Wow~! Has it REALLY been since April that I've posted?
No~! I think someone got in there and changed the dates on all those posts! LOL
My hubby coached my sons summer baseball team, which is now over, and Football practice has began. Summer just seems to run away from me!
Every summer for the last five years, we and two other families, rent 3 cabins on "Bass Lake" and this year we were told the cabins were not being rented this year, and possibly being put up for sale. So~! We made different plans this year and just my hubby, myself, son and his friend headed "UP NORTH", just outside Mackinaw City. We all totally enjoyed it and just got home on Saturday. So how did our week go? We had lots of fun, and lots of mishaps, too!
We left on Saturday and arrived at Paradise Lake......
The cabins were really nice....they had Pergo floors, brand new appliances in the full kitchen, two "bedrooms", TV and fresh towels every day. Outside there is a grill, picnic table, shuffle board, basketball hoop, volleyball net, two row boats with life jackets and a third row boat with a motor that we could rent. The cabins are perfectly located in between, Mackinaw City, Petoskey, and Cheboygan.
We drove about 20 minutes into Cheboygan and did some grocery shopping, and let minute supplies we had forgotten about, and the boys spent the evening hours on the lake fishing.
Sunday, friends of ours were on their way home from visiting family members in Sault Ste Marie and stopped to hang out with us for about an hour. As they travel the area often due to their family members, and are familiar with it, we asked about things to do on "the other side of the bridge", in St. Ignace. We were curious about "The Mystery Spot!" Jennifer had said her daughter has been there quite a few times, and really enjoyed it. So considering our kids are about the same age, and none of us had ever been over the Mackinaw Bridge before, we would give it a shot!
Anyone who knows me, knows I cannot be in the drivers seat over a bridge without crying and panicking, so hubby did all the driving and we headed over the bridge, for St. Ignace. What a beautiful view~! Did you know the bridge actually sways 12 feet!? Yes, TWELVE FEET! Can you believe that?
Well.... the Mystery Spot, unfortunately....was a disappointment, although I think I think its appropriately named. It consisted of three rooms, where the "gravity goes wild". Everything is built on angles, etc....and is based on all optical illusions, and really doesn't deserve much more discussion on it. But it certainly left me with a Mystery of why we spent $40.00 for a family of four, to spend an 8 minute guided tour through three rooms.
But~! We did find the very best soft serve ice cream right next door! St. Ignace is a beautiful place. It's small, and quaint, and peaceful driving along the coast and watching the boats pass by. We were "home" in plenty of time to get some more fishing in. My son's friend is a fishing maniac! He's up at 5:30 AM....waiting for my hubby to wake up (and sometimes...WAKING him up..LOL) to go out fishing. I think if all we did was fish the entire week.....Joey would be perfectly happy.
Sunday evening, our daughter called and let us know our truck was stolen. :( It's actually our truck that we were "temporarily" lending to our daughter when she started struggling after her hours being cut at work, in hopes to help her out....and someone STEALS IT!!! grrr.
Monday, we drove into Petoskey. We took the boys go-karting.... (oh! and by the way... I kicked all three of their asses~!) Woo~Hoo!
We walked along the pier at the Marina.......
Of course we needed more ice cream, and the three boys graciously indulged me in a little shopping time. All of Petoskey is just gorgeous! I would LOVE to live there. Granted...the winters are hard, and quiet when the "tourism" isn't there, but I think I would be quite happy in front of a fireplace with a book, just looking out the window at the city's beauty!
ah............. I can dream, can't I?
Tuesday, we went to Mackinaw City for Thunder Falls Waterpark. My son is a little water baby~! We were fighting off and on weather, but despite some minor misty rain...it stayed pretty warm.
Alex...the water baby.....
Joey....the fisherman....
Wednesday..... The weather very average and threatened storms all day. The boys fished a little bit and when the harder rain threatened, we headed to Mackinaw City again and went to a movie. We saw The Proposal. I was surprised the boys agreed to it, but the really liked it, too. It was a cute movie, funny, and had a great message, too.
When we came out the the theatre, the sun was attempting to shine, so we walked around the area. Stopped and listened to a live bank playing the park. I went into the Island book store and bought a new book as I was almost done with mine. I bought, Love, Eat, Pray and can't wait to start it.
Thursday.... oh Thursday. We all headed out to the lake for some fishing. The boys in the boat with a motor on it, and my hubby and I in a row boat (hubby fishing, and me mainly just getting some sun and reading). The boys of course beat us at the getting to the "good spot" and have already begun fishing by the time we row out remotely close to them.
Unfortunately, to my horror, when Joey was casting over his shoulder.... he "stuck himself" with a fish hook, in the back of the head! It actually went through his baseball hat and into his scalp. We headed off to Cheboygan (about 25 min away) to the hospital. They were able to numb his head and remove the hook, and got out of it without any stitches. Joey handled it very well! I know he was scared, and he was with "his friends parents", but he got through it like a trooper!
