Summer Trip Up North

Time to start writing on the blog again.  Also known as "What I did on my summer vacation" or "Why I haven't been blogging"

We generally head to the UP of Michigan once or twice a year for vacation.  We finally managed to squeeze a long weekend in at the beginning of August.

 On the way we always stop in Escanaba, MI at our favorite donut store: Donut Connection.  This time there was a quilt hanging in the seating area.

 Ahh, Lake Michigan.  Probably one of my most favorite places to be.  For many years the lake water levels were quite low.  This has led to a large amount of plant growth on the beach.  Now, the water is starting to come back up (a good thing) but that means there is much less "beach" to play on.  We found many instances of trees being uprooted by the waves, so I think the lake will reclaim the beach once again.

 It looks dark and rainy in this picture, because there are storms coming.  I shooed everyone to the beach in the morning because the afternoon ended up being rained out.

 We did some swimming at an old quarry, as well.  The water here is crystal clear, but interestingly harder to float in.  I think it has something to do with high mineral content.

 E jumping off the top of the rock.

 And her splash below.

 WD brought his quilt along - the one he made.  It was great to see him actually asleep under it.  He is also growing out of it!

 I'm used to collecting shells when we've been on the coast, but this is the first time I really noticed the small shells from the lake.  I didn't keep any, they are so small and fragile, just fall apart back into sand.

 The lake was very calm.  (that's Mini's head swimming back)  The air was pretty cool.  I have finally reached the point where I don't have to play lifeguard all the time, so I only swim when the conditions are favorable.

 One of our (the kids', actually) favorite things to do is build a fire on the beach and cook out. 

 Brats, hot dogs, and 'smores.

 The "Top of the Lake"

Vacation Recap

Hello!  I am back.  In person!  I feel like I've been away from this space forever.  It was nice to have all those posts queued up for you guys while I was gone.  Now back to the daily (lack of) routine.  Since I didn't hardly do anything fabric related while I was away, AND since some of my readers are family - here is a photo heavy post of our family trip 'up north'.

 The friendly neighborhood cat stopped by and spent a lot of time visiting.  One of our nicknames for E is the 'cat rancher'.  She can tame any cat.

 We spent every single day at the beach.  I have never been up north when the weather was so perfect for swimming everyday.  The temps of Lake Michigan were running in the 60's and 70's.

 Because of the lack of rain, the water was quite shallow for a long ways out.  Perfect for little swimmers.

 Obligatory burying of child in sand.

 Little Diggers.

 The water was quite calm most days as well.  Great for boat riding.

 Our dog absolutely loves the beach.  He's a great swimmer.

 Sand castle.

 We drove north to the Lake Superior Shore in Grand Marais one day (I want to retire there).

 The beaches are rocky and the water is cold.  But on an 85 degree day, definitely bearable!

 We had an absolutely wonderful time.  One of the best and most relaxing trips we've had.