's that can now be toured.

A small home and the town's school house has some cute exhibits inside as well...

We enjoyed our time here.

Have you ever been to Mackinac Island or Fayette, MI?

We will probably stay put now for the winter, but I am thankful for the chance we had to get out and visit these towns.

I will hold these memories in my heart.

And as always, I am thankful for the chance I have to record some family stories, and share it all with you!

Thank you for reading my blog!

xo,

~ Courtney ~