Upper Peninsula, MI

After Alpena we went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from August 22nd-25th, having lived only a couple hours from it for almost three years we had never been there. On our way there I had the unfortunate experience of hitting a baby deer. The kids were not happy with me at all, I really didn't want to hit it, however with a 41 foot 5th wheel behind you you really can't stop or swerve with ease. It did no damage to the vehicle, which I was very thankful for, and I think the kids of gotten over it at this point, but it's not something I'd like to repeat.

 We stayed near Kitch-iti-kipi, which is a super cool spring fed pond that you can see the bottom of and pull yourself across in a boat and see huge fish swimming in. I think it was something like 40 feet deep. It was crazy clear and beautiful! 

Crossing the Mackinaw bridge!

A huge hotdog

Kitch-iti-kipi,, looking down at the water from the boat

Reflections in the water

On the boat

We did a speedboat tour of Pictured Rock 

It was beautiful!

And windy, and the kids enjoyed the speed boat part of it a lot!

Here we are putting our hands in lake Michigan, after doing the speed boat ride on lake Superior we have now been to all the great lakes! 

We also went to Fayette Historic State Park and spent some time walking around there. 

It was pretty neat walking through the old building and reading about the town. Needless to say, for our short time there we did a lot! 

Alpena, MI

After Fort Wayne we headed up to Alpena for a week. My kids had lots of friend time and thoroughly enjoyed it! We again, got to visit with lots of old friends and went to our church there. It was a super sweet time seeing people and visiting familiar places. One day, after having hung out with friends the past two days, the kids had a "counsel meeting" and then announced to us that it would be okay if we moved back to Alpena. Before we left on the trip the kids had said there was no way no how they were ever moving that they wanted to stay in Fort Wayne, so it was interesting to hear them say that. 

The crystal clear water of lake Huron!

Hanging out with friends at the lake

At church we were the last ones out of the building, just like old times.

Hanging out with friends at their farm and having the most delicious ice cream ever!!!!

And hanging out at friends houses! 

The campsite we were at in Alpena was great because we could have people over to it without having to pay a day use fee, so we had a few people over for meals!

Fort Wayne, IN

 After Cedar Point we stopped in Fort Wayne, for what was only supposed to be two nights. It ended up being longer because one of the front jacks on the RV broke and we had to replace it. Fortunately, we were parked in our driveway and had tools and friends to help with the replacement, but we did have to wait for the part to come in. It was nice to be able to catch up with friends, go to church and be able to use the washer and dryer! The people staying at our house were super sweet about us invading and fed us lots of food as well! We also were able to help them with the pool and some other house issues they were having while we were there. We ended up in Fort Wayne from August 10th  through the 15th. 

Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH)

We took advantage of boondockers welcome again and stayed for two nights near Cedar Point. We spent all day August 9th at the park. But wait, you said you were working too much, how could you spend a day at the amusement park? Good question, I had my cell phone and computer with me. I actually left the park at one point to do a meeting and often stopped to reply to emails or respond to a call. Not ideal, but it worked. 

We got the all day meal and drink pass and it made staying there all day (10:30 am - 9:45 pm) super easy, as everyone could get food and drinks as needed, which is a lot for growing kids!

This picture was from the end of the day

Evie took pictures of the pictures from the ride, is that legal? 

Nathan and Damen on the pirates ship

Evie and Damen on the carousel 

Evie and Damen did some roller coasters, but left the super crazy stuff to Kaleb and Hannah.

The younger three all did the car driving ride, for some reason Hannah wasn't too interested in it.

Waiting in line

Kaleb on the sky lift thing

Damen and Kaleb enjoyed the river raft and did it a number of times. 

All smiles!

One of the things that keeps the kids entertained while driving is looking for specific cars, the boys enjoy looking for sports cars, but everyone is on the look out for bugs so they can punch the person next to them! When I had to walk back to the car for my meeting I took a picture of these two bugs and sent a text to Nathan to punch Kaleb for me....he and Evie are the best at the game and he had definitely gotten me several times while driving the day before, so I figured I'd return the favor 😃

Kaleb and Hannah did ALL the crazy rides! They did this one twice!

They all did the log ride about five times and ended up drenched!