July 15-18, 2018
Our second annual summer trip is complete! We and the Ronas' went up to Traverse City for a long weekend and enjoyed some fun times together. Trips with young kids are certainly stressful, but we made it through and had a pretty good time together. I know the big girls weren't ready to leave yet!
Day One
We arrived around noon to get lunch at North Peak Brewing company before our tour at Moomer's. It was a tad too hot for that, but we got through it and it was pretty neat. The girls got to pet a baby cow (that may be named Julie some day :) and then we of course made sure to get some ice cream! We needed it. They even had an ice cream flight, which I (and Julie) tried out. Then we head over to our AirBnb and had dinner and relaxed for the evening. Or at least as much as you can with four kids under 4....
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| ^Laina was rocking her 'farm outfit'! |
Day Two
Our second day consisted of visiting the Leelanau State Park and the lighthouse on the point. I thought I had been there before but apparently it was the other peninsula I had visited. It was pretty cool. The guys took the girls up to the top of the lighthouse and Son, Hien and I just hung out by the water. The girls seemed to enjoy running around in the grass the most. We left and got lunch at Trattoria Stella back in Traverse City. Then I had to head out to meet my clients for senior photos way up at Torch Lake. Everyone else hung out at their beach lot while I worked. Mike, the girls and I stopped at the Torch Lake Cafe for dinner on the way back (it was pretty late but oh well!). Yummmm.
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| ^Everyone way up in the lighthouse. |
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| ^Julie was being pouty so Mr. Charles chased her around. |
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| ^Flowers for Mommy. |
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| ^Double shoulder ride ;) |
Day Three
First off, we headed to Rennie Orchards to pick cherries. We filled about two sixteen pound buckets of them. It was so nice out, we could have probably done twice that but we didn't think we needed THAT many cherries. It was fun though, and the girls seemed to enjoy it. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at the Apache Trout Grill which was awesome! Then we headed to the dune climb at Sleeping Bear. Everyone went up (though I lagged back for awhile because Laina was having a fit). Julie loved it so much that she wanted to go up multiple times. PHEW! Good thing it was a little cooler and windy! Before heading back to the house for dinner, we went to the township beach back in TC. The girls didn't swim much (like I said, much cooler!) but they had a blast in the sand and entertained themselves so we were able to relax for awhile.
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| ^We are ready! |
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| ^PERFECT timing on the cherries! |
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| ^Awww Allie, you are adorable. |
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| ^Tractor Lu! |
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| ^The deck at the Apache Trout Grill. |
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| ^Sand angels. |
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| ^Quick stop at a beach in Glen Arbor. Too windy but pretty! |
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| ^I got wet getting THESE shots. |
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| ^At the nearby beach. |
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| ^This girl though... |
Day Four
All we did was pack up and get brunch at a cute little French place. All in all, it was a fun trip. As I said, traveling with little ones is trouble. I feel as if I earned my weekend alone starting tomorrow ;)
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| ^Everyone at our AirBnb. |
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| ^Stand on the table? Why didn't you say so? |
