Category: memories

September 20, 2013

Better Than Gold

Last night, as I pulled into the driveway, Hubster was pushing our bikes through the gate to go get air in the tires. He didn’t tell me where we were going, he just loaded our bikes into the truck and whisked us away.

Hey, who am I to argue with a man who suddenly wants to do something active and spend some family time together doing it? Not me! I just kept wishing I knew where we were going. All those to-do lists I was talking about were bubbling around in my brain. Not that I didn’t want to go…I just wanted to know where and for how long…Ok, I admit, I just wanted to be in control a little bit.

We pulled into one of Hubster’s local hunting haunts and unloaded the bikes. The pretty nature trail leading out of the driveway was gravel. The sky was a threatening gray. But what an amazing ride! In the first stretch, we were greeted by dozens of frogs jumping across the trail. I even saw a snake slither into the marshy grass at one point!

A little farther down, we rode out onto a breaker wall. I didn’t realize that the wall was even there, let alone that it did a huge loop through the lake and ended back at the parking lot. Amazing! We took a bike ride along this fabulous breaker wall, watching the sea gulls, ducks and carp do their thang. We even stopped at the pass-through gate for boats and watched the fish for awhile.

Once we got back to the truck, it finally started raining. As we were leaving, Peanut said “there’s a deer!” He was pointing at a statue in someone’s front yard. In the very next yard, I shouted out “no, there’s a deer!” A real deer! One that was moving! We had a good little chuckle at that little coincidence.

I just marvel sometimes at how a simple little trip like this could turn into a full memorable event. We took one simple weeknight, a night that we easily could have dedicated to vegging in front of the tube or cleaning yet another mess and we tried something different. And it didn’t cost anything. And it was so perfect.

I mean, we saw dozens of frogs, a snake, hundreds of ducks and other birds, jumping fish, wild turkeys and a deer. And we biked through the middle of a lake. All in one little weeknight. Wow!

Seriously, some things really are better than gold.

Beautiful views

And learning opportunities. We went on a little bone hunt
and talked about what animals they might be from.
Obvs this one is from a crawfish

A little island. Hubster says it holds an aviary hatchery.

Make me a promise, and do something a little bit different tonight.
What are your favorite on-a-whim memories?

August 19, 2013

Weekend Highlights

After taking a few trips in June and July, the weekends seem to get shorter and shorter because the prospective days off get fewer and further between. But we don’t like to spend our weekends complaining about our lack of time, we go gangbusters and try to get every last drop out of them that we can.

Yesterday found us on the Wisconsin waterways. Hubster got done with work early and asked if we wanted to go for a little boat ride. Well, sure. If only I’d known that little boat ride would be six hours long, I would’ve packed more sunscreen, snacks and drinks. But I digress. Despite the sunburn, it was an amazing trip in my dad’s little fishing boat.

This was what our view looked like almost all day. Just beautiful trees over the water with amazing streams of light coming out of the clouds.

Actually, my view looked mostly like this. Ha! This knucklehead is a baby of a pit bull. Every time we hit choppy waters, he whined and tried to hide. But these calm waters made for a happy pooch.

Anyone know what these birds are? We found an island that had these white-looking trees just littered with these birds. It was a bit “Birds” creepy but cool at the same time.

We saw turtles sunbathing on almost every open log.

I love spending my days with these guys.

Two abandoned outhouses in the middle of nowhere.

Only in Wisconsin.

And…….I saved the best for last. Look at this majestic bird Hubster spotted out on the power lines on our way back. Such a rare treat:

Yesterday was completely unplanned, but I enjoyed every minute of it, even the time Hubster jumped a wave and got all of us soaked. Peanut started to cry until he saw how hard we were laughing. Crisis averted. Memories made. What a good day!

August 13, 2013

Annual Perseid Picnic

I like to be completely intentional about family traditions as much as possible. Some traditions happen by happy accident, but many of them take some thought and preparation. Before Peanut was even born, I thought about special, unconventional things that we could do together every year to form some deep-rooted traditions that will maybe even be passed off into the next generation.

Out of those personal brainstorms, the Perseid Picnic was born. How cool would it be to take my Peanut out well past his bedtime to watch a meteor shower every year? How cool would it be to have a midnight picnic at the same time? After that, I could think of nothing else. This was an amazing idea that I just couldn’t pass up. In fact, we tried it out officially during last year’s Perseid meteor shower and I could already tell then this was a winner.

