Summer vacation! Washington Island and Sister Bay

Despite the baby news, I'm still in the middle of posting about our trip to Door County.

We spent one day going out to Washington Island and back.  (Door County is pretty low-key, but Washington Island takes low-key to a new level.  It's great!  Despite the fact it's regularly visited by tourists, it feels as if it's natives only.)

The Ferry to

Leaving the mainland behind.

Grandma Evie and David

Arriving at Washington Island

The Icelandic Herd

Once we got to the island, we stopped to look at a herd of Icelandic horses.  They are the only herd of pure bred Icelandic horses in the country.  They were lovely, sweet-tempered animals!  You can see that they are on the small side, and their manes and coats are beautiful.  (The long manes led Mary to believe they are all girls.)

Mary says hello.

Ever since her best friend's birthday party at the stables, Mary fancies herself a horse person.

My mom loves horses too, so this was a special grandmother-granddaughter moment for them.

Stavkirke

We stopped by the local stavkirke.

Mary leading the music inside

This is my kids walking in the woods; they are not crying.  It's a miracle!

Tower Hill

We visited the tallest hill on Washington Island.  I climbed the hill, but then I passed on climbing the tower on top of the hill.  (I was having flashbacks of when I thought it would be a good idea to climb the Eiffel Tower pregnant, instead of wait in line for the elevator, and I ended up bawling like a baby from exhaustion just one level up--who knew a little peanut could take so much out of you??)

Jackson Harbor

As our final stop that morning, we drove over to the other side of the island to check out Jackson Harbor.  (We hadn't made it there last time.) It was a pretty little harbor.

There was a small museum, which included this Model A-turned-snowmobile, which was used for delivering the mail.

I don't usually think "Coast Guard" and "Midwest," but that's all different on the Great Lakes.  The area around Washington Island (known as Death's Door) was important and treacherous for ships.  The Coast Guard, with their lighthouses and rescue boats, had an important role in these parts.

 Schoolhouse Beach

We grabbed some lunch at the Albatross (where Mary and Grandma Evie enjoyed the swing) and then headed up to Schoolhouse Beach.

I love Schoolhouse Beach!  The colors are beautiful.  Look at the water--it's gorgeous.  The water is definitely on the chilly side, but still very good for swimming.  It makes for a (very!) refreshing dip.  David and Mary were a little wimpier this year than last, but we did all make it out to the diving platform for some cannonballs.  I really like this beach for practical mom reasons too--changing rooms, flushing toilets, and NO SAND.  (Like last year, I was amazed at how much simpler leaving and clean-up was with no sticky wet sand to contend with.)

The Ferry fro

Leaving Washington Island--it was a little chilly with that stiff breeze.

Love this girl!

The water was a little choppy coming back.  (There is a good reason they tell you to put on your parking break--those cars were wanting to rock and roll.)

Grandma Evie, David, and Grandpa Mike watching the harbor on the mainland come into view.

Sister Bay

On the way back to Egg Harbor we stopped in Sister Bay for a visit to the famous Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant.  Outside, we spied a couple of goats chilling on the sod roof, and, inside, we enjoyed plenty of  Swedish meatballs and Swedish pancakes.  Yum!  Then we walked over to the harbor before heading back to the hotel.

It's a girl!

We were right!  No surprises this morning at the ultrasound.  

The kids came along.  David, our sweetheart scientist, was excited and interested.  Mary nearly refused to go, until we told her she was allowed to cry really hard if we found out the baby was a boy.  They did quite well (especially after the tech gave them suckers), considering the ultrasound took forever because the little one was not in a cooperative mood.  

At one point, it seemed doubtful we would learn the gender.  Mary had the idea of waiting a while, then coming back to have another ultrasound to see if the baby had grown long hair (indicating a girl) or not (a boy).  I broke the news that girl babies don't automatically come with long hair (like she did).  Too bad.  She was really looking forward to matching pigtails from baby's day one.  

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait for hair growth.  We learned that David and Mary will be getting a baby sister.  David, of course, hoped for a boy.  But, as usual, he was good-natured.  He is a good big brother.  These are lucky girls of mine.

I am very happy.  I feel as if I have been waiting for this little girl for nearly four years.  She is finally on her way.  I am grateful and blessed and there is peace is my heart.  

Summer vacation! Peninsula State Park

Tuesday morning we headed straight to Peninsula State Park.  Last year we only drove through, so we couldn't wait to get back there this summer for some recreating.  

Horseshoe Island

First we put our kayaks in the water, rented a canoe, and paddled from Nicolet Bay to Horseshoe Island.

Heading out.

My sweet little crew on Horseshoe Island.

I was there too.

Leaving Horseshoe Island.

The men.

David and Mary did great!

Nicolet Beach


After the journey to Horseshoe Island and back, we relaxed for a couple of hours at Nicolet Beach.  David has decided he loves paddling, so Greg took him out in one of the kayaks.  The conditions were perfect--shallow and calm--and he had a great time.  Meanwhile, my parents went for a bike ride, and Mary played on the beach.  David later joined Mary in her engineering projects.  It was a lovely afternoon.

Sunset Trail

Before calling it a day and heading back to the hotel for the swimming pool, we wanted to check out the Sunset Trail.  Our kids are finally getting into a groove with family bike rides, and they were excited to go for one.  We decided to start at the trail head and finish at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, where my parents would meet us.

It's a beautiful trail!  Through lovely, peaceful forests and along the lake shore.  This, however, is the only picture I got.  David kicked my pregnant rear!  We let David set the pace, and he was on fire!  My cardiovascular system gives out when I'm pregnant (just one of the two thousand things I don't like about being pregnant).  So I could barely catch my breath, let alone take a picture.  (Mary helpfully yelled back to me, "Mom!  Just peddle your feet faster and then you'll catch up!!"  Thank you, sweetheart.)

But we (I) finally made it, alive.  Phew!  Here's the lighthouse, the view, and the boy who kicked my booty with his bike.