We left for our annual Schmidt Family Vacation in the U.P. the night of Will & Cara's
wedding, so it was a pretty late start. Mommy & Daddy had worked hard to have the truck just about loaded up before the wedding. Daddy just had to hook the bikes up onto the back while Mommy packed the fridge and freezer items in the coolers. The kids were pretty excited after all that fun (and sugar) at the wedding reception, plus the anticipation of the "best week of the year" (in Micah's words). So they were bouncing off the walls in their pj's as they waited. But once they got in the truck, they settled down a bit. We got on the road about midnight and Henry was still awake when we stopped just before getting on the highway to fill up the gas tank. Mom thought it was a bit nuts to drive that far (5 hours or so) that night but Dad figured it would be fine as long as he had coffee to drink and the kids were asleep. Micah slept all the way until we had crossed the Mackinac Bridge and were 10 miles away from our destination in Hessel, when he woke up a bit disoriented!
Micah: Dad! I don't see anyone driving the truck!
Dad:
After assuring Micah he was, indeed, behind the wheel. We're about 10 minutes away from Hessel.
Micah: That's all? I thought you said this was going to be a long trip! That wasn't long at all.
Dad: It was long. You just slept the whole way.
Micah: No, I didn't. I didn't sleep at all. I was awake the whole time!
Dad: Micah, you fell asleep before we even left our driveway!
When we arrived, about 5am, we put the kids in bed (thankfully, Grandma and Poppa had brought up Helen's pack-n-play bed for us and had it already set up so she could just be laid down), and unloaded as much as was necessary and went to bed. The next morning, the kids were up and ready to get their vacation started by heading down to the beach. Henry checked out the paddle boat.
Helen was already a pro at beach play from our visits to Island Lake (though the Lake Huron water was a bit cooler).
Micah and Calla got to work filling their buckets and coming up with all sorts of plans.
Meanwhile, Helen was enjoying her first Schmidt Vacation just fine.
Henry and Micah made themselves "swimming pools" in the sand as they built their water canal.
After dinner, we did the annual family church service out at the picnic tables. Uncle Davey led the children's message, which our kids look forward to each year.
Later in the day, Uncle Andy invited our family to join his for a little evening boat cruise. Helen wasn't so sure about her life jacket.
Henry looks nervous here, but he did have a good time.
The Roe boys.
We went faster and farther than we had been expecting. We thought it was just going to be a leisurely cruise. However, we were going out with one of the other boats, which didn't have the GPS that Uncle Andy had, so he felt obligated to stick with them.
Helen didn't fuss about the fast ride, thankfully.
Ultimately, it became clear what our destination was - the Mackinac Bridge.
We slowed down to be able to see it appear on the horizon. It was picturesque, with the setting sun.
Micah & Daddy's silhouettes.
Calla & Albert with Micah.
Our captain, Uncle Andy.
The Mackinac Bridge
Helen was pretty calm and thankfully warm enough, wrapped up in the towels we had brought.
Mom took lots of photos!
Henry!
While we were this close, we decided to go ahead and cross under the bridge, giving the kids a unique view and the opportunity to be in both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
They were struck by how little the semi trucks looked from the water.
What a lovely ending to our first day of vacation!
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