Washington Island Trip: Part Two

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Yesterday, I shared a little bit about our introduction to Washington Island, WI. Today, I’ll share a little bit about what we explored while we were there. We did a little bit of sightseeing each day with a whole lot of lounging, dock-sitting, reading and napping in between. Just our style and just what we needed.

One of the first days we were there, we went hiking at Mountain Park. It is a huge climb with a staircase that has over 100 steps to get to the top. At the top, you have to climb a billion more steps to get to the top of the lookout tower. For the rest of the day, my poor not-up-to-pre-pregnancy-toughness legs were all wobbly. But the view was amazing! It gave us quite the bird’s eye view of the island layout. BTW, I love my Snugli baby carrier that I believe I found at a rummage sale. Rayna just loved being carried in that thing, on my back. We did a lot of non-stroller-friendly sightseeing and this was the only way to do it. Join the #babywearing movement, yo.

While we didn’t have any TV or Wifi access, we did want a little something to do at nights before the kids went to bed, so we went to the local library, opened up a card, and rented some movies. Hubster happened to bring his computer along, so we were able to do that. We’re still trying to introduce Kayne to all the original Disney characters that we met as kids, including Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan and Snow White. At Disney World, he had no idea who half the classic characters were!

Another day we dedicated to swimming. We visited Schoolhouse Beach, which is one of 5 beaches in the whole world with smooth stones like this. Although this beach is rocky, and I would suggest wearing water shoes, it was crystal clear and THE best place for swimming on the island in my opinion. Cold though. Very cold. Rayna took her very first swim in these waters. She lasted about two seconds. Haha.

Only picture of Rayna that doesn’t show her screaming

We also swam off the dock by our cabin, but

the bottom was pretty mucky.

We also went to a little ice cream social event that seemed to be one of the “big” events while we were there. We had hamburgers and ice cream, all-American style. There were activities for the kids too. One of them was a station to build things out of scraps of wood. Not sure why WI was in the scrap pile, but it was. Kayne wanted to build a birdhouse, so he tried his best. But Rayna started telling us she was sooo done, so I quickly swooped in and tried to “fix” the birdhouse, which made Kayne mad. I rectified the situation by getting him all excited about creating a fairy garden with it. We decked it out with a flower garden, swing, walk path and pool (Gatorade lid). I just LOVED doing this little imaginative project with him. We’re going to build one at home too.

Another day, we checked out a few museums including the Jacobsen Museum, which had a lot of native artifacts and a cabin that Jens Jacobsen built. We also visited a nature museum and a butterfly house which had a huge butterfly garden out back.

Then there was, you know, the local coffee shop, bookstore. And lots of outdoor play time.

Cute scene behind the coffee shop

We spent a lot of time on our picnic blanket

My infamous pinch bouquet. These dainty flowers were the cutest!

I don’t know what it was about Door County, but there were several of these buildings with grass growing on the roofs. Hubster pointed one out and wondered how they mow the grass up there. I turned around and looked back and saw there were goats on the roof! That’s how they mow the grass!

Washington Island bookstore with grass on the roof

See the goats up there at the peak?

I love turning our trips into teachable moments, without forcing it. In fact, I even wrote a whole post about how we do it. We bought a Critters of WI book for Kayne and read up on a few of the animals we saw. We also bought him a net at one of the bookstores so he could explore the little fish, butterflies and bugs on the island. We stopped and explained a lot of the things in the nature museums that he was curious about.

It’s hard to see in this pic, but a momma deer

and her two fawns nonchalantly

crossed the road in front of us. Sooo cute!

You know, sometimes you just have to catch

those picture-worthy opportunities. Bahaha!

This was a trip we won’t soon forget. Kayne keeps talking about what we’ll do “when we go back.” Not sure if/when we’ll go back, but I’m sure glad he enjoyed it so much he wants to return!

Next up, we’re headed camping trip in August and we just can’t wait. We still haven’t perfected Rayna’s sleeping arrangements in the camper, but we’ve done it once before this spring with a folding bassinet, so maybe she’ll get used to it. Lots more sun and relaxation in our future.