So, Peanut, his cousin and I geared up for another year of star-gazing. We grabbed snacks, binoculars, and a picnic blanket and headed to as dark-yet-safe a spot as we could find. We propped our heads on a park bench and waited. Thing is, 5 and 6 year olds do not have a whole lot of patience for these types of things. We only last about 1/2-hour, but that’s ok. My nephew got to see a shooting star last year and Peanut got to see one this year, so I’m just happy that they’ve gotten to experience that thrill in a small way. I didn’t see my first shooting star until college! As they grow older, I’m sure we’ll explore this astral phenomenon in a bit more depth and be able to stay up a little later, make more of an event of this 🙂

Afterward, we went home and camped out in our little backyard tent. It rained, but we were protected by our big beautiful maple tree and the sloping hill we were perched on. We had such a fun time soaking in these final summer experiences before school starts. I truly hope that these special moments together create meaningful memories for my Peanut and his cousin and that one day they know just how much these little traditions mean.

What are your favorite family traditions?

August 8, 2013

How to Travel on a Budget

I am the queen of travelling on a budget. Take our recent trips to Mackinac Island, Door County and Chicago for examples. We were able to take these three exciting trips within a month of each other without robbing our regular monthly budget. I also happen to be a super resourceful person, so we get quite a lot more out of our trips than I suspect some others do. Let me clue you in to the tips and tricks I use to get every last drop out of our trips that we can:

1. Travel Sunday through Thursday: On our recent Mackinac Island trip, we did just that and the rates were significantly lower during the work week. We’ve done this before with trips to Wisconsin Dells as well, and ended up paying pennies for a week full of memories. Weekends are huge in the world of tourism, so travelling during the week can work to your advantage. If you’re taking a week off of work anyway, why not travel Sunday through Thursday? Hey, that even leaves you a full three-day weekend to take a vacation from your vacation.

2. Travel during the off-season: similar to #1 above, travelling just outside of the purported “high-season” will save you significantly. We got dirt cheap rates for a motel in Wisconsin Dells when we traveled in mid-June. It was still hot enough to enjoy all the water parks and outdoor attractions, but too early to be considered part of the high season. We got to enjoy the sites for cheaper and with far fewer other people clamoring for rides. Check to see if there is an off-season for your desired destination and plan your trip around that.

3. Stick with the envelope system: Prior to leaving for any of our trips, I always designate a certain amount of funds to fixed costs such as gas, motel, food and must-see sites. Then, I put away a little for “extras” like souvenirs, extra dinners out, parking costs and other things. We adhere strictly to this envelope system to keep our spending in check because it can be easy to get carried away with treats and unnecessary souvenirs. With my envelope system, we don’t end up with a bunch of extra junk in our luggage and really give thought to what we’re throwing money at. I’d much rather sacrifice an extra beach towel for an off-road ATV ride any day. Experiences always trump “things.” Your spending should reflect that.

4. Sacrifice a nicer hotel for more experiences: Really, we’re generally only in our hotel room to sleep. Therefore, we don’t need anything extravagant. Yes, we want something decent, but it doesn’t have to be much more than a clean bed, a hot shower and a microwave. That way, we can spare more expenses for memories and experiences. Those are much more important. You will save a significant amount of money if you can find a decent hotel with just the basics. With a little research, you can weed out the really awful places and find something just right. When we went to Chicago in June, our requirements were that we had parking, were within 15 miles of my NASM workshop, were in a decent neighborhood and had a pool to use. Know what you absolutely need and cut out the rest. With research, we ended up finding a decent, clean Best Western for a really good price and were able to spend more on museums and other excursions. You may even be able to score a hotel that is a step up by using travel discount sites like Priceline. This could be a bullet point of its own, but you should never pay full price for your hotel! Check out the prices on several travel sites before you make your final booking.

5. Find package deals. On our recent Mackinac Island trip, I was able to save a significant amount of money by packaging what we knew we needed with our hotel booking. We bought our ferry tickets and butterfly museum tickets along with our hotel room on the Chamber of Tourism website, saving us $7.50 per person. Hotels themselves often offer coupons and special deals, and some travel sites are equipped to do this for you too. If you know exactly what you’ll need for the trip, go ahead and buy tickets at a reduced price ahead of time.