On the way home from the hospital, Joey bought a "lucky hook" that attaches to the bill of a baseball hat and they had decided they wanted to go go-karting and fishing again. By night fall, Joey had caught 15 bass, 4 rock bass and Alex got his first "big one".... a 30" Pike~!
Friday: Ok, seriously, don't laugh. We head out on the lake again, the boys in the boat with the motor, and hubby in I in a row boat. I dropped the anchor, sat down....... in the front of the boat. My hubby, simultaneously reaches for the tackle box.... and....
OVER WE WENT~! We were in about 10-12 feet of water and it was scary!!! Keith went under the boat, looking for me, and I, was swimming around the outer edge of the boat looking for him! The boys only panicked for a moment, until they could get over to us and make sure we were ok, then the laughter broke out! Unfortunately, we lost the cabin key and a fishing pole to the bottom of the lake. My book, the tackle box, our shoes and glasses and other misc things floated and were recovered. Keith had his wallet and cell phone (mind you...BRAND NEW....only one month old cell phone with no insurance on it) in his pocket.
We dangled from the side of the boat, trying to bail water, while the boys tried to pull us into shallow water. Half way there, Joey jumped into the water logged boat to help bail, while Alex had to row all of us in, since it was too much weight for the small trolling motor.
LOL.....Good times.
The drying goods......
In between all the fishing and the mishaps, I enjoyed my quiet time taking in the sun, the sights and natures beauty! I did a lot of relaxing and reading..
Noticing that even in such dry and wasted areas....beauty and thriving life still exists....
I went stone and rock hunting with my son.....
.....and got a good chuckle from the bird pooping all over the boat. Not that he was actually pooping all over the boat.....
but rather that he was cheeky enough to sit next to the owl intended to scare him away. He's no dummy and he's enjoying the view and much as I was!
And lastly, we arrived back home on Saturday to find that a woman had seen our truck dropped off by what looked like to her..... a "staggering drunk" ..... and after it sat for 2 days, had decided something was wrong when the "drunk" never came back, found the registration in the glove box, and drove out ot our house to let us know where the truck was.
We are truly a blessed family~!
No~! I think someone got in there and changed the dates on all those posts! LOL
My hubby coached my sons summer baseball team, which is now over, and Football practice has began. Summer just seems to run away from me!
Every summer for the last five years, we and two other families, rent 3 cabins on "Bass Lake" and this year we were told the cabins were not being rented this year, and possibly being put up for sale. So~! We made different plans this year and just my hubby, myself, son and his friend headed "UP NORTH", just outside Mackinaw City. We all totally enjoyed it and just got home on Saturday. So how did our week go? We had lots of fun, and lots of mishaps, too!
We left on Saturday and arrived at Paradise Lake......
The cabins were really nice....they had Pergo floors, brand new appliances in the full kitchen, two "bedrooms", TV and fresh towels every day. Outside there is a grill, picnic table, shuffle board, basketball hoop, volleyball net, two row boats with life jackets and a third row boat with a motor that we could rent. The cabins are perfectly located in between, Mackinaw City, Petoskey, and Cheboygan.
We drove about 20 minutes into Cheboygan and did some grocery shopping, and let minute supplies we had forgotten about, and the boys spent the evening hours on the lake fishing.
Sunday, friends of ours were on their way home from visiting family members in Sault Ste Marie and stopped to hang out with us for about an hour. As they travel the area often due to their family members, and are familiar with it, we asked about things to do on "the other side of the bridge", in St. Ignace. We were curious about "The Mystery Spot!" Jennifer had said her daughter has been there quite a few times, and really enjoyed it. So considering our kids are about the same age, and none of us had ever been over the Mackinaw Bridge before, we would give it a shot!
Anyone who knows me, knows I cannot be in the drivers seat over a bridge without crying and panicking, so hubby did all the driving and we headed over the bridge, for St. Ignace. What a beautiful view~! Did you know the bridge actually sways 12 feet!? Yes, TWELVE FEET! Can you believe that?
Well.... the Mystery Spot, unfortunately....was a disappointment, although I think I think its appropriately named. It consisted of three rooms, where the "gravity goes wild". Everything is built on angles, etc....and is based on all optical illusions, and really doesn't deserve much more discussion on it. But it certainly left me with a Mystery of why we spent $40.00 for a family of four, to spend an 8 minute guided tour through three rooms.
But~! We did find the very best soft serve ice cream right next door! St. Ignace is a beautiful place. It's small, and quaint, and peaceful driving along the coast and watching the boats pass by. We were "home" in plenty of time to get some more fishing in. My son's friend is a fishing maniac! He's up at 5:30 AM....waiting for my hubby to wake up (and sometimes...WAKING him up..LOL) to go out fishing. I think if all we did was fish the entire week.....Joey would be perfectly happy.
