Time Together

Hello, from Northern Michigan! We're on our first vacation as a family of four. So far, the trip has been great. BTW, Dena, the driving plan worked!

Our first stop was at Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, MI.... We had close-up encounters with giraffes and saw lots of other animals.

Our final destination: Boyne Mountain and Petoskey, MI. Here are some photos from the beach at Petoskey State Park. The water was freezing, so we didn't swim, but we made a sandcastle and collected shells and petoskey stones.

Here is the condo where we are staying. We're upstairs. Very comfy. We're the only ones in this building with small kids, though. Not sure the other vacationers appreciate our 7 am wake time each morning.

We spent time yesterday on some hiking trails. Elisabeth went in the backpack carrier on Mark's back. Danielle and I hiked. We weren't sure Elli would like the carrier at first--she put up quite a fit. But, she settled in and got so relaxed that she fell asleep in there!

We hiked up a local trail and had a nice view of Lake Charlevoix, an inlet to Lake Michigan.