6. Bring your own food. Eating out is definitely something we enjoy doing on vacation, but we try to limit it as much as we can because it can be really expensive when all added up. By bringing sandwiches, yogurt, granola bars, popcorn and other travel-friendly foods in a cooler, we always save a lot on food. We usually plan one or two special restaurant dinners out and enjoy the rest of our meals at picnics or in our room. Beach and boat picnics offer much more significant memories than another restaurant meal anyway. You will probably end up eating more healthy if you use this strategy too!

7. Take advantage of amenities: Our last hotel had one of the best free continental breakfasts I’ve ever experienced. We were able to eliminate some of our food expenses due to this. We filled up in the morning and only had to eat light lunches. There was also an on-site gym, outdoor playground and indoor water park at our disposal. Some of our food and entertainment was built right into the hotel cost! Factor in these amenities to your trip planning to reduce some of your costs.

8. Do your research: Find as many free and low-cost forms of entertainment that you can. Don’t spare expenses for what you really want to do, but do be resourceful about things you can do and see without spending a mint. Check travel websites for what other people are saying and for what locals already know. You might find some hidden gems that others don’t know about or ways to get around certain costs. We’ve found countless free festivals, concerts, historical sites, lighthouses, beaches, museums, state parks and much more that leave us with amazing memories and no travel debt! I mean, swimming in the Great Lakes and catching that colorful awe-inspiring sunset under the Mackinaw Bridge cost us nothing, but those memories will last a lifetime.

9. Check your rewards and memberships: Our local EAA passes got us into the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago for free. In fact, there are hundreds of museums across the country that our passes will get us into for free, so we try to see if there are any nearby whenever we travel. Check with your credit cards, AAA membership, workplace and other places you belong to find discounts and cash in on those points. We also like to save our reward dollars from our credit card just for trips. My and Hubster’s workplaces even offer discounted tickets on places like water and theme parks. It really pays to check out what’s available to you through your various connections and memberships.

10. Use unconventional income sources: A good portion of our trip expenses are brought to us by the cash we get from a friend who rents a room in our house. Explore new ways to bring in extra cash and then dedicate that portion entirely to trips. If you didn’t miss that income before, you won’t miss it now. I have also worked on some freelance writing projects, cashed in our credit card reward dollars, saved our tax returns and sold some unnecessary items from our home online or at rummage sales to sweep together travel funds. You could also squirrel away 1% of your normal income automatically to a dedicated savings account or earmark work bonuses for special travel occasions. Find a way to bring in extra cash, be diligent about saving, and you just might be able to go on your dream vacation–or at least head out of town for the weekend.

11. Stay a little further down the road. Staying directly in the city you which to visit can sometimes be more pricey. For example, staying for a week on Mackinac Island would probably have cost us double what we paid to stay on the mainland. We were still able to enjoy all the pleasures of the island, but we were also even able to explore much more of the upper Michigan area this way. One day, we simply drove down the road until we hit a small town. We wouldn’t have been able to do as much on the Island. Same thing with our Door County trip. Staying right in Fish Creek or Bailey’s Harbor would have set us back more than our little cabin just a tad bit down the road. Staying in a tourist-driven city is notoriously more expensive than staying just a bit outside.

12. Take shorter, closer trips: as you can tell by my family’s travel experiences this year, we like to take vacation within a day’s drive of our home. There are so many places that feel like a whole different world that take no more than a five hour’s drive. Research places in your home state that you’ve never been before and I’m sure you’ll find enough worthwhile trips to last you decades. As a bonus, you won’t have the gas or flight costs associated with further travel. Likewise, we enjoy taking shorter, more frequent trips. If you’re staying close to home, your travel time doesn’t eat up your actual vacation time as much. Also, when you break the year up into smaller slices like that, you have so much more to look forward to, it’s easier to budget for trips, and hey, your work productivity might even surge.

I truly hope these 12 tips give you some useful tips for travelling on a budget. It really is possible to visit new places, even with lighter income streams. Please, don’t let that vacation time roll over into next year’s paycheck. Take some time today to plan your next trip. You’ll be glad you did. What are you top ways to save?

