PURE MICHIGAN

 Way back in August, we took a trip to Northern Michigan.  

It was our first time vacationing in the beautiful state. 

We stayed in a cozy cottage in the woods in the small town of Bellaire

We made the short drive to a beach almost everyday. 

The water was so clean and the rock collecting kept the kids busy for hours. 

I thought it was more fun than collecting seashells. 

Here is my son's rock fortress.  They thought it was more fun than sand also. 

Don't worry, as soon as we got home, both boys got a haircut!

We loved hanging out in the little town of Bellaire.  

There were cute shops, great ice cream and fabulous restaurants. 

Believe it or not, they didn't intentionally color coordinate with the chairs.

Just stopped to take a break.

After a long day at the beach, we started a little fire at the cottage, roasted hotdogs and made s'mores.

The perfect s'more.

A look at our surroundings. 

Our favorite part of the vacation was a little day trip we took to Mackinac Island.

We loaded our bikes onto the ferry and spent the day pedaling around the island.

And of course we stopped to check out all the sights. 

The homes on the island were absolutely gorgeous.  I found myself daydreaming about living there.

I'm not sure I would love the winters, but I could definitely handle spending my summers living in one of those amazing homes perched on top of the hill.  

We also spent a day at the Dunes, which I also blogged about here.  

Standing at the bottom of the dunes, I thought the hike up would be pretty easy.

Not the case, my friends.  I am in good shape and I was huffing and puffing half way up the first dune.

The kids were troopers, but boy were they exhausted at the end.

Even though we didn't make it all the way to the Lake, this view made was worth the effort. 

Overall it was a great trip and the kids are already looking forward to going back. 

Where did you spend your summer vacation?