The week started to wind down but Friday was a FULL day! We split the group in the morning with a portion taking a bike ride and the rest of us heading into Glen Arbor on foot to browse and shop. We are so thankful that Karen could arrange a loaner bike for Paul on this trip so we didn't have to bring his bike along. He had so much fun riding with the group.
There was a nice trail that picked up near the house. Photo cred to Nick.
This was actually from earlier in the week but was so perfectly captioned as Koreans on bikes. Photo cred to Nick.
They even agreed to take Peter along on the ride....he and Juno shared the buggy. Photo cred to Nick.
Beautiful day for a bike ride.....
And they stopped to check out a traditional blacksmith shop. Photo cred to Nick.
I was in the non-biking group and we headed to the coffee shop first. The girls wanted a picture together while we waited for coffee and tea. We hit up a few shops and then meandered back to the rental to meet up with the other group.
We headed to Empire Beach which was filled with super fun waves. Felt like we were at the ocean. Lillie wasn't a huge fan of the waves, Peter stuck close to the beach and we took turns laughing our heads off in the surf with Paul and the other big kids.
Lots of fun playing in the surf and on the beach.
This ham was covered in sand and clearly in a good mood.
A quick snack and then he conked off for a nap on my lap covered in a few towels. I was so glad he napped because he was clearly getting tired and a little cranky.
When he woke up we took some silly selfies....LAKE HAIR and don't care!
Paul and Jason spent a long time in the surf together. They had so much fun on the boogie board and body surfing.
We headed back to the rental and had a yummy meal of enchiladas! There was some general chilling out. Miss Lillie loves her some Mark.
She had to have a picture with this balancing puzzle we found at the house.
Then it was outside for more biking and scootering and wagoning....all things wheels.
Juno was actually pulling Peter in the wagon....strong little lady.
Then they hopped in together!
We headed down for our last bonfire of the trip...who doesn't love fire?!
Boys with sticks.
Paul trying to nab a bite of Kennen's s'more.
Got one of his own....yummy!
Messy boy loving his very own s'more.
Lillie got in the action too.....
Beautiful sunset with beautiful people.....photo cred to Nick.
I miss these already!
We let the kids stay up pretty late....I took Peter back to the house around 9:30 and Jason brought Paul and Lillie back shortly after 10:00. I think everyone slept really well that night.
Thursday was a fun trip to tube down the Platte River. It's the real lazy river experience where you hop on a rented inner tube and enjoy the ride with the gentle current. We took the 2 hour version which actually took us closer to 3 hours all together. It was nice they have both closed bottom and open bottom tubes to rent. The closed bottom tubes worked great for the littles so they could sit in the middle and not fall out. There were a few mishaps along the ride but we made it to the end with smiles and hungry stomachs. No pictures from the journey because my phone would have been WET! We brought picnic lunch and enjoyed it at the mouth of the Platte.
Everyone was pretty tired so we headed back to the rental and got cleaned up. The kids watched some minions and chilled out.
Peter and I had some fun together.
Then things went south for Paul. He was clearly WAY overtired and just sort of lost it. He and I stayed home while the rest of the group headed out to eat dinner at Art's Tavern. This is what he looked like about 10 minutes after they left. He stayed in his bed the remainder of the night even though he did wake up for a while when everyone returned home. He clearly needed the rest but I was bummed to have missed the fun that night.
The group scored a table at Art's which I guess can be pretty busy this time of year. The kids had their own table.....
They headed over to Cherry Republic which is a great store and fun facility. The littles had a blast together.....as Nan put is....spirited children unite!
Fun with Katie in a car trunk.
The girls playing together.
There was a cherry spitting contest and plenty of eating/drinking of samples. A full day indeed.
On Wednesday we headed over to Van's Beach for some sand, swimming and rock hunting. We arrived and got settled and then walked into town to bring food back from a couple really cute local shops. The Cheese Shanty was a big hit for me and Paul. The rest of our family snagged food from a local grocery store. Lillie was thrilled with her tub of watermelon.
She was pretty nice to share with Peter.
Juno was not so pleased to share her chips with Peter....she left him hanging. Photo cred to Nick.
This is a rocky beach so the kids had lots of fun searching for Petoskeys and other fun finds.
Always with the shovel.....he had a blast with the sand tools.
The water baby was super happy this day!
We headed home later in the afternoon and it was our turn to make dinner. I made spaghetti and meatballs with salad and bread. Tasted good and allowed us to relax for the evening. There were plenty of leftovers which came in handy for me the next night.....