August 2, 2013

Secret Hiding Spots and the EAA Convention

Two of the most infamous things Oshkosh, WI is known for is the origin of the Oshkosh B’Gosh clothing line and the EAA convention. We host a few other big-ish events like Country USA and Rock USA, but EAA is one of the most well-renowned events that draws thousands upon thousands of people from all over the country–and beyond US borders. The airport gets jam-packed with campers and rows and rows of personal planes. People from Oshkosh even rent out their homes and yards to visitors for extra cash and everyone in town grumbles about driving anywhere remotely near the EAA grounds. But they put on quite the show. The fly-in offers everything aircraft-related you could ever imagine.

We used to play the license plate game during EAA when we were younger. We’d drive through all the restaurant and hotel parking lots to try and find one license plate from every state. I’ve even seen Hawaii and Alaska plates!

This year, we bought a family membership to the EAA museum due to the shortage of any indoor places around here to take a child during the winter. I mean, even our McDonald’s doesn’t have a Playland anymore and the closest kid-friendly cafe just shut down. There’s nothing in this town for kids to do in winter. Nothing. Nada. However, we found that the EAA museum offers a really neat children’s discovery area complete with simulators, cockpits and all kinds of exciting stuff.

Now, this membership comes in really handy during the actual EAA convention. I decided to take Peanut to the EAA museum, right on the EAA grounds, to see if we could watch some of the live air shows. The air shows are really spectacular. Every day this week, locals will see all different kinds of planes do tricks in the air. There will be plane formations, smoke shows, parachute jumps, blimps, plane dives and all sorts of other cool things. This is really cool, even if you’re not a real airplane person.

Well, Peanut and I found a secret spot where we can really watch the airshow from front-row seats without having to pay admission to the grounds. And we even took a driving route in the back way that wasn’t flooded with traffic. Now, I’ve been on the grounds before. Living in Oshkosh, at one time or another, you end up working somewhere or other there. But to pay admission every year could really wipe out one’s entertainment budget. Now, with our secret spot, we get to watch the show for free. And no one else really came around the secret spot either. We had the place to ourselves! I’m sure this will become a tradition for Peanut and I each year going forward, now that we found this great spot.

We’re spending these last few weeks of summer vacation with as much excitement as we can. EAA presented another opportunity to do just that and it didn’t cost us anything!

How are you taking advantage of these last few moments of summer vacation?

August 2, 2013

Celebrity Crushes

Ok, I admit, I may occasionally have the propensity to be starstruck.

This past weekend, we went to a little thing called Deerfest, which is a huge festival in our city dedicated to everything deer-hunting. I even picked up a little Realtree camo for $4, in case I should ever need it (although I hate hunting, so figure that one out).

What truly inspired this trip was when Hubster noticed that Troy and Jacob Landry from Swamp People were making a special appearance. Oh, and then we noticed the people from Lizard Lick Towing were going to be there too. Both shows our household actually catch on-the-fly sometimes, and we’re big fans. Um ok, let’s go then! Plus, Hubster has gotten really into hunting in the last two years, so we thought we might as well check out all the toys and equipment too, you know, while we were there.

So, we bought our tickets online. We knew we’d just be getting back from our Mackinac Island trip, but we just shrugged our shoulders and went with it anyway.

The line for Lizard Lick Towing was pretty small when we got there, so we met with the guys, Ronnie and Bobbie, right away. But of course we had to come back later when Amy was there. She looks totally different in person than on TV. Her deep southern drawl is quite the same though! I envy her guns–she was a record-holding powerlifter in the past! Fitness fanatic that I am, I tried googling her workouts, but came up dry. Hey Amy, if you’re reading this, I’d love to know what your workouts look like:)

Amy is also a petite 5’2″ with a tiny waist and is only 3 years older than I am. Details, details, but I just wasn’t expecting that! She’s also a mortician and went to school for radiology at one point. And Ronnie is an ordained minister. That’s quite the background story!

Look at those loaded guns:)

Then, we got in line to meet Troy and Jacob Landry from Swamp People. I have to admit, Jacob is a very nice-looking man in person:) And Troy was very open and sweet. I even got a hug, haha!

Other than getting all fan-girl on celebs (haha, actually I’m too shy), we also got to test-drive some ATVs and bought some really amazing local cheese, which is only fitting for this land of Cheeseheads. This was just a fun little experience that will go down in the memory book. If you can make it next year, I give it a two thumbs up!

What celebrities meetup stories do you have to share?

