Weekends Away

When we spend our weekends traveling, nothing gets done around the house. We got home late last night from Naperville. We were in town to see my friend Steph before she moved to Australia and for Father's Day.

Today was spent running errands, cleaning and grocery shopping.. things that normally get done on the weekend. Lately I feel like we are never home. It sucks. I just want to stay home, relax and not sit in the car for hours. Not worry about what the weather will be like or what I have to pack. Next weekend we have a wedding out of town, but besides that, I plan on staying put until the end of July. Maybe, just maybe, we will get some painting done.

xo, Erin

Painting in Our Future

Whoops! I have been a bad blogger. I seriously thought this summer was going to be relaxing and full of house projects, but unfortunately that hasn't happened yet. School work, nannying and traveling have consumed my life.

I promise I will be back with house projects sometime soon. Maybe next week? Lots of painting is in our future along with other small DIY projects and wood work along the way...

See what I mean by lots of painting? Now if I could only make some decisions...

xo, Erin

Pictured Rocks { Continued }

I told you this summer has been busy! I didn't have time to post yesterday because my parents stopped by overnight on their way to New Jersey. Back to the original plan of sharing more vacation pictures...

More hiking and exploring:

Walking along a shipwreck.. the water was only 40 degrees! 

Grand Sable Sand Dunes in the background

Au Sable Lighthouse

Greg being 'creative' again

Our hike back from the lighthouse.. there were a few more shipwrecks along the shore

Two things to note:  (1) the wood Greg is carrying he broke off a shipwreck from 1904 (shhh don't tell anyone)
(2) those layered rocks are what is underneath the sand along this shoreline.. so cool

Greg found a secret cave

I didn't go in it..

Really cool colors on the rocks towards the bottom

Closer to the sand dunes

Another waterfall...

Mackinac Island:

Cute little library

Wish it was warmer and sunny

The tandem we rented to bike 8 miles around the island

Arch Rock from the road

Adding to this rock cairn.. they were everywhere around the island

The ferry we took over to the island, has a fun rooster tail

The 'Grand' Hotel

Note the fancy horse and buggy for the Grand Hotel

.. and the rest of the horse taxis for the island

Main street with lots of cute shops and fudge!

Top of Fort Mackinac.. headed to the Arch Rock

So the island doesn't have vehicles and horses take you everywhere.. this road was stinky!

some of the best fudge

That pretty much sums up our trip. I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for some adventure, views and not necessarily warm beach weather. We had a great time, but spent lots of time driving! On a side note: I didn't fall asleep in the car once. I think that is a record ;)

xo, Erin

Pictured Rocks

Summer has been a whirlwind so far! We got back on Sunday and I have not stopped moving since. I started watching the kiddos on Monday, had 5+ loads of laundry to do, grocery shopping, a house to clean, flowers to be watered and homework on top of that.

Hoping to get caught up on things this weekend. I have lots of summer projects to check off the list and rooms to paint! In the meantime, take a peek at some vacation photos. The weather was perfect-- we hiked, went off-roading, saw waterfalls, ate fudge, took some boat rides and relaxed. If you have never been to the U.P. in Michigan, I highly suggest going and checking out the Pictured Rocks. It was beautiful!

Mackinac Bridge- the only way to get to the U.P. from Michigan

Pit stop in the Whitefish Bay

Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum -- that is the actual bell that
 they recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald

Greg being 'creative' and trying to get a picture of the boat smashing into my head

Rock searching, which I found out the last day I wasn't supposed to do.. whoops!

No one was on the roads in the U.P....

First day of exploring: lots of waterfalls and views

Caste Rock in the distance and Lake Superior

Castle Rock up close

This waterfall was huge.. we were getting misted

We had a treacherous hike to this waterfall

..so we decided to picnic right in front of it

little Jeep in a big forest

Pictured Rocks Sunset Cruise:

It was 60 degrees out, Greg insisted on sitting on the top deck. It was FREEZING!

The overlook we were on earlier by Castle Rock

Caves of All Colors

Lover's Leap

Look closely at the pine tree on the top of the rock..
its roots bridge the gap and it gets its nutrients from the rock next to it. It was crazy!

That was just our first two days. I took hundreds of pictures and will share more tomorrow!

xo, Erin