I hope you had a wonderful holiday! We had our first Michigan family vacation with Zelda last week (who is officially seven months old—how did this happen?).
We stopped off for a walk through Hartwick Pines on our way to Mackinac Island. I adore these daddy daughter photos with Jeff and Zelda.
Zelda was a bit nervous on the ferry to Mackinac at first, but she enjoyed it once we got going. She even got a shout out from the captain, who stopped in the middle of his announcements to say, “And that is one cute baby” over the loud speaker.
We had a huge room at the Island House with a beautiful view of the water. I think they put us in the front corner so that our child wouldn’t bother everyone with her baby-isms.
We found a nice little spot at the Pink Pony overlooking the water. Once again, Zelda won over all the strangers at the restaurant with her giant grins.
After grabbing some fudge (naturally), we took a walk down the boardwalk and went for a long walk by the Grand Hotel to enjoy the views.
The Island House has an amazing front lawn. They have fires in chimineas every night, and guests can buy little s’more kits.
We had the best seat in the dining room the next morning. The view was glorious.
We call Zelda our little “bean,” so we naturally had to get a photo in front of The Lucky Bean coffee shop. We sat outside and enjoyed our coffee while Zelda smiled at all the passing strangers.
After our morning coffee, we rented bikes and biked around the island. A stranger offered to take a family photo for us, and we had to laugh when we saw the photo and realized that you can only see Zelda’s feet. Oh well—you get the idea.
After Mackinac Island, we drove to Northport on the Leelanau peninsula to share a cabin with my sister’s family for the week.
My Grandma lives in downtown Northport, so she hosted a potluck dinner before everyone walked down to the park to see fireworks over the bay.
We didn’t last long in the park. I actually ended up in bed by the time fireworks started. Such is life with a seven month old.
We spent our last full day at Lake Leelanau before driving to the Traverse City Cherry Festival to meet up with Jeff’s best friend, Chris. He’s lived in Thailand for years, so it’s a special treat to catch up with him.
I can’t get enough of northern Michigan.
To follow along with our daily adventures, follow The Daily Z.
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