Traverse City

Sweet SistersKids on train
Girls jumping waves
Trace jumping waves
Miniature golfing

Kianna's hole-in-one
Mommy's hole-in-one

Glen Lake

Our family
Sand Dunes

Dune Climb


We decided to make the most of our time up north, so from Charlesvoix we drove to Traverse City to continue our vacation with just our family. Traverse City is another beautiful city with lots of sandy beaches. It is located right on a bay connected to Lake Michigan. We had a great time enjoying the beach, playing in the sand, riding a small train, and playing miniature golf. It was Trace's first time playing miniature golf and he loved it, as did the girls. Kianna even got a hole-in-one, which was pretty impressive. Not to brag but Trevor and I did too. It was a fun night. Our best day was spent at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. We took the scenic tour which surprisingly our kids were super into. I have to admit it was the best done scenic tour I have ever been on. Everything was labeled with a number which coordinated to the pamphlet we were given. On our tour we saw Glen Lake, Lake Michigan, the sand dunes, and several forests. The views were breathtaking. We had a nice picnic overlooking the lake and followed that up with our sand dune climb. What a fun day!

The sporty part of our vacation was that we camped in a tent for three days and two nights. I grew up camping, but Trevor did not. We have decided that tent camping with three small kids is not exactly "fun" or "relaxing" at this point in our lives. Our campsite had no grass and therefore was all dirt and therefore very dirty, which for those of you who know me well enough will know that messes stress me out. In addition, Trevor came down with a severe case of poison ivy on his legs, belly and arm. His arm was so bad that it blistered and began weeping. He ended up spending 2.5 hours in a local urgent care clinic in order to gain some relief. All that to say that camping in a dirty place with open wounds wasn't exactly ideal. Life comes with its ups and downs and this trip definitely had both.