Mackinac Island...

Wednesday we left for Mackinac Island. This was our third trip up this year. Jamie and I went over Memorial Day weekend...then the whole fam went up over July 4th and then again this week during August. We had a wonderful time.

We spent one day kite flying. We brought the kite that we bought at Great Turtle Toys here on the island in July back with us and enjoyed flying it on the lawn in front of Mission Point.

It's such a great kite. Even a novice like us can fly it with ease. Evan loves flying it...but Nate gets a little nervous because you really have to hold on tight. It goes sooooo high and you can really feel the wind tugging on it. Jamie spent some time relaxing on the lawn with it too.

Nate and I took a walk while Jam and Ev spent some more time flying the kite. Nate loves taking pictures so I let him take some snapshots in the garden at Mission Point.

I got a few of him too. He not only like to take pictures, he likes to ham it up for the camera too.

Smile mommy! Say cheese! There was a wedding in the garden just prior to Nate and I taking our walk over there...you can see little white rose petals on the ground in this photo that the flower girl had thrown. That is one fun thing about Mission Point...there is ALWAYS a wedding going on...all the time. It's fun seeing all the wedding parties.

Here's Nate in the garden again...giving me a big old cheesey smile!

Nate and I went back over and watched Jam and Ev fly the kite for a while longer. It was a super windy day...perfect for kite flying.

Nate loved the Canadian Geese...(in the background)...so he took a picture of me with them.

At Mission Point...kids eat free...so whether they're really hungry or not...the boys always take advantage of the meals...even if it's just to munch a snack. Here they are enjoying a personal pan pizza one afternoon.

Here we are at the Butterfly House. It had been years since we'd been in there and the boys enjoy it alot...especially now that they've added Insect World.

Here we are just hanging out in the lobby at the lodge...the boys played a game of checkers.

Rise and shine boys! Time to get ready for breakfast! Wake up sleepy-heads!

We hiked up to Arch Rock the first day we were there and looking down into the lake...we noticed someone had spelled out the word LOVE in colored stones! How cool was that!

Here we are sitting near The Grand Hotel...just taking a break. We tried out the timer feature on our new camera! It's pretty cool! We just set the timer, set the camera down...and SNAP! Here we go! Not too bad!

Here are the boys just hanging out near the lake. They like to go down to the "rock beach" as they call it each day and skip stones. There are also all kinds of little creatures down there...tadpoles, minnows, shells, etc. Nate took a tumble on Thursday and scraped up his leg a little...but he survived.

Me and the boys hangin' out in the hotel room one evening before dinner.

Jam took a couple snapshots on the way over on the ferry. Here's Natee!

And...Ev and I.

We had a great trip. Great weather...only one day of rain. Mackinac Island is a special place to all of us. We've done all the touristy stuff...which is fun...but it's kindof a "been there, done that" type of thing. Now...we just like going up and relaxing, hiking the trails, hanging by the lake, on the lawn, kite flying, enjoying a cup of coffee, walking...just chilling out. We love the slow paced island life, the history, and the peace and tranquility of it.

We're anxious to go back next May!

Until then...

We'll see you in the spring M.I.!!!

Thanks for another wonderful vacation!!!