Saturday Snapshot is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads

We just got back from a short family trip to northern Michigan, one of my very favorite places! The natural beauty that is Michigan is spectacular and I love the chance to get back to the tall trees, cool breezes, lakes, and birds. But first we had to get there, and the drive from the Detroit area is a little  longish with a three year old. So we pulled off for a quick pit stop for lunch and to stretch our legs in Frankenmuth, a tourist attraction in its own right. Designed like an old German village, they are known for their large family style chicken dinners. We skipped the chicken and went to a local pizza place instead, which turned out to be perfect. We also stopped for cheese at the Cheese Haus.

My little mouse.

We stopped for the night about an hour outside Traverse City, to save a few bucks on a hotel. We were going to get there late, and didn’t care about being in Traverse City proper until the next day. We had fun just bumming around with each other. Wyatt really enjoyed the Ikea catalog I had brought with me.

The next day we got up early and heading into Traverse. We were meeting my brother and his family there, and were going to spend the day shopping around and then eating a celebratory dinner for Billy’s birthday. It was a sweltering and busy day in TC, with high temps and humidity, and the Film Festival going on as well. Jane Fonda was supposed to be around somewhere but I never spotted her. We traipsed in and out children’s boutique stores (I bought Wyatt the cutest Tea Collection shirt!), and many bookstores, our favorite. I would say most of our day was spent browsing the shelves of bookstores, one of my fave things to do.  I bought Wyatt a lovely book about flowers and insects – and I learned that bees like caffeine too! Some flowers contain caffeine and the bees like those flowers – this fact makes bees even more cool in my eyes. I also made a huge list of books that we need to check out from the library or add to our own home library!

We had an earlyish dinner at The Jolly Pumpkin (omg that white wine Sangria was yummy on a hot day!) then headed toward our lake cabin home for the next few days. My dad was meeting us there with his wife, and my nephew. The graciously treated us to the time there – my stepmom has been going to the same cabin and spot on the lake for 28 years, and when we joined her family, it became a little bit ours too. It is a nice tradition to share!

The next day we headed into Glen Arbor, a little town we always drove through but I had never been to. It was super adorable! That bookstore alone..I could happily live in Glen Arbor if I could work at that bookstore. A girl can daydream! If you are ever nearby, check it out – The Cottage Book Shop.

I was also excited to see that an organization called Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes was helping to make Sleeping Bear Dunes, the beach, and the lake more accessible to those with disabilities! As a nature loving parent of a child with mobility challenges, we constantly are trying to find ways to connect Wyatt with nature more. Hikes are easier now, since he is still a little guy, but as he gets older we may have to get more inventive or seek out organizations such as this one.

And that house! So picturesque! It is an inn called Thyme Inn, and it has an enormous garden in back that you can see from the road. I would love to stay there one day, but maybe on a different sort of trip, one that doesn’t involve my three year old. Lol. A girls trip or a getaway for Billy and I, perhaps. We have not gone away without the boyo yet, but maybe in the next few years we will start.