July 31, 2013

If you’re ever in Mackinaw City Michigan

A few days ago, I offered some insider peeks into our trip to Mackinaw City/Mackinac Island, and I thought it would be great to follow up the post with a virtual itinerary if you happen to travel there. From my experience, these are some of the highlights of the area that you should definitely try:

1. Pick a lighthouse, any lighthouse. Since the Mackinaw straits are narrow and freckled with islands, lighthouses are pretty essential for water travel. Shipwrecks are pretty notorious in the area, so towering beacons abound. Some are only retained for historical value while others are still in use. The Old Mackinac Lighthouse right by the bridge in Mackinaw City costs and comes with a guided tour, but there are a few just down the road that are free and self-guided. It’s neat to see how the lighthouse guardians lived. It was a pretty lucrative career back in the day, but also highly particular. Your house had to be immaculate and you were required to take scrupulous notes about everything from the grounds to the weather to transportation reports.

2. Catch a sunset at the beach. You won’t be alone. The night we went, there were people everywhere on park benches and lawn chairs. It’s so incredible to watch all the colors and the city-scapes. And hey, of course it was a full moon when we decided to wander down to the beach. Bonus!

Peanut learning how to skip rocks while we wait for sunset.

I happened to read this verse in Psalms while listening to the waves: “The voice of the Lord is over the waters.” And oh, was I hanging onto every word.

3. Try a pastie. I have never been introduced to a pastie in my entire life. As we headed to Upper Michigan, we started seeing all these pastie shops everywhere. We wondered what they were. So, when in Rome… we decided to try some. We finally did so on Thursday night. Basically, pasties go back to the time of mining when the miners’ wives would pack their husbands lunches. They packed meat, potatoes and veggies in this pastry shell. Reason being is they’re easy to carry along to the jobsite and very filling. We tried the taco and stroganoff pasties at one of the award-winning pastie shops. Yum!

4. Swim in the Great Lakes: When the weather stays hot for several weeks and the water finally warms up, a good swim in these giant freshwater lakes is refreshing. The clearness of the water is also impeccable. I couldn’t believe how clear Lake Huron was, but I guess I’m jaded by our yucky Lake Winnebago waters. Just make sure you bring water shoes! It’s really rocky everywhere, and you’ll appreciate the reprieve of aqua socks.

Wading in Lake Michigan

See how clear Lake Huron is? And oh so rocky.

5. Visit the butterfly museum on the island. It’s off the beaten path a bit, but sooo worth the visit, especially if you have children. They even give you a butterfly guide so you can even decipher the different types of butterflies. Standing in a greenhouse waiting for amazing ornate butterflies to land on you is pretty magical, if you ask me.

6. Try the fudge and ice cream. This is pretty much a given. Mackinac Island Fudge is pretty famous, and for good reason. You won’t make it one single block on the island or mainland without running into a sweets shop. Just give in at least once and see what all the fuss is about.

7. Travel via horse or bike. You have to anyway. No motor vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island, except for a select few emergency vehicles and such. Even the UPS/FedEx/USPS guy delivered packages via horse-drawn carriage. You can plan ahead and bring along your own bike on the ferry or rent one. The clippety-clop of horses everywhere is just neat. It’s like you’re being transported to a whole different era.

8. But explore some of the island by foot. You miss some of the incredible details while you’re on a faster-moving vehicle. Horses and bikes cost by the hour (unless you bring your own on the ferry), so you’ll have a great opportunity to explore by foot as well. If you were to walk the entire perimeter of the island, it’s only 8.3 miles anyhow. These are just some of the neater details I caught:

Guests were building these Inukshuk-style statues everywhere along the rocky beaches.

Ornate details of a dragonfly

Beautiful residential details, flower-lined walk path and iron gates.

View of the shore from the topmost part of the island.

Hey, is that a groundhog? Why yes, yes it is.

9. Check out the local thrift stores. The prices in these stories in upper Michigan are much more friendly than the ones in the “big” cities. I couldn’t tear myself away from the kid’s section at the thrift shop in Cheboygan. No shirt was priced more than $1.50 and I got Peanut this handsome little button-down wardrobe–and a shirt for me–for less than $15, and they were all in great shape. It’s a nice way to inherit a few name brands that we wouldn’t normally pay full price for.

10. Get a load of the magnificent Mackinaw Bridge. I mean, unless you get to travel the San Francisco bridge every day, this is a pretty significant site. The towering bridge and story of its construction is just amazing. It does cost $4 each way to cross the bridge. Our ferry ride also took us under the bridge so we got to see it from all sides.