Sunday evening, our daughter called and let us know our truck was stolen. :( It's actually our truck that we were "temporarily" lending to our daughter when she started struggling after her hours being cut at work, in hopes to help her out....and someone STEALS IT!!! grrr.
Monday, we drove into Petoskey. We took the boys go-karting.... (oh! and by the way... I kicked all three of their asses~!) Woo~Hoo!
We walked along the pier at the Marina.......
Of course we needed more ice cream, and the three boys graciously indulged me in a little shopping time. All of Petoskey is just gorgeous! I would LOVE to live there. Granted...the winters are hard, and quiet when the "tourism" isn't there, but I think I would be quite happy in front of a fireplace with a book, just looking out the window at the city's beauty!
ah............. I can dream, can't I?
Tuesday, we went to Mackinaw City for Thunder Falls Waterpark. My son is a little water baby~! We were fighting off and on weather, but despite some minor misty rain...it stayed pretty warm.
Alex...the water baby.....
Joey....the fisherman....
Wednesday..... The weather very average and threatened storms all day. The boys fished a little bit and when the harder rain threatened, we headed to Mackinaw City again and went to a movie. We saw The Proposal. I was surprised the boys agreed to it, but the really liked it, too. It was a cute movie, funny, and had a great message, too.
When we came out the the theatre, the sun was attempting to shine, so we walked around the area. Stopped and listened to a live bank playing the park. I went into the Island book store and bought a new book as I was almost done with mine. I bought, Love, Eat, Pray and can't wait to start it.
Thursday.... oh Thursday. We all headed out to the lake for some fishing. The boys in the boat with a motor on it, and my hubby and I in a row boat (hubby fishing, and me mainly just getting some sun and reading). The boys of course beat us at the getting to the "good spot" and have already begun fishing by the time we row out remotely close to them.
Unfortunately, to my horror, when Joey was casting over his shoulder.... he "stuck himself" with a fish hook, in the back of the head! It actually went through his baseball hat and into his scalp. We headed off to Cheboygan (about 25 min away) to the hospital. They were able to numb his head and remove the hook, and got out of it without any stitches. Joey handled it very well! I know he was scared, and he was with "his friends parents", but he got through it like a trooper!
On the way home from the hospital, Joey bought a "lucky hook" that attaches to the bill of a baseball hat and they had decided they wanted to go go-karting and fishing again. By night fall, Joey had caught 15 bass, 4 rock bass and Alex got his first "big one".... a 30" Pike~!
Friday: Ok, seriously, don't laugh. We head out on the lake again, the boys in the boat with the motor, and hubby in I in a row boat. I dropped the anchor, sat down....... in the front of the boat. My hubby, simultaneously reaches for the tackle box.... and....
OVER WE WENT~! We were in about 10-12 feet of water and it was scary!!! Keith went under the boat, looking for me, and I, was swimming around the outer edge of the boat looking for him! The boys only panicked for a moment, until they could get over to us and make sure we were ok, then the laughter broke out! Unfortunately, we lost the cabin key and a fishing pole to the bottom of the lake. My book, the tackle box, our shoes and glasses and other misc things floated and were recovered. Keith had his wallet and cell phone (mind you...BRAND NEW....only one month old cell phone with no insurance on it) in his pocket.
We dangled from the side of the boat, trying to bail water, while the boys tried to pull us into shallow water. Half way there, Joey jumped into the water logged boat to help bail, while Alex had to row all of us in, since it was too much weight for the small trolling motor.
LOL.....Good times.
The drying goods......
In between all the fishing and the mishaps, I enjoyed my quiet time taking in the sun, the sights and natures beauty! I did a lot of relaxing and reading..
Noticing that even in such dry and wasted areas....beauty and thriving life still exists....
I went stone and rock hunting with my son.....
.....and got a good chuckle from the bird pooping all over the boat. Not that he was actually pooping all over the boat.....
but rather that he was cheeky enough to sit next to the owl intended to scare him away. He's no dummy and he's enjoying the view and much as I was!
And lastly, we arrived back home on Saturday to find that a woman had seen our truck dropped off by what looked like to her..... a "staggering drunk" ..... and after it sat for 2 days, had decided something was wrong when the "drunk" never came back, found the registration in the glove box, and drove out ot our house to let us know where the truck was.
We are truly a blessed family~!
4 comments:
what an eventful trip - glad u survived the mishaps :o)
wow did you say you lost your new book? love all the adventure, and of course the story teller is amazing herself. thank you for sharing in your vacation. i remember the days when my boys fished with their grandpa and dad. we still tell the stories about their fisihing expeditions. BUT mom still has the state citation for a bass. yeah!!
My goodness, Sandy! You have certainly been having some adventures! That's for sure! :-)
Sounds like you're having a great summer so far! Glad to hear you made it through all the mishaps okay.
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