Family Vacation :: Stories and Photo's Part 2

It's almost been a month since our Summer Vacation in Michigan, but the memories still lay clear in my mind. We have some nice photographs to remember our days there, of course not enough in my book, but we didn't count on a camera malfunction. Luckily our friend Karl had his camera and passed along some great images.





After leaving Niles, Michigan, we drove 5 hours north to the Leelanau Peninsula to stay at a Rustic cottage on Glen Lake, which is just a few miles from
The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.



We stayed at the cottage for a week with our friends Karl and Elizabeth and their two children Adam, and Estelle. We discovered that we are quite compatible families and are looking forward to many, future vacations together. The weather was also just beautiful. Warm sunny days, and cool nights, kept us loving life.




My Youngest Brother Andrew joined us for a few days, for his Birthday, and my Oldest Brother Greg and his family were staying in the area to, so we were able to share some nice dinners and beach time together. We were also able to visit with my Cousin Maureen and her family, who live in Traverse City, we have not seen each other for over 5 years, and actually had never met each other's children. On top of Great friends it was a family affair as well...

This picture is Andrew and Adam looking cool at the top of a 400ft dune...



Our Cottage was the perfect size, it easily housed all 8 of us, and it had the decor that older cottages have, but with a Vintage flare to it. I really could have easily lived there for a month! The best part was that it was on the lake, and due to the fact that there was no one staying in any of the cottages near us, we virtually had the lake to ourselves. We always starting our mornings at the beach on the lake, drinking coffee, watching the kids play in the sand and water, and after an outing during the day, we were back there late afternoon, and evening to swim, and finish off the evening with a fire. It was dreamy.....



We were about a half a mile's walk into town, so every morning Alan walked there and got himself a copy of The New York Times to lazily read over while the rest of us were still waking up, and getting our breakfast. It was nice to see him r-e-l-a-x...




One of my favorites things we did, was pass a little roadside fruit and vegetable stand, which was selling the harvest from a family owned garden, and picked up fresh peaches, tomato's, cucumbers, and I even was able to cut my own herbs right out of the garden. What a delight ! Let me tell you, everything tasted just fabulous !

My list of simple pleasures for the week...

The fresh baked Cherry/Blueberry Pie from " The Cherry Republic"
Sleeping in every morning with Blake, we were always the last one's to arise.
Laughing, lots of laughing.
Picking the wild flowers on the side of the road as we walked into town.
Campfires on the Beach.
Drinking Cherry Port after dinner.
Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries.

Yes, lots of Cherry's, apparently Leelanau County leads the nation in terms of acres planted in cherries... Mmmmm...

You can see more photo's of our trip on my flickr page by clicking here..



Part 3 of our Family Vacation will be coming up soon...