Mackinac Island

On the first really nice day of summer for the past three years, we've gone to Mackinac Island. It's only a 25 minute drive from our house, and following a hotel remodel Trevor did a few years ago we've had a knee-high stack of ferry tickets, so it's quick and cheap for us to go.

The weather was forecasted to hover in the high 60s all day, so after Marta's first nap we went. Now, Trevor and I usually get pretty impatient at "kid stuff," even when we have good intentions and are prepared for the long waits, the sugar tantrums, the cramped muscles from a) crouching under playlands in case a child falls while climbing something that's clearly for 12-year-olds, and b) pushing a stroller that's holding the diaper bag and carrying or holding the hand of the child who's supposed to be in the stroller.

But on the island we rarely lose our cool. I don't know if it's the familiarity, the slow pace or the open space to do... whatever. But every time we go, we have fun nearly the whole day.

We did today, too. We sat on the front the boat for the ride over and got fully tangled, winded and fresh-aired, invigorated for our adventure. We immediately got "smudge" at Murray's Hotel (peanut butter tiger for Trevor and mint chocolate for the rest of us), danced in front of the mirrored case like the kids usually do, pottied and changed dipes in their clean bathrooms, ate the smudge under lilac trees in the park, played on the playground, rented bikes, went through the butterfly house, biked to a kid-friendly rock pile on the water and tossed stones, bought fruit and crackers at Doud's, ate the snacks in the park, went to another playground, got ice cream at Kilwin's, ate dinner at the Pink Pony and came back home with sleeping children, covered in sunscreen, ice cream and general stickiness. Really. Great. Day. Truly.

Yes, the kids went nuts at the end after all the sweets and lack of naps, and we went nuts with them, which we expected and dealt with and la da da, but in the end it was just what we'd hoped for.

I love this tradition. We don't have much in the way of things to do with kids year-round in this neck of the woods, but Mackinac is right around the corner, has animal delights galore, biking, treats, open spaces, parks everywhere and just lots of stuff to do. We all get sticky and hot, and we get chilly as the air cools in the evening, we bring sweatshirts and pjs and hand sanitizer by the bucket.

Trevor and I are exhausted. But it was a good day.