Up North in September

We took one last trip up north in September and had a great mini-vacation.  I'm so glad that every member of our family loves this trip as much as I do.  I know that someday my kids will no longer want to go up north with us, but until then, I will do my best to instill in them the love that I have for the natural beauty of our great state.  Here we are on our favorite hike with breath taking views of Lake Michigan and a great climbing tree on the trail as well.

We had high hopes of hiking all four days that we were up north, but the mosquitoes had other plans.  We braved one more hike and got eaten alive, but were happy that we were able to try a new trail and two hikes is better than none at all.

We also had big dreams of a campfire every night complete with s'mores and I even brought our pie irons to make campfire pies with but again, the mosquitoes had other plans.  I realized on the second evening that the mosquitoes were making us all so grumpy that it wasn't even worth it so on the third night we made the campfire pies in the oven in the cottage.

Fortunately, there were no mosquitoes at the beach!  When we were at the cottage this past May there were no bugs at the campfire or on the hiking trails but they were infesting the beaches and so we had limited time on the beach.  It was nice to go to the beach each day and spend several peaceful hours in the serene and uncrowded beauty that makes our favorite beach there so wonderful.

 I spent most of my time on the beach as the Oldest Available (and dry) Timmerman watching Will and the older three girls play as Opal couldn't go swimming.  Opal was quite a handful as she wanted to play in the sand so badly, but each time I set her down she would eat a handful of sand.  She did love splashing her feet in the water but also was intent on eating rocks.  Not thinking it completely through, I found a large enough rock that she could chew on without choking only to be given chills when her teeth chomped on the rock.  Much to Opal's disappointment, I had to take the rock away or risk her chipping her teeth!  I'm so glad she loves the beach so much though - at this age all of her sisters hated the feel of sand and refused to let me set them down!  Look at those little chubby baby legs and adorable baby toes in the sand!

It is moments like this where it occurs to me that I have all of my favorite people in the world and there is no place I would rather be, and no one I would rather be with.  Parenting four little ladies is a lot of work, and I am grateful for these moments of peace, love and beauty.

This was our fourth trip to this cottage over the past two years and we still discovered new places to explore.  We found a farm stand that sells delicious donuts and pizza bread that will from here on out be on our bucket list each time we return.  We also finally explored the lighthouse nearby and were so excited to see that Violet met the height requirement to climb the lighthouse tower!  I took one for the team and stayed below with Opal, but I am planning on returning to that lighthouse in a few years when Opal is tall enough to climb it with me!

We had a very simple bucket list for our trip and it included our favorite hike overlooking Lake Michigan, s'mores and campfire pies, time at the beach, having a picnic lunch at a lookout point called Picnic Mountain, and finally, climbing the biggest sand dune.

It was a great trip despite the mosquitoes and a nice way to end our summer.  Here we are below enjoying some down time at the cottage.

 Until next year sweet cottage, we will be back!