11. Gain access to an indoor waterpark, especially if you have kids. Several of the motels in Mackinaw City offer free indoor waterpark wristbands while other motels have waterparks built right inside them. On days when you’re not travelling and the weather turns sour, you’ll still have something really fun to do.

12. Visit the sand dunes. When I mentioned to my boss that I was visiting the area, she told me that the beautiful white sandy beaches were used for stand-in Caribbean photo shoots because of their similar geography and appearance. Many of the bigger sand dunes have a “look but don’t touch” kind of warning, and recent news stories about boys buried in sand dunes should give you a good idea about why you might want to stand back and admire from a distance.

13. And last but not least, when your son asks you to marry him by offering you a hand-picked upper Michigan wildflower, always say “yes.”

I genuinely hope this post is informative for those of you that are making the trip soon or even inspires you to make a special trip to the Mackinaw City area. If you go, stop back here and tell me about your trip! Or, if you’ve already been there, I’d love to hear about your experiences or if you have anything else to share.

Shortly, I’ll be back with a post about staying fit on vacation, based on my experiences on this trip as well as many previous trips. So, stay tuned for that!

July 28, 2013

Mackinac Island Trip Highlights

Oh my gosh, I can hardly believe it. I have not been on the computer in an entire week! Usually, my job has me tied to a computer for 8 hours, and sometimes when I return home I might spend another hour or so online with blog posts, etc. But this week, I was completely unplugged. Seriously, the only phone call I even made was handed over to Peanut so he could talk to his grandma. I think my poor overworked eyes and brains enjoyed the break.

That being said, I was really itching to get on here to stay connected with all of you and give you some updates on our fabulous trip to Mackinac Island. I have four other posts in development as well on maintaining fitness habits on vacation, turning family trips into learning opportunities, travelling on a budget, and a where to go/what to see post about Mackinac Island itself. The trip gave me a big hit of creative juices.

Let me just say, the weather turned out to perfectly coincide with what we planned each day. Outdoor swimming days and Island exploring days were met with perfect weather. Indoor movie days and lighthouse exploring days were windier and chillier.

Sunday: We left on Sunday for a long 5-hour drive “up north.” The weather looked pretty ominous the entire way, but we never hit any real rain. We got to cross the glorious Mackinaw Bridge on our way to our motel. We checked in, had a snack and decided to explore our surroundings just a bit. Mackinaw city is comparable to downtown Wisconsin Dells. Lots of tourist shops, wineries, restaurants and even a Haunted House. Most ridiculous $7 ever spent was at said Haunted House. Oh geez! It was cheesy, but I screamed at least 3 times and it will be one funny memory our family will always have. Sunday night, we endured a huge rain and thunder storm. It was exciting to watch and listen to it from our hotel room.

Amazing sandy beach rest stops along Lake Michigan

It wouldn’t be summer if I couldn’t walk around with a perpetual pinch bouquet in my hands.

Monday: The weather was impeccable on Monday. Hot enough to swim in the Great Lakes. Swimming in Lake Huron, though rocky, was fabulous. The water was so clear and refreshing on that hot mid-summer day. We drank it all in.

Swimming in Lake Huron

A girl could get used to this!

Peanut getting his swim on

Check out how clear that Great Lakes water is!

Tuesday: The weather turned cool on Tuesday, so our plans to catch Despicable Me 2 were perfect. The movie is very cute. We also explored a lighthouse on Tuesday–a great place to be when the wind was whipping and turning the lake into relentless undulating whitecaps. After all of that, we took a trip into Cheboygan where we stopped at a local thrift store and let Peanut wear himself out at the indoor playground at Burger King.

Wednesday: We decided on the midweek point to hit Mackinac Island. That way, we had something look forward to, but we also had an extra day padded in, just in case we decided we wanted to go back to the island the next day. Again, we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. It eventually warmed up into a comfortable temperature where we weren’t cold but weren’t sweating and the wind had dramatically died down. On the island, we took a guest-driven horse carriage ride, explored some historical sites, visited the amazing butterfly museum and had a lovely lunch out. The butterfly museum was the highlight of the trip for me.

Guest-driven horse carriage rides. We wanted to go horseback riding, but all the stables told us that for insurance purposes, no one under the age of 10 is allowed to ride. Carriage ride it is!

