Mackinaw!

We've found ourselves almost back where we started. We're in Mackinaw City and plan to head out to the Island today. We'll stay here again tonight before loading up the kids for one more long car ride.

And then vacation is over. Back to reality. Back to work on Tuesday morning.

(Sigh.)

Hard to believe it was nine days ago that we set out. We stopped in Mackinaw that first day to let the kids run around and to give Jeff a break from driving. Note that I did not say our brief stop gave Jeff a chance to rest. The kids kept him busy. After all, there were cannons in the park, so of course AJ needed Daddy to be a soldier. (I believe if you click on the photo, it will enlarge so you can see the look on AJ's face as he orders Jeff to fire the cannon.)

Next we headed into the Mackinaw Crossings shopping area. We switched kids and AJ and I headed in search of "the knight store," so he could find a replacement sword for the one he bought here (and subsequently broke) on our last visit.

There were some musicians performing on a small stage in the center of the Crossings. When I looked back, I noticed another performer had been inspired by their music.


We spent a little time on the playground. It was interesting to watch AJ. He was three the last time we were here. And while he doesn't really remember much from that last visit, I could tell he was experiencing flashes of deja vu.

Of course we couldn't leave without stopping for ice cream. I know that Mackinaw is famous for its fudge, but I just don't find rich chocolate to be all that appealing when it's 85+ degrees. Mix that famous fudge into ice cream, however, and now we're onto something!

Mmmm... ice cream. Ahhh... vacation.