Mackinac day two part three

It was time to leave the island. It was a little reluctantly because I wouldn't have minded staying longer.

  I would love to go back someday when they are both older and rent some bikes to ride around the island.

 We got our luggage checked in with the ferry company. They also called ahead to the other side so our car would be ready for us when we got back. I really liked Shepler's because we had nice, secure parking with valet service for only $7. 

Waiting for the ferry to get there it was freezing and yet Abi didn't want to put on a jacket. That girl rarely gets cold!

We finally got a jacket on her for a snuggle with Grandma and Unia.

There's our ferry!

We decided that instead of having lunch in St. Ignace we would drive across the Mackinac Bridge (just for fun) and eat in Mackinac City. 

The Mackinac Bridge is the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world and the longest in the western hemisphere. It is only beat by one in Japan and one in Denmark. It is 5 miles long.

driving along...

On the other side I stopped at the lighthouse for some pictures...

looking over at Mackinac Island...

cute baby geese... the mom hissed at me!

another view of the bridge...

After lunch the girls got some more ponies and we headed out.

We were going a little different route on the way home so we stopped in Menominee for the night at the AmericInn.

Maddy enjoying the cocoa puffs at the hotel breakfast the next morning.

Friday we stopped in Osh Kosh on the way home to go the American Girl outlet store. We also stopped off in a few other stores. Abi and I went into Claire's so we could get her a new headband to replace the one Maddy threw off the carriage. I finally found the hat I wanted!

Abi got this light up wand in there as well.

In one of the stores we found these little baby Unia's so we got both of the girls one.

After the outlets we drove home, getting there around 3. It was such a fun road trip!

Our souvenirs: 

At Peace Frogs I got the girls some little toy frogs and stickers. I got a frog bookmark and some glow in the dark frog pajama pants. The little note card is Life is Good.

Abi's new headband with her wand.

At the toy store on the island we got each girl a Lalaloopsy activity for the car and Unia.

At the outlets in the store we got the mini Unias, Abi got these Minnie Mouse pajamas.

Mackinac souvenirs for the family- a Christmas ornament of course and a little turtle.

At the American Girl outlet we got a box with all of these clothes...

a letter writing kit and some doll earrings...

and I picked up Christmas pj's for the girls.

One last souvenir: we bought the pictures of our group on the first carriage....

Mackinac day two part two

As soon as we were done with the Grand Hotel grounds, we walked along the boardwalk back to our hotel. Some of my favorite photos were captured along the walk...

such a beautiful place...

It was time for our very late breakfast so we went briefly into our room to change the girls clothes and then visited the turtle on our way back out...

strolling...

We stopped in at the pancake house for breakfast.

Abi wanted strawberry milk and they didn't have it but the waitress surprised her by putting real strawberries into the milk and mashing them up a bit so that it was pink, delicious, and still had a few bits of strawberries floating around. She was so excited!

After breakfast we did a little shopping. They had a Peace Frogs store there that I was so happy about. I loved Peace frogs in high school but had never been to a store. It just so happened that it was a Peace Frogs and Life is Good store all in one. My mom is probably Life Is Good's #1 fan so she was excited too. 

We also stopped by the Great Turtle toys to let the girls pick a souvenir.

At this point it was almost time to check out so we went back to our room to get all our stuff packed. They would hold our luggage for us at the front desk until it was time to get on the ferry but I still carted around all of our backpacks in the stroller. I swear that thing probably weighed over a hundred pounds!

Waiting for the elevator to go back down. Loving all that yellow!

They gave us a coupon for some free fudge and my mom wanted to buy some anyway so we made a stop at Joann's fudge. It is located in the hotel. 

We had tried a few samples at other fudge shops but the chocolate peanut butter from Joann's was by far my favorite. 

While we were getting our fudge, the girls got to watch these guys making peanut brittle...

We decided to go for a long walk down to the other edge of town to hang out on the lawn of the Mission Pointe Resort (this was recommended to me). Along the way we found my absolute dream home. It is an Inn but oh how I love it! And it would perfectly fit the name I want for my house!

We finally made it to the resort and sat back in some cozy Adirondack chairs to let the girls run around on the grass.

or find their own chairs....
In this picture you can see Abi's new best friend. She picked out that stuffed unicorn at the toy shop.
She named it Unia Peek a Boo Van Wagenen.

Abi took this picture of us chilling. You can see the resort in the background. Maddy wouldn't sit on my lap for the picture of course... and you can see the overflowing giant stroller.

Abi doing some cartwheels..

I didn't get to relax as much as I'd hoped since the little 2 year old stinker kept running really far away. But I did get to get some cute gazebo pictures...

We then did the long walk back and had ice cream cones from Joann's while we waited for our shuttle. Maddy was all tuckered out.

the happy girls.

Maddy could sense the ice cream and soon woke up in time to finish Abi's.
 Abi doesn't like the cone part so Maddy likes to eat it for her.