Travels and a new friend

Last week, we spent some time roaming the top 1/3 of Michigan's mitten. Petoskey overnight (Hey, pals the Super 8 there has a 24 hour pool, a terrific breakfast, decent, clean rooms, and a beautiful view of the bay. All for under $60.), and then we dropped Jim off at the docks of Mackinaw City. The kids and I went to Higgens Lake where my parents let us hang out with them. The next morning, Jim was done with his annual conference, and we joined him on the island*. All of the Sinki's spent some time on the island, hiking the back paths, rather than spending much time in the disnified area nearer the docks. That's when this happened:


Cute lil' guy. The absolute nutjob who lives in my head and wants to bring every animal home with her was tempted to tuck baby squirrel into her sweatshirt pouch. The saner part of me won that arguement.

Please excuse the camera work: Jim took the video with Henry on his shoulders. Henry, as you might hear, is concerned about Jim standing on the grass. He has a new concern about poison ivy, and is certain that anything green is the dreaded allergen. You won't hear much from Willa. She was mostly breathless and hoping that the critter would go to her shoe next(so she might be able to hide it away in her pocket, and nurture it to adulthood and beyond). She is her mama's girl.

From the island, we drove south to the cottage again. We raked leaves, walked to the beautiful lake, had ice cream at Nibbles, took a long drive to find deer (found none - eerie), read, played Skip-bo, did puzzles, and I made the best campfire in the history of all campfires. The weather was weird, but the company was swell. Thanks (again and again) to my parents for letting us stay there. Photos to follow on another day.

* I must confess here that the ferry to the island terrifies me. I know - well, my brain does - that nothing is going to happen - but when it's just me and the kids heading to the island to meet Jim, I battle visions of the boat going down. Who will I put the life jacket on first? How will I manage to get both kids out of the boat when it goes underwater? Just typing this makes me realize that it's irrational. But most fears are, eh?