Michigan Trip Day 3

Day 3 began with a one hour drive up to Central Lake Michigan. There we attended an OPC church. After a good service we were invited to the Buchanans for lunch. After a good visit catching up on what has happened the past two years we headed off for some sight seeing. It had been pouring rain when we arrived at church but by the time we left the Buchanans it was starting to clear up. We headed back over lake Michigan to a small beach (below). It was still a bit cool and windy but the kids didn't seem to mind at all.
That is Gracie in a carrier that the Taylors loaned us for the trip. It has been a real life saver when hiking up and down beaches.
Gracie begs to get down into the sand every time we stop anywhere. She could probably sit in one place for hours and just massage the sand with her hands and feet.
From the first beach we drove down the west traverse bay to Traverse City and then up a thin peninsula (about 15 miles long). At the very end there was a light house and a beach that we stopped visited. We thought that we had seen a lot of cherry trees to this point but going up this 15 mile stretch of road there was a continues stream of cherry stands. We finally stopped at this one and got a lesson on the various types of cherries. We bought a quart ($4) of a mixture all the varieties that they had.
We headed back to the house on Fifle Lake and even though it was already almost 7pm and it was grey and cool outside they kids still wanted to go swimming again off of the dock. The wind was not as strong as yesterday and so we were able to paddle out a ways.
Yep, that is Anna and Elijah in the boat with no life jackets. But it really isn't as bad as it looks. In the picture below you can see that the water was not very deep.



After playing with the boat for some time they began to play king of the mountain on this raft-like blow-up. They probably played n the water until close to 8pm. Tomorrow will be a long day as we head all the way up through the UP.