We rolled out of our driveway at 1:07 AM on Saturday 8/8 and headed north for the wonderfully quaint little town of Ludington Michigan. Our chauffeur, aka Tim, took great care of us as Jack, Mason and I snoozed away for about 6 hours out of the 9 hour drive.
We arrived under the cover of a cloudy, rainy sky. Unloaded the car and watched the boys as their excitement built. "We want to go to the beach, Mommy!" The waves were big, the skies were grey, but that didn't stop them. They headed down with their Moots (my Mom) to check it out. Fully clothed, they got braver and braver with the waves and clothes got wetter and wetter. Little did my Mom know that the waves would soon take her and she ended up neck deep in the water. Made for a great laugh for us all - and didn't phase Jack in the least.
The weather wavered from clouds and passing rain showers to sun for the most of Sunday and Monday and finally gave way to beautiful sunshine and blue skies on Monday afternoon to give us beautiful weather for the remainder of our trip.
We had a few firsts on this trip; both the boys learned how to fish and both caught their FIRST FISH in the lagoon. Watching them brought back so many memories of my childhood and summer days spent sitting on the edge of the very same lagoon for HOUR AFTER HOUR fishing with my friends Curt and Patrick. I loved seeing my boys doing the exact same thing. Jack caught on very quickly and was soon casting out his own bait and reeling it in like a pro. The only problem was that the fish in the lagoon were like piranhas and as soon as a turkey dog, marshmallow bit or earthworm would enter the water via your hook - they attacked, and 80% of the time outsmarted us!
A few trips were taken to the harbor/marina playground. A beautiful green space created by the City of Ludington, it has a wonderful playscape for the children and is also surrounded by bronze sculptures depicting Ludington's history and is flanked on the sides by the boats of the locals and vacationers who live for their time on the water.
LOTS of time was spent on the beach and in the water. The boys are not "water rats" like most children their age, but as time went on, they became more and more comfortable. It was great to watch them have fun - and hours in the lake meant nice long naps in the afternoons!
One of our adventures that we took was a visit to the Amber Elk Ranch, something that we enjoyed so much last year we had to do it again this year. The boys loved seeing the elk up close and feeding them as well. This year, our visit was a month later than last year, and unfortunately, the male elk were getting ready to shed their velvet from their antlers and head into the mating season. As I explained to the boys "The elk were crabby and we couldn't pet them like last year" but we were able to feed the females and see the calves that were born earlier this spring.
Other things that we did were walk out to the Ludington Lighthouse to watch the Car ferry, the Badger, arrive from it's trip across the Lake from Mantiwoc, WI and our oh so ever popular trip to House Of Flavors Ice Cream Shop for an ice cream cone.
Wow! We had a busy week and a wonderful vacation! It was relaxing but full of all sorts of other stuff that would bore you to death if I kept going, so I'm going to stop here; other than sharing with you a few more "Heaven on Earth" - until next year!
