Mackinac Island...(the first half)

We made it home today from Mackinac Island. We had a FANTASTIC time! What a beautiful place to visit in the early fall. It's not too crowded and the weather's not too hot (or cold!) There are way too many photos for one blog...so here's the first round. I'll try and get the rest of them up soon with another blog.

First, a picture from last week that I just love. Jack and his "og." My friend Carrie got this for him before he was even born and now it gets carried around with him everywhere :)
On the way up north, we met up with Rob's parents who were just coming back from the island. Perfect timing to meet them for lunch :)
The ferry! It was windy, but not too chilly so we decided to ride on the top for the best view. And Jack loved it :)

We headed to Fort Mackinac the first day. Wow, it's been a long time since I've been there, but the walk is just as high/steep as I remember...
...but what a beautiful view from the top.




Having fun in the children's area in the fort.

And getting into things we probably weren't supposed to.
A canon! (But I think the bird nearby was more interesting at that moment.)Chasing the geese with daddy on Mission Point

Mission Point Resort
Walking the streets downtownAnd at the not surprisingly vacant harbor

The horse outside of our bed&breakfast...Jack didn't want any help holding on.
See! I'm a big boy.But I guess I'll take a picture with you too, mom.
Up at daddy's level

Lunch on the water...it was a BEAUTIFUL day.We found a playground!
Wee!
Hmmm...what's up here? The top was nowhere in sight.Beautiful and well worth the 20 min. climb.

...and the rest to come in a later blog!

Pictures

Just a few pictures to share from the last week...

The "big boy" swing, all by himself :)

Tuckered out and taking a rest at the park after lots of fun.

Corndogs in Grand Haven (yummy) and watching the boats.

First time actually IN Lake Michigan...of the bazillions of times we've been there it's always been too cold to actually go in. Rob and I forgot our own swimsuits though. Oops.

And of course, can't forget to mention how much he enjoys the sand.

Being goofy with daddy's shoes.

And Holland State Park...where we frequent the most. It was BUSY on Labor Day.

My usual (and unsuccessful) attempt at a sweet family portrait.

Watching the boats head out to the big lake...while waving and saying "hi" to each one.


Ready to go home! Or as Jack says "dull dun!"

The tractor video

I finally was able to upload it to youtube...enjoy :)

The zoo, fair and swimming lessons

Last weekend, we ventured the hour and a half drive to the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek. It was very cool! Much much larger than John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. We decided to do the Wild Africa part last as you had to take a tram ride there. Jack had so much fun seeing all the animals and being outdoors. Lastly we headed out on the tram to "Africa." When the tram pulled up to Wild Africa, I really imagined that's about what it would be like on an African safari! There were huts and great rolling hills with all sorts of animals roaming. We were not able to complete the Wild Africa part as it was getting so hot/humid and dangerously close to nap time but still were able to spend a couple hours there. We know now we'll definitely head back there to complete the Wild Africa portion...maybe when the weather cools off just a bit more :)

Riding the ant.

"Puh-kuck!"

"Goh." (Pygmy goats, which he was actually afraid of!)

He was ok with this one...it was behind a gate.

Whatchu lookin' at?Moo.

Yep, he's still cute...even on a cow.

The walk to the Wild Africa tram ride.

The tram. Jack was very intrigued with the voice over the loud speaker.

And I didn't take any pictures actually IN Wild Africa...I guess I was too busy admiring the animals.

Later that day, we headed to the Hudsonville Fair. Oh my goodness...Jack was in heaven with all the tractors! He LOVED (and that's an understatement) riding on all of them. And I do mean ALL. Forget about the actual fair with elephant ears and rides and carnival games...all he wanted to do was walk through the tractors and try them all out. I think I'll just start calling him John Deere now.

We could barely keep up with him. As soon as we set him down from one tractor it was on to the next...

...and the next...

...and the next......and the next...

His "vroom, vroom" face.

...and the next...

This one! I didn't get to try this one out!

...oooh....exciting.

Super giant tires...quite intimidating, really.
Yikes.
The best (ok, very poor!) attempt at a family photo of the day, but obviously Jack's too intrigued with the tractor (which matched my purse as you can see the strap on my shoulder.)

In other news, Jack and I previewed a gymnastics class early this week. I was contemplating signing him up for their program this fall as he enjoys tumbling at home. I am glad we did the preview though because I think he's still a little too young to comprehend all of the instructions without being overwhelmed. It's an absolutely fantastic program but I think we'll postpone it a few more months until he's closer to 2. Instead I just signed him up for swimming lessons which start in a few weeks and run through the middle of fall. (He loves the pool!) It should be lots of fun for a few months :)

(Edit: I added the photos finally and waited over an hour for the video to load...no such luck! I'll try uploading it to YouTube or another site this week and then will post the link.)

Words are fun :)

And now a lesson (er, rather interpretation) in Jack's vocabulary. At least the ones I can think of for now besides "mommy," "daddy" and "hi" that is.

"wing"= swing
"paco"= pinecone
"pone"= phone
"nigh nagh"= night, night
"pi-eee"= pretty
"uh-pane"= airplane
"et"=jet
"buh-eee"= birdie
"beet"= beach
"wuh-how!"= wow
"ow"=ow
"baby"=baby
"cook"=cookie
"per, per"= cooper the cat
"dull dun"= all done
"call con"= all gone

I think my favorite of all of them is "paco." It just sounds so cute to hear him running around saying "paco, paco, paco!" Well we're off to run errands and then I have a wedding to do this afternoon. Have a great weekend everyone!