Hello!
As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to share some images from our Spring Break getaway. It was a month ago, but I still wanted to share some images, as Spring has been lovely here. The temps have flopped back and forth, and we had some wet days, but that is to be expected with Spring, right?
We enjoyed a week long Spring Break starting on Good Friday and the kids headed back to school this past Tuesday. We spent the first part of our Spring Break at home, enjoying a bit of a stay-cation.
We enjoyed ice skating at the local ice rink
Well, I should say the boys enjoyed ice skating. Leah and I hung out and took pictures!
We also started on the Spring Garden cleanup! This gorgeous yellowness motivated us to keep up the hard work.
It has since turned green, but it lit up the backyard for a couple weeks. We have since started our seed plantings for this years veggie garden. I am also attempting to grow some flowering plants from seed as well as a load of herbs. I decided to plant an all organic, non-gmo veggie garden this year. This required that I start from seed. And in my searching, I found so many amazing seeds that I have seriously gone a bit overboard on the garden front. But I think it will all be worth it. We'll see. I will of course be sharing my gardening adventures with you all here in this space throughout the summer.
We also had a little visit to my friend Denise's farm.
My sweet girl with Denise's baby chicks. Denise is raising meet birds this year, and these little guys were just a few weeks old.
Denise also has some egg laying chickens. My kids wanted to pack up all the chickens and take them home. The idea of backyard chickens appeals to me, but we are not allowed to have any in the part of town we live in. So we'll just have to visit Denise when they want to feed the chickens.
We headed Up North for a little getaway as well. We stayed right in downtown Traverse City at a neat old hotel, the Park Place Hotel. This hotel was conveniently located right downtown, which allowed us to walk down to the bay as well as all the fabulous downtown restaurants and shops. Here are some views from the bay...
We stumbled upon a beautiful shop....well two shops..
I just loved the building and the inside is filled with loads of amazingly beautiful things for your home as well as candles, soaps and other lovelies. I picked up some things to bring back home to enjoy and I was sent out of the store by my sweet hubby, who then came out with some gift wrapped boxes, so I am anxiously awaiting the unveiling on Mother's Day. Just 2 more days to wait!
The great part about this area is that you can get in the city shopping and then with a short drive be out in the middle of nature, enjoying all of the beauty of the country side! Here we are at Sleeping Bear Dunes, which was rated the most beautiful place in the country by Good Morning America viewers.
We had a blast on the dunes. It is really a spectacular place and we are already looking forward to returning this summer.
On the ride to the dunes, we drove past a cute little chocolate shop. We were excited to see that it was still open on our return trip. Of course we stopped in and were greeting by the sweet shop owner and the amazine smell of the most delicious chocolate! As we shopped and chatted with the owner, we found out that she was rated the #2 chocolatier in the country by a New York Magazine. After tasting the chocolate, we could see why...delish!
We also made a stop in the artsy town of Interlochen. The kids are interested in going to camp there next summer, so we figured we would check the area out. As you can see from the pictures below, it is lovely. Again, can't wait to head back in warmer weather.
We are totally thinking about buying a summer cottage in this town...it is totally artsy/craftsy and has so many lakefront properties. Very tempting!
We also stumbled upon a beautiful lake front spot close to Empire, Michigan. We stopped there for lunch after visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes. We bought lunch at the local pizza shop, which also happened to have the best homemade root beer we have ever tasted! They suggested this spot to us, and we are forever thankful, as well will certainly be heading back to this beautiful beach for a full day in the heat of summer!
They kids found lots of new rocks to add to their collections.
He wanted to go in that water soooo badly!
Yes, of course, they made it into the water before we left!
Well, as you can see from the pictures, we have alot of beautiful outdoor places to explore here in Michigan. We have been very pleasantly surprised at how lovely the landscape and nature is. It is not quite as heartwarming as our old hometown area in New York (yes, we still miss the Catskills, the Adirondacks, Saratoga Springs, Lake George, Lake Placid....), but very, very close!
That's enough pictures for today. I am heading out (closing up shop early today) to get down to the school so I can see Lucas play piano in the talent show. Leah will be singing in next weeks show. The kids have dance recital this weekend as well. So it will be a busy, fun-filled weekend. I'll see you all back here soon. In the meantime, enjoy some time with family and friends and carve out some time to be creative! It is good for the soul. :)
Hugs,
Sheree
