Day 2 - Mackinac Island

On Friday morning, Curtis woke up at 6 am to go fishing with all the guys (yes, he woke Katy up as he was leaving.  Thankfully, I got her back to sleep after about half an hour).  They were back by 8:30 since they only caught one fish.  Apparently Randy (Laura's dad) now has lots of "Have you ever gone fishing with a Nebraskan?" stories thanks to Curtis.  I don't remember all the stories, but I think seagulls played a big part :)

By 9 a.m., we were on the road to Mackinac Island.  I was excited for the day trip, even though all I knew about the island is that it was a big tourist spot and they didn't allow cars.  Lane really liked the ferry that took us to the island...Katy...not so much.  By this point in the trip, she hated being held by anyone when they were sitting down. 

Not our ferry, but all of them looked the same.

We got to Mackinac about 10:30 and made plans to meet up for lunch.  We decided to just explore the streets and do a little shopping before lunch.  Lots of little shops (think downtown Breckenridge or Steamboat Springs or Estes Park or any one of those ski towns) and restaurants.  We managed to find a cheap t-shirt for me, and hat for Curtis, and Fling-Socks for the kids.  (I planned to get Katy a stuffed animal, but when she saw what Lane had, she had to have one too.  Now I know why we had 3 of everything when I was growing up.)

We had about a half hour to kill before meeting for lunch, so we walked towards a more residential area.  We found a cute little beach where we could wade in the water.  It was so cold, but kinda refreshing after a hot walk.

Lane and Katy weren't too sure about getting in, but soon they were occupied throwing rocks around.  It was amazing how clear this water was!  Lane tried finding "sea creatures" but there weren't any :(.

After a hamburger/hot dog lunch, it was time to decide what to do the rest of the afternoon.  Casey and Blake and my parents were planning on a carriage ride.  That sounded kind of relaxing, until I remembered that Katy would have to be on my lap for the 1.5 hour trip.  That sounded horrible.  So we decided to rent a couple of bikes and a trailer for the kids and hope they would take a nap along the way.  As soon as we closed Katy's buckles, she was screaming.  We took off as fast as we could with no real plan...after about 10 minutes of pedaling and screaming (and everyone looking at us), Katy gave up and fell asleep. 

We decided to follow the highway around the perimeter of the island.  Even though it was 8 miles, it wasn't a hard ride at all.  We discovered we were actually going the wrong way, but that turned out to be a good decision since the kids were in the shade at all times.  I wish I could have gotten more pictures, but every time we stopped, Katy started screaming.  Finally, about 5 miles into the ride, after we stopped for a bathroom break, she gave up and just sat and looked around. 

I did get a few pics at our only stop.  It was beautiful and exactly how I picture Canada to look.  Notice the different shades of blue in the water...it was amazing.  (And reminded me of the old Super Nintendo game Mario Cart). 

After our bike ride (which took an hour and 20 minutes, including stopping), it was time for a snack.  I ate a yummy peanut butter fudge waffle cone and Lane enjoyed nibbling on a frozen chocolate-covered banana.  Katy liked sneaking bites of my cone!

We had about an hour before our ferry left for the "mainland" (I don't know, is it called the mainland or simply more islands?), so we decided to go back to the cute little beach and cool off.  This time the rest of the family joined us.  It wasn't quite as fun as the first time, as the wind had picked up and the waves were a little more intimidating.  But Lane and Katy jumped right in and got soaking wet. 

Time to catch the ferry!  Lane got an education in fish from Bret and Laura while we waited!

That evening, we hung out and did more fun stuff at Laura's grandparents' house...so much that it will have to be in another post!