While Katie was telling me that the door on the tree wasn’t real and no one lives there, I spotted something.
Author Archives: Jen
Naturally Slim let me be a kid again!
I couldn’t have done this 130# ago! #ropeswing (I did it a few days ago as well but these pics were better.) Photo credits to my stepsister Beth who happened to arrive for a short visit!
I posted on Instagram tagging Naturally Slim and they wanted to share it! 🙂
Helpful little flower girl
Katie helped Gramma prune her flowers.
Guess what? More swinging.
Hide and seek with Gramma
Higher and higher, we have a happy girl!
Swinging Gramma!
Darrows!
It seems like everyone and their brother told us we HAD to stop and eat at Darrows in Mackinac City—but that it was often crazy busy with long wait times. So we decided to check it out on our way back to Grayling. There were open parking spots so we lucked out with barely a five-minute wait.
They’re known for their whitefish so Tom and I split a dinner and while it was quite good, I’m not sure it would be worth a long wait. That said, we saw the pies and cakes on the way out and both got a piece—Tom got pecan and I got a peanut butter chocolate cheesecake. [We didn’t end up eating them until that night and HOLY HELL were they delicious!]
Mighty Mac
It was crappy weather again so I didn’t get any good pics. 🙁
Our only napper.
This popped up in my feed again today.
It’s now up to 1100+ likes!
A book from Grannie
Grannie gave Katie one of the books they read while we were there and Grannie had Katie write her name in the front of it. 🙂
Pre-bedtime snuggles with Grannie
The very last sparkler.
The kids wanted to have one last fire, but it was really hot out and the flies were still biting, so we didn’t last too long. But, Owen had found one single sparkler left in the car so they shared it and that was it for the fire.
The cookie monsters…and more!
We’re on top of the world!
None of us had ever been up Brockway Mountain, so we did that after mini golf.
Owen took a selfie!
Mini golf in Copper Harbor
Unfortunately it was really hot and the biting flies were out so we played a bit quicker than we normally would have…which was a challenge since Katie and Owen have almost zero experience and needed quite a bit of guidance. 🙂
Daddy was the only one to get a hole in one, and daddy was the overall winner (he usually is, so I don’t know why he whines so much about playing LOL).
Some of the holes had “crazy” rules—this one you had to play with the hockey stick!
Grannie has much more patience than I do.
The kids helped Grannie make deviled eggs to surprise daddy for lunch.
Daddy didn’t need to use his iPad.
Papa and Grannie’s new fire pit!
Hauling it down to the landing!
Dinner at Harbor Haus is now a tradition.
Tonight was our second time eating at the Harbor Haus (a 4-star Yelp-reviewed German restaurant!) so now it’s officially a tradition when we visit up here!
- Appetizer: Crab Stuffed Risotto Balls, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Smoked Cheese, Panko Crust (amazing—could have been our dinner in entirety)
- Soup: Steak something-or-other (tomato-based and surprisingly delicious)
- Entree: Mixed Grill (three seasoned and grilled shrimp with a bearnaise-type sauce, bacon-wrapped jagerwurst with a dark sauce, flank steak with a mushroom sauce, and wild mushroom risotto—DELICIOUS)
- Dessert: Belgian Chocolate, Toasted Hazelnut & Frangelico Soufflé with Crème Anglaise
Yet another trip to the Eagle Harbor beach!
Papa and Grannie took the kids back to the beach (leaving us home to relax and get ready for our dinner out) and Grannie sent these pics.
And added this commentary:
Katie found a puddle and added to it. (I confirmed she added water to it and not pee.) 🙂
Now it is a bubble bath she says.
Handstand Owen
My view for most of the day today.
Just gorgeous. And relaxing. Gotta love a swinging bench.
Three fishes!
Tom and Owen fishing next door—you can see them if you look very closely in about the middle of the picture.
Owen caught a fish! Tom told him he had to hold it for a picture. This is him NOT wanting to do that AT ALL.
Still worried about it and refusing to do it. Tom told him he had to otherwise he was done fishing. 🙂
TA DA! With smiles, even!
Katie didn’t have a worm on hers but she didn’t know any better. 🙂
Fish #2!
No arguments this time!
He ended up catching three small fish! Dad cleaned them and we all got one tiny bite!
Wild Blueberries
The kids got to pick wild blueberries earlier in the week to have blueberry pancakes…and I managed to find these today!
A siblings on vacation throwback
Owen happened to be wearing the same outfit…and of course Katie had on pink! And we were somewhere we could recreate the pic pretty well!
Stones & Binoculars
Katie loved throwing the walkway stones into the water—and she was really good at it!
Baby in a basket…then and now. Plus daisies.
The last time Katie was at Papa and Grannie’s, she was a few months old. This is where she slept:
So of course we had to recreate it…except we did it in the pretty garden instead of the basement (and I didn’t research the pic first so I had the wrong color bin).
Owen found a cannon in Papa’s workshop.
Or maybe a flag pole. 🙂
Happy and relaxed girls.
