Another day trip that we took was to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park.  We made the trip to the northwest side of the state in the minivan caravan.  Scott’s parents, his sister, Amy, and her kids and Scott’s brother and our sister-in-law, Tracy, and their kids all made the trek.  We had a fun, hot day on the dunes.  We ended up hiking 3.5 miles through the dunes to Lake Michigan.  It was gorgeous and the water felt really good after the long, hot hike.  Even though our kids have been to the Sand Dunes here in Colorado, they were really excited to get to the water and swim in the big lake. Sleeping Bear Dunes was a favorite spot of Scott and I when we were in college and it was fun to see the kids enjoy it as much as we did. 

One of our favorite places in Michigan is Mackinac Island.  This small island is located in Lake Huron between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas.  The only way to access the island is by ferry. There are no cars allowed on Mackinac and the only ways to get around is by foot, bike or horse.  We spent most of last Wednesday exploring the island.  We hiked up to the highest point on the island, Fort Holmes and to Arch Rock.   After lunch we rented bikes and spent the afternoon riding the 8 mile path that goes around the island.   We stopped at the halfway point to get an ice-cream and play in the water.  The kids thought the lake was awesome and kept calling it the ocean.  We ended the trip with some fudge, taffy and tourist sweatshirts. 

Mackinac Bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.  This bridge is 5 miles long.

Sam riding the ferry over to the island.  The ferry ride takes 16 minutes.

This past week we have been spending time with family in northern MI.  We stayed a couple days in Flushing (where Scott and I grew up) and then we headed “up north” for the remainder of our MI adventure.  We had a really nice time and a huge thank you to Scott’s Uncle Tom who put up 20 extra people for the week.  Most of the week was spent hanging out by the lake, tubing, jet skiing and just plain relaxing.  We did take a couple day trips, one to Mackinac Island and another to Sleeping Bear Dunes Natl. Park.  I took A LOT of pictures…ahemmm….let’s just say it’s over 200.  I am hoping to post a few each day this week.  As you can see, the kids didn’t enjoy themselves at all 🙂 

Capturing a Moment.  Catching Fireflies.  Our kids have never seen fireflies or lightning bugs.  One evening as we were getting ready to put the kids to bed we noticed that the yard was full of lightning bugs.  They were twinkling everywhere.  It was such a fun moment for our kids and for Scott and I. 

  

Today we took our weekly field trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Props to our awesome zoo on the side of the mountain.  It rocks.  Really rocks.  Anyhow, we went.  We saw.  And yes, they are naked. The mole rats, that is. 
Every summer the zoo has a temporary exhibit of some rare animal.  One summer it was giant fruit bats.  We skipped that one.   I can’t imagine why.  Another summer there was a butterfly house set up.  Now that was cool.  I can hang with butterflies.  Giant fruit bats, no thanks. 
We spent a nice afternoon hanging out together, checking out the animals and having a blast along the way.

Have a great Tuesday evening,
Jennifer

We spent the last weekend camping in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. This gorgeous area is located at 10,300 feet and is just north of Nederland (and about 2 1/2 hours from our house). We camped with our good friends and had a blast!!!! We did two awesome hikes, played in the lake, had a snowball fight, ate well and enjoyed time just hanging out with friends. I took 120 pictures so I put some of them into a slideshow. Off to shower and get some sleep.

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Have a great week!

Jennifer

No this post isn’t about my children’s bathroom habits or their fingers conveniently placed up their noses. Nope. We are talking about how this week is whizzing past and taking a very interesting trip to the Mining Museum.
Monday we decorated shoe boxes that we had stacking up to the ceiling laying around. The kids love to keep stuff. Read: my kids are hoarders. Seriously. Hoarders. Someone in this house might even have a price-tag collection. I will never say who. Never. Anyway, they had fun and stayed busy for a long time decorating their very own box. Who doesn’t love a box?

Today after swimming and tennis the kids and I headed out for our weekly field trip. This time we landed at the Mining Museum. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It wasn’t nearly as boring as it sounds. Plus we had coupons. Come on, there is no way I would pass up two free child admissions 🙂 We ended up spending 2 hours at the museum and had an awesome time.

Off to bed. Good night. Happy mining. Hopefully the second half of the week slows waaaaay down. Summer really is whizzing by.

Jennifer

This is Paige before the fall.

One faceplant, a trip to Emergicare, five stitches, bruises and no skin left on the nose later…..

Believe it or not, we had a great trip to the mountains this week. On our last night in Breck, we decided to head into town for a yummy dinner. After dinner, as we were waiting for the shuttle, the kids were playing and jumping off a rock ledge by the riverwalk. Paige was leaning over the ledge checking out some flowers and fell about 3 feet down face first. Poor thing. She was very brave. Mommy, not so much.

Please pass the Tylenol. For Paige, of course.

The kids and I have been hanging out all week in Breckenridge with my parents, my SIL and niece and nephews. We have stayed busy hiking, playing, swimming, etc. It is so gorgeous here and I have taken a ton of pics. Enjoy the numerous pics from the beginning of our week. We are looking forward to the end of the week when Scott returns. I hope you all had an awesome 4th of July. We had a blast participating in the Breckenridge parade!

The girls sitting in the trailer waiting to decorate.

The boys enjoying a game of Frisbee golf through the trees.

Family pic before the parade.

Sam and Zach pre-parade

All the kids ready for the parade to start…..

Still waiting….

Lookin’ cute in her parade get-up.

Aunt Stacie and Ethan riding down Main Street….

Posing for some fun 4th of July photos.

and another.

Mason gets in the spirit of the 4th.

anther group shot

Paige and Ethan being silly.

Sam and Zach, buddies.

Lake Dillon from Inspiration Point.

Paige.

Grandpa, Sam and Zach riding in the gondola.

Hiking on the ski hill.

A tickle war. Sorry, not enough time for explanation 🙂

The girls picking dandelions.

Paige on the trampoline. I think she went the highest of all the kids.

Panning for gems. They all came home with a bagful.

Alice trying out the trampoline.

Off to cook dinner. The kids are looking forward to another evening of swimming in the pool.

Jennifer