Bee Balm

Giant Tadpole

I spotted this giant tadpole in the creek.  

He is about 5 inches long and already has his back legs. 

I think he's going to be a bullfrog.

Someone's been busy!

Cooling Off with Kayaks

Scenes from our kayak float down the river today.

Just Hangin' Out

Creekstomp

Its that time of year when its hot and muggy,

so what do you do?

Creekstomp, of course!

I can't think of a more fun way to cool off!

Everyone loves it.

 

 The two year olds loved splashing and digging in the sand.

Heidi found a waterfall.

Liddy searched for crawdads.

She had great success, catching 18 of them.

Maggie tried catching them, but mostly caught rocks.

While Ryan was busy having a squirt gun fight with Grandpa.

Aaaahhhh! 

Now that's refreshing!

 

 

 

Cruising Lake Michigan

The next port of call is Charlevoix, Michigan.

 The Charlevoix lighthouse greets us as we enter the channel to Round Lake & Lake Charlevoix.

As we enter Round Lake, we float under a drawbridge.

Charlevoix is another quaint Michigan town.

We took a tour and saw the hobbit houses designed by local architect, Earl Young.
He is known for undulating cedar shake roofs,
 stacked rock walls and fireplaces made of local boulders.
It was a fun day, but we had one more port to see,
Mackinac Island.
 



Approaching the island, we pass the historic Grand Hotel.

It was a beautiful day at Mackinac Island.
Our ship is moored in the distance.

No motorized vehicles are used on the island
so transportation is by horse, bicycle or on foot.
We had to take a carraige ride to see the sights.

We got an up close look at the Grand Hotel,

And stopped to peer through Arch Rock.

As the sun set, we left the island cruising past the Mackinac Island lighthouse,

And under the mighty Mackinac Bridge back to Chicago.