Trek #2 to Michigan

Our second trek to Michigan with the little fellow was quite a journey. We left our house at 5:00 a.m. and did not arrive to our destination until 1:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. California time). Wilken was the king of travel that day. After a 3.5 hour flight to Chicago (where he needed no other entertainment than books, magazines, toy cars and snacks) we had a 4.5 hour layover. Wilken ran through the airports, mastered the art of the moving sidewalks, ate a snack, and napped for 2 plus hours in his stroller! We were so pleased and happy to have only a 45 minute flight to Traverse City, Michigan where Bubie and Grandpa would be waiting to drive us another 45 minutes to their cottage in the woods.As we walked up the stairs to our plane, it began to rain. By the time we were seated, there was thunder and lightning. We were told there would be a short delay while we waited for the storm system to pass, and so that the guys could gas up the plane. After 30 minutes, the plane was gassed up and we were ready to go! Or so we thought. Traffic from the delayed flights was backed up and we would be delayed further. An hour or so later, we inched further away from the gate and the plane stopped. Another storm system had developed, and we would have to wait another 1.5 hours! In the meantime, Wilken patiently read book after book, watched cartoons on the laptop, and had several cups of juice that the wonderful flight attendant provided in to go coffee cups. He was an absolute dream! We were set to be off, finally. We were in line to take off. Another hour and we were up in the air. After 4 hours on the ground we were finally off for our 45 minute flight. Wilken received accolades from our fellow travelers and the flight crew. He was amazing! It was funny how having a calm child completely took all of the stress of the delay away from his mommy and daddy who could not believe it had been 4 hours sitting on the ground in that tiny plane!

Here is a shot of the cottage we stayed in.Wilken spent every day tromping through the trails to either Crystal Lake (named for the clarity of the water) or Lake Michigan which were each a quarter of a mile in opposite directions of the cottage. He was very good about staying on the trails and would scoot to the side yelling "car coming" whenever a car would pass on the single lane road. He would play in the sand for a good 30-45 minutes each day and even built a few sandcastles. Okay. He enjoyed the demolition of the sandcastles his daddy built daily. After a swim in the lake, it was time to get warm and sunbathe on his towel. Our hikes to Lake Michigan always ended in tumbling down a huge hill sand.We broke our "no throwing rocks rule" to show Wilken how to skip stones on the lake. We decided as long as there was no one swimming, it was okay. We'll see if this sticks at home!




We made another run down Sleeping Bear Sand dune, which is an enormous mountain of sand. We climbed up to the top and then it is a lot of fun to run full speed down the hill. Unfortunately, Wilken's mommy was not up to par this year with running full speed as Wil's growing little brother impeded her speed. Wilken had a great time stopping every so many feet to fall down and play in the sand. He also had a lot of fun playing with his identical twin cousins (Marion and Pearl) who he would count when he saw them "one" "two!" They again spent countless hours on the beach playing with him and entertaining him which was so appreciated by his parents.
One of the best parts of the vacation is belonging to the assembly which has all kinds of activities for kids. At the kids dancing night, he made a friend and decided he should sit with his big buddy the way many of the kids were sitting with their parents.

Of course, there was lots of quality time with Bubie and Grandpa. Thanks so much for such an incredible vacation!