About 2 weeks ago, after our extended stay in Michigan (where John ran the Detroit Marathon), we headed up to Mackinac Island. It is a tiny island at the tippy-top of Michigan (the Lower Peninsula).
We take a mini-vacation there every year during their last open weekend. It is such a great little place to enjoy some quality family time. There are no cars allowed on the island, but there are horses (with carriages) and bikes everywhere. Alex was loving every minute of seeing horses everywhere.
We took a horse and carriage taxi to our condo which was about 2 miles from town. We usually stay right on Main Street, but this year we figured it would be nice to have a little “running around” space for Alex. We picked out Sunset Condos as our desired destination (I stayed there with my friends family a few years back) and it worked out wonderfully! There was enough room for us to split the condo with our good friends and for Alex to explore.
Here was our beautiful view! The sunset happened on the left side of this photo, hence the name of the condo.
We did a lot of walking to town, and by a lot I mean one round trip and one one-way trip. Let me tell you, this kid can walk a long way and not be tired! We let him walk home on Friday (hoping for a nap when we got back) and he surprised us all when he still wanted to run around. His energy is never ending!
We walked around downtown on Friday, where Alex found he new favorite place on the planet, Great Turtle Toys. I wish I could have gotten a picture to capture the pure joy that was brought on by a toy store. There was a flying cow outside the door that he kept running in circles underneath and a giant soccer ball that kept him entertained for at least 10 minutes. It. Was. Adorable.
On Saturday, John and Cassie ran the Great Turtle 5.7 mile race. I was terrible at taking pictures this year, so I have none of him running. Fail. I really have none of us all together after the race. But, here is me holding his medal!
I’m not going to lie, it was pretty awesome that nobody ran the half marathon this year. We were able to book it out of there after the finish and get to lunch early (the race starts at 11:30, so we’re always hungry after). My best friend and her whole family were up there too, so we headed out to lunch with them. I even got to see their sweet little girl again! She’s such a doll. I know Alex is going to love her one day =]
Although we failed at getting good post-race pictures,we did manage to get a great family picture on one of our walks =] Those are the ferry docks (& Main Street) in the background where you float on into the island from the mainland.
Since we did so much walking, we had to do a lot of sitting to balance it out. Phil and Cassie (our condo-mates) brought this new-to-us game called Settlers of Catan. It is sort of a mix between Monopoly and Risk(??).
Anyways, it was so much fun! I got really addicted and wanted to win so bad. Which is probably why I never could win. Everybody else was able to pull out a “W” so that made it even more frustrating! One day…
Oh! Check out this double rainbow we saw while we were walking downtown! Epic.
I’m sorry if this post seems super scattered! I probably should have written it when we got back since my brain is mush (I can blame baby brain right?). It was such a fun weekend! If you are ever in Northern Michigan, I highly suggest you checking out Mackinac Island. It’s a great little place to spend some quality family time =]
