ELLA JAMES & HADLEY JULIETTE: Our first trip to wonderful Macinac City Night 1 and Day 1

On the road

Give me that camera!

Our trip to a little slice of heaven started on Friday afternoon. It was a long journey of 8 hours ahead of us and I was a little nervous about how Ella would do on the car ride. She has been fine as far as the four hour ride we took to Chicago but this trip would double that. She started off just fine and after about an hour or two she was asleep. She slept for a couple hours giving me a chance to start the book Last Song that James bought for me to read while in the hospital with her. Never happened. About 7 hours into the trip Ella was done. She never cried but she was fussy, trying to push out of her carseat and nothing could console her. We had to give in and pull over. We did a quick change, stretched our legs and let Ella drive for a little while.

Finally it is my turn to drive!

As soon as we headed back to the carseat she started to protest. She is such a smart little girl and knew exactly what we were going to make her do again. After a little crying she was strapped back in and we were on our way. After our detour through Flint Michigan we were almost there. We could see the beautiful Mackinaw Bridge and smell the lake. It was getting dark as we headed into town and finally made our way down the last stretch to the house. It was almost 10 before we got there, Ella was asleep and we were exhausted. As soon as we opened the door Ella saw Grammie and gave her a huge grin and was awake and ready to explore.

Ella loved the wolf picture and would climb up on the headboard to touch it each night

Ella didn't fall asleep that night until around midnight. She must have gotten a second wind from being pent up in the car all day. Of course she still was up and ready to go at 8:30 after needed to be soothed around 3 and a bottle at 5:30. But, like a good mommy, I was up with her rolling, half sleeping, on the ground with her letting her check out her new surroundings. Once everyone was up and had breakfast it was time to introduce Ella to the beach and the lake.

The beach has really become overgrown with vegetation. Here it used to be all sand.

It was the beginnings of a beautiful Michigan day, just like I remembered it, with the sun shining and a breeze coming off the water. Ella shook her legs with delight as the wind blew her hair from her face. When I put her down on the sand she was not so sure of what to make of it. She went into her bear walk not quite ready to put her knees down on this new surface. Once she did she was talking and moving all over the beach. I walked her into the lake and she gripped onto me tightly. She didn't know what to think about this moving water and waves. She got a little braver and checked out the waves as she held onto my fingers. The three of us took a nice mile walk down the beach and back that allowed us all to explore a little bit. I even found a frog where I always used to find frogs! I wasn't able to catch one, James said I lost my touch. All that means to me is that I will have to teach Ella the touch to catching frogs. Then she can run down the beach with a pail full of frogs like I used to do when I was a little girl. Having all of us there was very special. I know it was especially important to my grandparents as Ella is the fourth generation to run her fingers through the sand and dance in the waves of lake Michigan. James and I have not been able to get up there until this summer. Even though we have been together for almost 11 years now and married for 4 we have just been so busy in the summers that we haven't been able to make the trip. I vowed that when we had children we would make it though. And we did! Ella's first summer and she was in the lake. We went to show James the line between the lakes but Granddaddy said he would have to show Ella when she is older. She is not ready yet. It is a tradition that I hope to continue. She is younger than I was the first time I went. I was two before they got the house so she has a long time to enjoy the beach like Erin and I did. It made me hope she has a sister to share what Erin and I did all those summers. Such wonderful memories with my best friend, my sister.