Day 6

Finally on the last day of vacation, everyone slept until 8 AM! After eating breakfast and packing up we headed to Bronners.  We looked at Chirstmas ornaments and decorations for two hours.  The boys enjoyed Christmas cookies (frosted sugar cookies) in the snack shop.  We had lunch at McDonalds and began the six hour drive home.  We had to stop three times for bathroom breaks, but we got home around 7:30. Our vacation is over.

Day 5

Of course we were up at 7 AM again. It was our last day at the Great Wolf Lodge, so after packing the car we went to water park at 9:30 AM. We stayed for a little over two hours. We did the water slides, crossed the lily pads (well some of us fell in), and stood under the giant water bucket. Ian and Michale went on a double tube down one water slide, when Ian lifted Michael out of the tube at the end of the ride, Ian tunred to let Michael out, but his weight caused him to go backwards, the tube flipped over the both of them and Ian's glasses fell off! Fortunately they both were okay and the lifeguard knew where the glasses were.   We ate lunch at the Grand Traverse Pie Company - well, Ryan didn't eat he fell asleep on the floor. The rest of us enjoyed lunch and dessert (pie and a cookie). We drove three hours to Frankenmuth - three of us slept most of the way.  We walked around Frankenmuth and got stuck in a major rainstorm. Finally the rain let up and we did some more shopping and ate a chicken dinner at Zhenders. It was a late bedtime again.

Day 4

Today (after our usual 7 AM wake up) we did the Wolf walk (with Wiley the Wolf) through the lobby and made origami wolves.  Then we drove back to Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and rode our bikes to the small village of Glen Haven.  We saw several old rescue boats, a former coast guard station, a blacksmith, and a general store.  The blacksmith made Michael a little hook to take home.  We had a picnic lunch by Lake Michigan.  Michael and a seagull battled - Michael would try to chase him away but he would keep coming back.  Ryan decided he wanted to go into the lake, so we let them both walk in the water a little past their ankles.  They both had fun throwing rocks into the water.  The water was remarkably  clear.  Of course, the morning plans took longer than expected so Ryan fell asleep on the return bike ride and car ride.  We decided to stop at Moomers for ice cream and then a winery to sample some local wines.  When we returned to the hotel.  We did bowling at the Ten Paw Lanes and painted banks at the Cub Club.  We ate dinner at the Camp Critter restaurant in the hotel.  Afterwards, I went shopping and Ian took the boys to the arcade and story time - this night with Oliver the raccoon.

Day 2 and 3

On day 2 we met friends at the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids.  It was nice catching up with friends but the highlight of the zoo visit was the chimpanzees.  There were 5 of them and all but 4 were pretty docile.  The one that wasn't came right up to the window and swung on the ropes for us.  He showed us how he moves along the ropes and then can position himself in a reclined position on one rope. Then he peed for us and scratched his butt.  Then he ate whatever it was he found in his butt.  It was quite the entertainment.  We had lunch and then went to see Joe Platte's new house.  Around 2 PM we began our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City. The boys slept the whole way.  We checked in around 4 and decide to take our bikes out that evening for a quick ride along the Traverse Bay.  Afterwards we had dinner at North Peek (a local brewery).  It was another late night for the boys and they were still up at 7 AM the next day.

On day 3 we drove to Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore Park.  After a quick visit at the visitor center, we drove the Pierce Stocking scenic drive.  We got out several times and enjoyed several scenic overlooks.  We then climbed the sand dunes.  Ian carried Ryan in the back pack carrier.  They only made it up one level.  Michael and I made it up to a second level, but still couldn't see anything. The dunes just seemed to continue forever.  And climbing up a hill of sand is hard work, so it wasn't likely that we were going to see anything but sand.  We did have fun coming back down though.  Michael ran down the dunes and Ian and I each had one of Ryan's hands.  At one point Ryan's knees were bent and we were just dragging him down the dunes.  We drove to the town of Glen Arbor for lunch.  We picked a relatively popular place (Art's Tavern) and had to wait awhile for a table and our food.  We finally ate a little after two.  Everyone fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.  We decided to spend the afternoon at the water park in the hotel.  Michael enjoyed using his new swimming skills and going down the water slides.  Ryan  was not as happy with the water park.  We enjoyed pizza delivery in our room and Ryan was in bed by 8.  Michael and I went to the story time were we saw Rachel the raccoon and the forest characters come to life.  Of course, everyone was still up at 7 AM for day 4.

Day 1

We left our house at 6:15 AM with the hope that kids would fall back asleep, but that didn't happen.  We made three stops during the 6 hour drive (one for breakfast and two for potty breaks).  We arrived in Portland at 1:30 PM.  We visited with the Platte's for the rest of the day and caught up on everyone's doings.  The kids looked for money in the sawdust.  Michael found $2.94 and Ryan found $1.92. So they made out pretty good.  We got to our Grand Rapids hotel around 9 (after missing the turn). And had very wound up kids despite the lack of sleep.  Finally they were asleep by 10 PM, only to be up for day 2 at 7 AM.  And although we had the bed rails Ryan fell out of the bed twice.