Get Outside and Get Into NATURE!

It's nice to go to a place where real forests still exist...Northern Michigan!

And of course, when you have parents like mine, they find it fun to deviate from paths and make their own when walking through them...apparently, hidden within the depths of the Leelanau State Park are several fun finds...one of which is below...a giant dragon :) - the whereabouts is only known by a few locals.

 Here's Will sprinting through the woods...

John on the other hand decided to sleep through the entire hike (thanks Billy for carrying him :) )

 We even found what appears to be the skeleton of a makeshift tepee...iiiiinteresting....

 And John just kept snoozing...

 Then we found a great discovery...a tree with four trunks, converging into one!  

And of course, fallen trees make excellent balance beams...

 After our walk in the park we headed a bit further out on the peninsula to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse, complete with bean bag games :)

 John is always agreeable when he is allowed to throw things :)

 I just love his little bod...MUAH!

 A couple family photo ops...

And we were off to venture out on more hiking...

 I can't tell you how nervous this picture op made me...guys - John would literally jump off of this if Billy didn't have a grip on him...

We headed back up to the Lighthouse for some photos with the fam...

 And then took a picture recreating one of Emily and I 25+ years ago...

 This might be my favorite picture of the vaca ... love is in the air :)

Before heading home for a well deserved nap - we played a bit more with the bean bags...

And couldn't help checking out this gem on our way out...I mean look at these branches, are you kidding me?

This place was such a hit, Billy and Will made a repeat trip to do some super hero imagination play, using all the trails in and around the lake and lighthouse as the setting.