4 down, 2 to go...

Four summer trips down...the latest was to Harrisville on Michigan's east coast w/ friends Kurt, Tina and Taylor. The cool, rainy weather that had been following us around finally led way to sunshine. There was a whole lot of doing nothing but relaxing and watching the kids play, filled w/ a few bike rides and a day at the beach (for future reference, the beach at Harrisville makes the beaches on the west side of the state look like an exotic island...but w/ colder water.)

The ever-fun game of "let's make water balloons, name them and take care of them in a little tub for a day until they pop on their own" provided hours of entertainment...One of our longer bike rides took us 3 miles out of town to the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse. Zachary liked to ring the "Ding-dong" which was an old bell they used to ring to signal an emergency on the water. Daddy, Kurt and Taylor got to walk up to the top of the lighthouse, but Zachary and Emily were too small, (and Momma isn't the biggest fan of tall winding staircases.) Then Taylor showed Emily what it was like to sit in school in the Old Bailey School house... While Zachary tried to get water out of an old well...
I would say the highlight... or maybe a turning point, for Emily was the trout pound on the way back to camp. Emily is always excited to "go fishing", but in the past this has only consisted of reeling and casting, and catching nothing. "Catching" was guaranteed at the trout pond, and here Emily is standing in shock w/ her hands over her face as Daddy pulls the first fish to shore...
Things got a little better once the fish were in the pail, although she did ask why they were flopping around, and what their "sides" were doing, and Daddy said simply "that's how they breath and they're gasping for air." Hmmm, Momma might have chosen some different words, but that's ok. While each new aspect of what "fishing" is about shocked Emily, she was adapting well enough to actually want her own turn....
However, we pretty much ended Emily's experience w/ the fish in the pail.... Momma took Emily and Zachary for a walk to watch the water while everyone else watched our host clean the fish. There was one later question as the fish were cooked on the grill... and Daddy said "remember, these are the fish we caught", but I don't really think she comprehended "from-pond-to-table", and she doesn't really like eating fish, so it was pretty much dropped after that.

So now, it's four trips down... and two more to go!!