Last year, it was wolves. This year, the stars. Every year for Wyatt’s birthday we try to find a nature inspired adventure; when he was little, they were closer to home, but as he has gotten older, we have ventured farther afield. Last year we travelled to Indiana to the Wolf Park Sanctuary, which was awesome and I thought, well, how the heck do we do anything to measure up to that trip? And then I realized, I didn’t need to. It wasn’t about that. It’s not about finding bigger and better every year – it is about finding a new adventure as a family. After that, it was easy to pick. And honestly, this trip was pretty darn fantastic in every way.

This year, we travelled to a town in Northern Michigan – Alpena, right on Lake Huron. Billy and I were excited because Lake Huron is one of the two Great Lakes we had never visited. We always visit the sunset side of Michigan, never the sunrise side. So this was a new experience for us too! I reserved a cute little AirBnB in a quiet neighborhood, that was advertised as being close to the lake and downtown and when we pulled up we were happy to see that it was just as perfect in person as it was online. A little corner house, filled with light, roomy and bright, and perfect for our little family’s little trip. We trundled in with all of our gear – so much when traveling with a kid! Games and technology and snacks and of course his gifts for his actual birthday. Cake and ice cream too, and all the things for a pancake breakfast per Wyatt’s request.

Our first night, after we had finished grocery shopping, we just settled in and were lazy bones, enjoying the comfort of the house. We ordered food from a place named The Nest, and it blew us away it was so delicious. Billy and I each ordered a different steak burger – Billy the Brie Larson, and I ordered the Classic Owl (of course). Wyatt ordered the grilled cheese from the Fledglings part of the menu, and wow, everything was amazing. Like, it was the best burger I have had in a long time, if ever. I definitely recommend this place if you are ever in Alpena, hands down. We didn’t dine in, we took it back to the house where we ate it picnic style on our picnic blanket on the living room floor. Wyatt loves a picnic, so a picnic we gave him.

We turned in early, and were up with the birds the next day, thanks to our own little early bird.

After a cup of coffee, Billy started making the big pancake and bacon breakfast for our new nine year old!

Wyatt loves Peppa Pig. Like loves Peppa Pig. There is an episode where Daddy Pig flips a pancake and a pancake lands on his head – so we were joking and wondering if Billy was going to end up with a pancake on his head, like Daddy Pig. Hence, the pancake on Billy’s head. He’s a good sport. Lol.

After filling up on pancakes and bacon, we headed out! Our first stop, downtown Alpena for a little shopping. You may not realize this, but Wyatt loves to shop. It cracks Billy and I up, because we are not shoppers. However my dad LOVES to shop, so apparently he inherited his love of shopping from his grandpa. Our first stop was Cabin Creek Coffee, where a polite pirate held the door open for us. It was so cute in there! Then we spent the next hour or so happily popping in and out of the shops. Our favorite by far was Traveling Ladders, an art/antique/home decor store. First the woman working was so friendly and welcoming, which is always nice. And the store itself was chock full of beautiful things – I could have spent all day in there marveling at all the little things. It is two floors, with the top floor being all antiques – just like the building itself is an old building. It was an old pharmacy and you can see the all the old bottles and boxes and shelves and drawers still there. It was really beautiful! I of course had to take a photo from the top floor of Wyatt and Billy way down there below! We also ended up buying a really cool antique/vintage poster for Wyatt’s room redo that is upcoming.

After exhausting all of our shopping options, we moved on! I had read about a small little island wildlife sanctuary right there in Alpena and that was our next stop. It was just the perfect size for us and it was so beautiful. It was really neat that it was a little island too. It was like this little peaceful oasis of nature, quiet, and calm right there in the city. And, we saw flying squirrels!!! We heard this weird noise that we thought was from birds, but nope, it was flying squirrels! We have never seen them in person so that was a first for us as well. They were so cute and tiny – and so loud despite their diminutive size. We also stumbled upon a geocache, and we added our names to the notebook and left a Valentines rubber stamp that I had in my purse, because I am a mom and become the holder of all things and you never know what you are going to find in my purse.

After walking around here, we were ready to go back to the house and chill out for a while. We played games, watched tv, just bummed around. We had a big night planned so it was good to get some relaxing time in there.

We hung out for a bit, then as dinner time rolled around we knew we had to get moving again for the main event of Wyatt’s birthday surprise! We had pizza followed by cake and ice cream, then bundled up for our night under the stars! Ok, not a whole night. Just a little while under the stars. Our destination – Rockport State Park! It has been designated a dark sky park, which means there is absolutely no light pollution. Being from the Detroit area, we are used to the dark being not really actually full dark at home. As we got closer and closer, the dark began to feel much closer, and the stars started popping out in the sky, little by little, and more and more. We could not have asked for a more perfect night for stargazing either. Clear, not a cloud in the sky, and a new moon, which means no moonlight either – just the light of the stars. We pulled into the lot, with Lake Huron in front of us, and Billy switched off the headlights. And then, it was pitch black. The dark just enveloped us, which I have to admit was a little unsettling at first. The woods surrounded us, the lake was in front of us, and I couldn’t see either of them. But I could feel them, if that makes sense. There was a chill in the air, and the waves were rioting below us, lapping against the shore with their slosh and retreat. The real show however was overhead. Never have Wyatt and I seen so many stars in the sky! It was like a brilliant blanket, and it seemed like there was not one available spot left in the sky for one more star. Orion was out, bold and bright. The Big Dipper and Little Dipper. It was just awe inspiring. We could have watched them all night (even though I was a bit nervous a bear would sneak up on us and eat us up) but all things must come to an end at some time. So after collecting a few rocks (Billy turned the headlights on for this) we headed back into town, leaving the stars and sky behind. As we drove to our little house for the night, The Decemberists were playing on the radio and it was just a dreamy way to end the evening as we headed back through the black. It had felt like we were the only people on earth for a little while and made us think big thoughts as we were reminded of just how wide and vast this universe really is.

This photo really does not do the sky justice – we didn’t have any other camera equipment with us besides our phone camera and Billy managed to get this one shot, which is beautiful. Imagine it though, with stars filling almost the whole frame because that is how it looked in person.

We of course had to examine our rocks before bed – and we learned that Wyatt really loves rocks. In fact so much, he wanted to take one to bed with him that night. So one rock became designated the bedroom rock and spent the night on the nightstand. It is on the nightstand here at home now, too.

And just like that, our adventure had come to an end. The next morning we packed up and headed home, stopping only for one thing – a roadside Paul Bunyan and Babe.

We had a fantastic weekend with our little guy for his birthday!