Cool old Studebaker we found behind the Fort.

Like my live butterfly hairpiece?

Wings on Hubster’s shoulder so gorgeous they almost look fake.

The Grande Hotel

Some of the views we enjoyed on Mackinac Island

Trinity Church on Mackinac Island

We ate at the Seabiscuit Cafe, which was perfect. The portions were more normal-sized, which is ideal since one can’t possibly carry leftovers with them for the rest of the day on an island.

I had the Honey Nut Chicken Salad Sandwich with sweet potato fries. The petite little sandwiches were just enough to be satisfying. The whole meal was oh so good!

I splurged on a white wine citrus fruit sangria that cost more than my dinner. So entirely perfect for a cheers to a great family trip.

Peanut even tried the local beer. Root beer that is…

We took a sobering meander through St. Ann’s cemetery

This gravesite was marked as the oldest one in Saint Ann’s Cemetery. It was a poor sweet little 8 year old girl who lived from 1825 to 1833.

Thursday: Our last full day on vacation, we did a lot of sleeping, giving the pool one last run, and leisurely enjoying the day. We took one last trip down a road out of town to see where it would take us. We ended up at a few more amazing places quite by accident. One more lighthouse, Heritage Village and a place called the Headlands. The Headlands is one of only a handful of designated night sky viewing areas in the entire country. Because it’s so secluded and tree-covered, night viewing is impeccably clear, especially for meteor showers and Northern Lights. Lining the road is a self-guided tour explaining the myths, legends and facts behind each of the planets.

Lighthouse staircase

Mackinaw City Lighthouse

Wigwam at Heritage Village in Mackinaw City

On the trails

Old home at Heritage Village that was originally built by hand from logs in the 1800s that stayed in the family until the 1950s. Insulation came in the form of crumpled up newspaper in the walls.

Heritage Village family kitchen garden. There was even a compost heap.

Friday: We left right away in the morning, and with the time change, got back home relatively early in the afternoon. The rain was monsoon-like on our drive home, but again, the weather was timed perfectly with our plans.

We’re safe at home and glad to have the weekend to rest from our vacation, you know what I’m saying? Tomorrow we’re heading to Deerfest to meet some reality TV stars and browse hunting gear. Next week, EAA is in town, so we plan to take Peanut to the viewing tower inside the museum to watch the planes go in and out. Peanut’s 5th birthday is also this week, so we have a lot planned. I’ll be taking tomorrow and Sunday to relax before kicking it up again.

Hope you had a great week! I’ll be back with a “If you’re ever in the Mackinaw area…” post real soon. Stay posted!

June 17, 2013

On Turning 30

Today, I woke up and I was 30. And I’m ok with that. I sort of have neutral feelings about the number. I didn’t dread it like some people do. I didn’t mourn the loss of my 20s. In fact, let me tell you about why I’m going to be lovin’ on turning 30 today:

A cake: that was Peanut’s idea

I have never felt so strong and healthy in my life as I do right now. I work my behind off (literally!) every day to stay strong, vital and disease-free. I like feeling this way. Instead of focusing on all the progress that could be made, I like to think of it as having more opportunities in the future to get even better. It’s not all downhill from here, and I take pleasure in knowing that.

I have never felt so completely sure of what I want to do in this life. I’m sure this vision will morph and I will always feel some level of self-doubt, but up to this point, I have never had such a clear picture as to what I was made for. Even just recognizing the desires of my heart as I grow older is so reassuring. If you had asked me what I wanted 5 or 10 years ago, I would’ve had some wavering answer about some fleeting thing. Or I may have said something about how I just didn’t know and I’d wait for the greatest opportunity to present itself to me. I probably wouldn’t have even been able to tell you what I wanted for my birthday, let alone my life. Through trial and error though, I’ve come to know that some passions are just hobbies, some depend on mood, and some…oh those beautiful “some” are delicious. Those are the passions that you just can’t get enough of. That your mind wanders to when it wanders. That your whole body vibrates for. Never have I felt this so strongly as I do right now.

Never have I felt so sure of who my friends are than I do now. In high school, friends are fickle. In college, friends move away. In your 20s, you find your place in the workforce and community and begin to make new connections. In parenthood, you find that your lifelong friends are the ones who forgive you for being late or cancelling when your kids are moody. The ones who are still there…those are the ones you keep close to your heart.

