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.