Vacation, 2012~Day 5...Lake Michigan

And....Tuesday is done. Long day. But nice. :) We went to see Lake Michigan and it's amazing how much it looked/felt like the ocean. I love the water. A lot. So this was really awesome and enjoyable. We didn't really spend much time at the kind of beach that I'd have liked to. We went to one with some dunes around it, with woods behind the sandy beach and a ton of good places to walk down and around. We only stayed there for a few minutes though because they didn't allow cooking out there. So, we went to another beach, still on the lake and spent most of the day there. There were a ton of people. 

Ah, the beach. A place with an abundance of water and people and a severe lack of clothing. Yeah...it was actually very enjoyable if you could find a way to ignore some of the views. :P We had a great time hanging out together and enjoying the water and seeing a great lake. Not a good lake, mind you...a great lake.

It was really nice. We got bratwurst and grilled out and went for a walk on the long pier. 

Hope y'all had a great day. :)

So, I got up this morning and put on my female war paint...and these two kept me company. I didn't exactly invite them...but I suppose they felt welcome just the same. They are expert talkers.

Then this guy showed up after a couple minutes. Not sure why.

I helped Joel feed his animals. Helped, meaning...I followed him around while he fed the animals.

When we got to the state park they had some stuff in the visitors center, including a short video about the sand dunes.

I held Blainers and stood up with him in the back. I'm so sacrificial.

A room full of dead animals in glass tanks. Cool.

This is not one of the dead animals, in case you're wondering.

Neither is this.

Or this.

So, they head a real, dead, wolf spider in the round white thing in this picture. I stood pretty far back and was making...and I mean forcing...myself to walk close. I was gonna get a good long stare at it. Get real close to it and make myself look at it. Well, I was having a hard time doing this and my ever compassionate big brother walks up and says, "Oh, face your fears, Anna!" And shoves me forward. Needless to say, he found out that my fist can be quite hard when applied with fear and force. *cough* Yeah, I kinda freaked. :/

That aint no mountain. It's a sand dune.

A turtle. Profound, am I not? I liked him so I named him Oscar.

This guy was a jerk. He wouldn't talk to me. Just sat with this sour expression on his face. I mean...what is his problem?! I didn't like him, so I named him Oscar.

Blaine and Blaine.

Yeah...don't ask why he's giving me this...uhh...look.

They had a whole room dedicated to stones. Check out this epic red one. 8-)

Yeah...the park is the P.J. Hoffmaster park. *sniff* A whole park named after my boy!...but his name isn't Hoffmaster. Wonder how that miscommunication occurred.

Then we all headed down to the beach.

Wuv. Twoo wuv.

Shoot. There went all my exciting plans for the day.

Some of us in front of the lake.

The wind was amazing. It felt soooo good. Been forever since we've had good, cool, fresh wind like that. Of course, it didn't have that amazing salt smell and feel to it, but it was still awesome.

Blaine was not a fan of the sand.

Here's at the second beach that we went to. Abby has been so funny these days. She seems very set on the idea of being my "clone". This morning she was asking me if her eyes were green yet, because I think she's sure that hers will turn green since mine did. :P

Dad, the grill master.

The Pendleton kids rule the swing set!

Ginny and Lydia.

Ginny. Wife of the brother and mother of the nephew.

I felt like going for a walk. So I did. PJ went with me to protect me, of course. And we got a few shots. Not as many as I would have liked to though.

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togeva today.

Yeah, so we went on this pier that had no railing or anything. It was soooo neat. But, Mom wasn't a fan of the idea of no rails. This memorial piece didn't exactly encourage her, either.

Big stones.

An upside down sail boat. So random, right?

"MINE!"

Then...we ate.

And we drove home.

And they smiled.

And I didn't like this town.

And they are adorable together.

And this is the last picture. I didn't get many more before I fell asleep in the car on the way back. That's not so rare any more I guess. I've been so tired this whole trip. Got some sleep last night since I was on the blow up mattress that stayed blown up. But the dog threw up on it, so the other girls have the mattress and I'm on the floor again. But then...I feel right at home. :P Except 1,000 miles away from it... ...

Anyhoo, we are headed to Lansing tomorrow, I think. Looking forward to that. Hope I will be more than half awake for it. :P Tomorrow is also Joel's last day off of work...not sure what we are doing the rest of the week. Guess we will see, right?

 Be sure to smile and shine for Christ, no matter where you are. :)

Have an epic, red letter Wednesday tomorrow! Remember that God is good and there is always a reason to smile!

(I'm postponing Tuesday tunes till we get back. But I'm sure you have some epic music to listen to anyways.)