Foto (Photo) Friday is a show and tell of pics from the past week. Well I have been trying to catch up for the past couple of weeks and really slacking on the posts.
We decided in June to take a vacation this summer. Nothing like waiting till the last minute and trying to find a house to rent on Lake Michigan. We decided to try a vacation with our neighbors. The kids would have someone to play with and we would have adults to hang out with and talk too other than each other. So the hunt began and I looked online and could find a few houses that I was okay with. When I went over to finalize a place with the neighbors another house popped up and was perfect. It was a short walk to the beach (literally), had enough room for everyone and then some and we could take PJ. Plus the best part of all is it was only $300 a night. Split that between two families and we would pay $150 or more for a hotel with everything this house included. Now it was just time to wait until the last week of July to go. We found someone to watch Dinky for us because she gets carsick and whines in the car the entire time.
I posted a ton of pictures and videos on Instagram you can always look at. The link is on the right side of the screen to stay caught up me. Here are the links to those pics and videos.
Day 1-We could not go swimming because the riptide had closed the beaches. The waves were huge. I put my toes in and it was way too cold for me to go any further. I knew the lake was cold but that was crazy. I just figured it was always that cold and I wasn’t going to do any swimming that week. After we got to the house we rented we all wanted to walk down to the beach and check it out. Well what little bit of beach there was. We just thought there wasn’t that much beach but it was good enough for us. We let the kids get there feet wet but no deeper. They didn’t have life jackets on and the rip tide was bad. Out of all the kids, P is the only one who was completely soaked. We finally called it a night at the beach when P’s fingernails and lips started to turn a blue shade. With the way the wind was blowing it blew in the cold water from the bottom of the lake and washed out the warm water that was on top. I don’t know how cold it was but I talked to a guy on the beach the next morning and he said he saw it was 48°. I would totally believe it.
Day 2-I got up bright and early and ran to a park did my workout, and ran back. All before 7am. (Indiana was an hour behind us so it was 7am there time, 8am our time. When I got back I took PJ for a nice long walk on the beach. It is like dog hour. At any time there where from 5-10 dogs running around on the beach with there owners. PJ was awesome she just walked next to me sniffing everything. B and S went to scout out fishing locations that they could go to. While they did that we hung out at the house and let the kids play. We all got ready for the beach and were down there by 10am (there time). What a difference a day makes. The water had gone back out and the beach was huge! It was so soft and clean. The kids loved it and played all day at the beach. We went back to the house for lunch and then went right back down to the beach till dinner time. The water was much warmer than yesterday but still too cold for me. Feet only! The kids played in it like it was bath water. They could of cared less how cold the water was. This is one of the only pictures of me on the entire vacations from any of us (there is one of Bobby and me on the beach the first day and our family selfie on the way home). I took a selfie with Little B hanging out in the tent on the beach. I’m glad I took it so it proves that I was on vacation with them. I have shadow pictures of PJ and me on the beach but it could be anyone. B was busy making sand castles, holes, dams, and more when down on the beach. He couldn’t sit still. PJ was my attachment for the week and stayed with me in the tent shade, walked down to the water with me, went back to the house, was in the bathroom when I was. She was so good, you really forgot she was even down at the beach with us. As long as we gave her a sand bucket of water she was happy.
Day 3-The boys all went fishing in the morning while the girls all stayed back. I got some posts and reviews done that I needed to do, watched a little TV and relaxed. I was going to work out in the morning but it didn’t work out so I took a super long walk with PJ on the beach when the boys got back. The water was even more calm today and so much warmer. I took half of my walk in the water. B dug a big hole in the sand. Not sure where he was digging to but it kept him busy. S couldn’t boogie board today because the waves were pretty much non-existent. So after lunch B brought the double kayak down to the beach. They played in that for a while. S didn’t like it very much after he realized how much work it was to paddle it. The kayak worked great to carry everything back to the house.
Day 4-I got up in the morning and worked out again. When I got back I took PJ for the longest walk we took. My fitbit said it 2 miles one way. I would believe it because we were gone for about 90 minutes. If I thought there were no waves yesterday I was wrong because today was calm with only waves from boats really. B brought the paddle board down to the beach and everyone took turns on it. May took the little ones around which they loved. I tried it once but really S loved it. He just went back and forth in the water. He had amazing balance and I think only fell a few times. By the end of the day we got P to get on the board, too. P was always looking for rocks with May. We must have brought 20 or more rocks home with us.
On my way back from my walk with PJ on the beach there was not a soul on the beach. I had it all to myself so I was just singing to myself out loud. Well the joke was on me. I thought it was a park worker emptying trash cans (they did it every morning), nope it was animal control. They had complaints of dogs being on the beach. There sure was I think I counted 10 that morning. Well she wrote me a ticket for a dog on the beach and no leash. The leash was in my hand but she wasn’t on it. She ended up making it a warning but if she caught me again it would turn into a ticket ($50). So PJ had to stay at the house when we went down to the beach. At least she got 3 beautiful days at the beach with us.
Day 5-Time to go home. Check out was at 10am (there time) so we really couldn’t do much. We were all up by 6:30am, (there time) if not earlier. I took one last walk on the beach (without PJ). I gave myself an hour so 30 minutes each way. Because there were no boats out yet it was completely calm. I could see minnows in the water. We got a picture of all the kids together at the entrance of where we walked to get to the beach. One family photo on the way home. I kept meaning to get a family picture but it just never happened.
Here is a link to the house we stayed at. VRBO #1035444