Travel Tuesday: Florida Spring Break Edition - Cape Canaveral National Seashore

This post has been moved to MichiGal Travels. Just click the link below to read it now.

Florida Spring Break: Cape Canaveral National Seashore

My Michigan Memory: Summer Vacation in Lexington, Michigan

I'm linking up with Mrs. Weber's Neighborhood for My Michigan Memory. This week the prize is a family four pack of tickets to the Detroit Institute of Arts, one of my favorite places in Detroit! Go on over and enter, and if you are a blogger with a Michigan Memory to share, link up for 10 extra entries!

By the way, I won the prize a couple weeks ago for a family four pack of tickets to the Midland Center for the Art, a place I recently wrote about in a My Michigan Memory post! Remember, you can't win if you don't enter!

Almost every summer since Bethany was born, we've vacationed in The Thumb with my mother-in-law.  This year our plans fell through when the place we were supposed to be renting was unexpectedly sold at the last minute. So instead we did something different and moved our vacation to Lexington, which bills itself as the "First Resort North." Basically, it's at the base of The Thumb, when we typically stay at the tip of  The Thumb.

Sad kids who had to wait until the next day...it was closed!

My grandparents used to have a second home in Lexington many years ago, so I spent a  lot of time there as a kid. Even after they sold their place, we would take regular day trips, a tradition I have sporadically kept up with my own children. Lexington is a little beach town, nestled on the shores of Lake Huron. The highlight for me, three plus decades ago, was The General Store. Back then they sold true penny candy, but even now they have a candy counter where kids can stand on a stool and point to everything they'd like, while a very patient employee fills a little paper bag with the chosen goodies. Needless to say, no visit to Lexington is complete without a trip to The General Store in town, and I would have to say I think it's also the highlight for my kids. It's worth a visit to the General Store even if you're not in the market for candy. They have all sorts of unique merchandise in a really cool setting. There's more stuff upstairs too! But do keep in mind that they close early!

Our cottage was an awesome, refurbished (with central air, a dishwasher, and a washer and dryer) old house with lots of space, a heavenly front porch, and a huge yard. We were only about one block from town (ie: The General Store), one block from the beach, and one block from Dairy Queen. In short, a perfect location! The downside would be that several of the restaurants in town have closed and dining options within walking distance were very limited. But we made the best of it and managed just fine.

Sunset at the beach

The public beach is sandy, with warm, shallow water (no rocks! no seaweed!). There's a playground, restrooms, concerts on Friday nights in the summer (we caught a little of an Elvis impersonator), and a long pier to walk along for gorgeous views. It is kind of small and narrow, and it tends to get pretty crowded. We did hang out there some, but since we prefer a little more privacy on the beach, we made the trip to nearby Lakeport State Park a couple times. It was about a 20 minute drive, but there the beach is big, spread out, and sparsely populated. The park is accessed right off of M-25, south of town, with the parking lot on the opposite side of the street. You have to cross a pedestrian bridge to get to the beach, but the walk isn't too bad. This was my first time at Lakeport, and I'd definitely go back for a beach day - it is only about an hour from home. It's clean and the water is warm and shallow, although a bit rocky. You might want to bring some water shoes.

Our first visit to the state park, as we were packing everything up to leave, an older gentleman ran over to tell me how impressed he was with my children. He positively raved about how nice and well-behaved they were, and said he didn't want me to leave without telling me. This stranger's kind comments gave me fortitude the rest of the week every time we had a difficult moment, and trust me, there were plenty. But I'm glad he saw them on a good day and took the time to come over and say such wonderful things about them. It got me thinking that I don't give out compliments often enough, especially to strangers, and how a few kind words can really make someone's day, or even week.

We had a lovely, relaxing vacation. I'll tell you more about it soon...

A perfect day at Lakeport State Park

Lakeport State Park

Lakeport State Park

Beautiful beach at Lakeport State Park, Lexington, Michigan

Boogie boarding in Lake Huron, Lakeport State Park, Lexington, Michigan

Busy building sand castles at Lakeport State Park, Lexington, Michigan

That's quite a rock you've got there, Lucy! Lakeport State Park, Lexington, Michigan

Candy-crazed in Lexington, Michigan

In candy heaven...although I suspect that candy cigarettes are not quite PC? Lexington, Michigan

Summer Can't Get Here Quick Enough

This post was published last year. I accomplished a lot on my list, but not everything. I haven't made a complete Summer Bucket List this year yet...what's on yours?



May sure is busy this year. This weekend we will be celebrating our sweet and sassy Mathilda's 2nd birthday, and next week Lucy will be graduating from preschool. Bethany & Connor have only 16 days left of 4th and 2nd grade, respectively. And then summer break, the time I look forward to all year, will be upon us at last! 

I can't wait to sleep in. I can't wait to go to the beach. I can't wait to hang out at the park. I can't wait to go swimming...outdoors! I can't wait for day trips and long, lazy play dates and trips up north. I can't wait for freeeeeeedom! Blissful freedom to choose what I want to do with my kids everyday for 3 whole months!

Every summer, it seems, I have grand plans and a long, ambitious list of things I want to do, and I never ever get through the whole list. This year will be no different, I'm sure. Here's this year's agenda, off the top of my head and totally incomplete:

• Spend a week in Port Austin (booked!)
• Go to Roger's City (la hotel de Aunt Donna always has an opening for us, right Aunt Donna?)
• Take the kids to Tahquamenon Falls in the U.P., a place I visited when I was a kid which maybe marks the beginning of my love affair with waterfalls. Also, Chris's grandparents went there for their honeymoon about 70 years ago, how cool is that?!
• Visit family in Grand Rapids, and take the kids to Meijer Gardens while we're there. My mom and I took Bethany & Connor there when they were very little, and it was so much fun - I want Lucy & Mathilda to get to experience it too.
• Make my kids take an entire month off of the television, including video games. I've already been talking this up. I think it's going to be July. I hope they don't cry about it too much, but guess what? They'll get over it!
• Visit family in Midland
• Go back to Chris's dad's cabin
• Go camping
• Go to the Detroit RiverFront and let the kids splash around in the fountains like we did last summer. Preferably, do this more than once.
• Go to Belle Isle, an annual tradition. 
• Go to Mexican Village and eat outside.
• Visit the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, something I have yet to do.
• Visit the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts), something I haven't done in a couple years.
• Go to Greenfield Village
• Go to the Toledo Zoo
• Read Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl with Bethany and then take her to the Holocaust Memorial Center where we can meet actual survivors of the Holocaust
• and...well I could go on, but see what I mean about long and ambitious? I wonder how many of these items I'll get to cross off my list...

I seriously might be more excited than the kids. Truly. My only slight hang up is that I've been leery and ahem, maybe just a bit lazy, about working out since my health scares in November and then again in February. Since I need to be able to keep up with my kids, I really need to get on a walking regime. Starting...well how about tomorrow? Tomorrow is always a good place to start.

Lucy at Belle Isle

Lucy at the beach in Lexington, MI

Connor, Lucy, and Bethany at the beach in Port Austin, MI

Mathilda sleeping at the Port Austin beach

Ocqueoc Falls

The beach in Rogers City