Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Mackinac or Bust

Just a couple short weeks ago, my Allie and I took a 'mommy-daughter' trip to Mackinac. I was so excited to get so much one on one time with her - she is such a charming, FUNNY little girl and I had her all to myself. :-) Allie wasn't quite prepared for the length of the car ride, but on the way there we broke it up with a couple of fun stops. First on the itinerary was Deer Acres Amusement park in Pinconning, Michigan. I had never been there before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Allie was excited about the story book scenes all through the park, like the three little pigs - a few of which she could become part of the scene like the one for Little Miss Muffet. I had a hard time getting her to sit there on the "tuffet" though, because she was afraid of the spider LOL. We rode the antique cars together, and Allie rode the carousel while I took pics. She really enjoyed the "jungle walk", complete with life size animal statues that she petted and hugged. We had lunch there at Deer Acres, then continued on to our next stop - Sea Shell City in Cheboygan, Michigan. Sea Shell City is really just a gift shop in the middle of nowhere, but you'd have thought that I'd brough Alex to Disney she was so excited. She picked out some shells for herself, and a Dolphin statue for her "Wiwey" (Riley). This was a shorter stop, and when Allie finished her shopping we headed to the St. Ignace Mystery Spot. Alex was a little young for most of their demonstrations, but participated anyway (with nervous mommy standing by!). Allie was ready for more touring, but mommy was tired so after we finished the Mystery Spot tour, we headed for the Grand View Resort in Mackinaw City, which would be our "home" for a few days. We crashed early, to get ready for our first "real" day of vacation. On our first day we ferried over to Mackinac Island for a whirlwind day of a carriage tour (Alex's highlight was when the horse pooped and "tooted" - we were in the front seat LOL), the butterfly house, multiple museums and SHOPPING. Allie and I got matching sweatshirts - I know, cheesy, but Allie thought it was cool and I took our picture with them on. :-) She was really excited to go see the butterflies, but once we got in there she was scared and wouldn't get near any of them. You should have seen her face...oh wait, I got a picture, check it out LOL. We ferried back over to Mackinaw City around dinner time and toured some of the historical spots on the mainland...then stayed up hoping for a grand sunset pic of the bridge, but it wasn't meant to be...I mean, the sun set of course, but it was not spectacular. Darn. Beach time, pool time, miniature golf, play time and relaxing time rounded out our last full day of vacation, and in some ways I think Allie may have enjoyed that most of all. She was so incredibly cute playing in the sand, and running up and down the beach....I think my favorite part of this trip was getting to know my little girl for the individual that she is, and seeing glimpses of the "grown up" she will become. It was a reminder that I need to make the effort to spend one on one time like this with each one of my beautiful blessings...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Heartwarming description of a special trip. Love the jumping photo! I went to Macinaw with my grandmother on a special trip with her just like you describe when I was 11.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for your comment! I took my oldest son on the same trip about 5 years or so ago, he would have been around 10. It's a GREAT weekend get away. Thanks!

Bob and Maryann said...

Tressie, Bob and I are up north and finally had some
time to check out your site. What great pictures. Thanks for shearing your vacation.
Bob and Maryann

Unknown said...

Thank you so much Maryann - hope you all are well, have fun up north. :-)