The most perfect card from my sweet co-workers. See, at work, I’m the birthday banner lady:)

Never have I felt more secure in my marriage. Like they say, those first few years are really rough. Any good family psychologist would probably have suggested a separation. But that’s not what we do. We work through those pains, put pieces back together, and make sure they’re super-glued this time. We’ve built a family, we’ve merged dreams, we’ve chipped away at our fixer-upper home, we’ve combined our efforts to make our little world better, and we’ve learned to value one another. I’m sure this part will only get better and I look forward to that, but I can tell you that we’ve already come a long way.

Flowers from my sweathearts

My spirituality has never been quite so intimate as it is today. So many things about God had seemed obscure to me growing up, but make so much more sense now, especially with more experience. It’s something that is difficult even for this writer to explain and so intimate that I don’t know that I’d be able to. This is another relationship that I know will only get much sweeter as I grow older, and I look forward to that. In fact, I thrive upon that.

My biggest tangible goal for turning 30 was to earn my personal training certificate. It’s not just an end in itself. Although I plan to pursue this passion on the side, I have deep-seated desires to make something happen with this. I want to share what I know and help other people live with more vitality and rigor. This was one of those deep-seated passions that I just didn’t want to shelve or ignore. That’s how regrets are born. My first passion has always been writing, which I do for a living. But health and fitness needed their own place in my repertoire. I take the CPT exam in less than 4 weeks and I am so proud of myself for following through on this dream of mine instead of taking the “easy” way out and ignoring it.

In my next 30 years, I hope that my family has expanded whether it be with new in-laws, dear friends, children or grandchildren. I know now that this heart of mine has room for whomever and whatever it is blessed with. There’s no limit to the amount of love that it can handle. I hope to be able to see even more of this Earth than the scant territory than I’ve been exposed to already. I hope to be able to spread my passion for fitness and personal strength to as many people as I can. I hope to use those talents that have been graciously given to me to the best of my potential. I hope to give God an even greater percentage of my focus than I do now, as He so deserves, and grow more deeply in love. I look forward to this next season of my 30s to establish an even firmer base in this world (and derriere) and expand my existence. I’d like to give as much as I possibly can.

I’m lucky to be here in the first place. I’m lucky to have made it to 30. And I look forward to how these next years of my life will transform me even further.

***Also, my workout buddy and I are taking a day off from the gym to have cupcakes for lunch. Now that’s a good friend:) I am also soooo looking forward to that!

June 4, 2013

Chaperone Trip to Sullivan’s Woods

Peanut went on his first field trip last week, and I happily signed up to be a chaperone, which nowadays requires a full background check, but I guess I’d rather be safe than sorry too when it comes to our little Peanuts. Anyhow, we went to visit this little patch of land that belongs to the local school system. I never even knew this place existed and I’ve been living here my whole life. It always feels a little magical to find places like that, that you didn’t even know were there all along.

One of my little buddy’s teachers is so well-versed in the flora and fauna of nature that she made such a great nature guide. Check out this amazing giant hollow tree.

It was a relatively hot day compared to the weather we’ve been having lately here in Wisconsin, but it felt good to be out in it, playing a little hooky. Well, not really. My boss knew where I was;) But it’s fun to pretend.

This was only one of two trips I’ve ever chaperoned in my life. I was lucky enough to chaperone for my youngest sister’s 8th grade graduation trip to Six Flags. I’m sure there will be plenty more to come, but I’m just so happy to hang onto these memories.

Not sure what these flowers are, but they seemed to be blossoming pretty well where there was a lack of any other type of greenery.

Our amazing field guide had scouted out the place beforehand and had cleverly hidden this little gem for the kids to see. She was guessing that it was a raccoon claw. She had also found an owl pellet on her scavenger hunt. Good eye!

We saw pitcher plants, heard frogs croaking, followed the trails of crawling ivy, found some shed bunny fur, and climbed on plenty of downed trees. We also spotted fungus in quite a few places.

Four-year-olds are such darlings. One little girl, who had never met me before, grabbed my hand to hold a few times without a word. It’s just heartwarming. I forget sometimes that I’m a mother figure until other kids start asking me for snacks and holding my hand. I’m so glad I got to experience Peanut’s first field trip right along with him, complete with a few requisite rounds of “Wheels on the Bus” on our trip back home.