Mackinaw or Mackinac? They Both Spell History, PE and Fun

There may be some confusion around the words Mackinac and Mackinaw - both places in Michigan.  They both mean the same, but one refers to the city and the other the island.  According to the official Mackinac Bridge site, the French pronounced it "aw", but they spelled it to end with an "ac".  When the British heard the "aw" pronunciation, they spelled it as it sounded.  The original meaning for Mackinac is great turtle, as the island was thought to be shaped like a turtle.

Last weekend, we had the privilege of showing the island to our three children.  It was amazing!  The kids were very excited, and now old enough to appreciate the island.

The day started with a ferry boat ride to the island, and we had to capture some pictures of the B&B where we stayed!

 When my husband and I got married, we spent part of our honeymoon on Mackinac Island.  For those unfamiliar with the island, it is a magical place where no cars are allowed, and there is a Grand luxurious hotel.  We did not stay at the Grand Hotel on our honeymoon.  We, instead, enjoyed a bed & breakfast called the Bay View Inn, right on the beach.  It was amazing.  When the last ferry boat of the day, filled with daily tourists, would leave; all we would hear is the clip clop of horse hooves on the streets.  What a delightful sound!

We took a carriage ride through the hilly portion of the island, and rode our bikes around the 8.3 mile edge by the seashore.

The kids kept up well, with the youngest in a bike trailer.  We ate at the same hotel where we ate on our honeymoon.

Words cannot describe how magical this place is.  And, among all of the magic, there is tons of history to be learned.  A British battle, the construction of the Grand Hotel which took around 90 days, with 600 workers (not all truly carpenters, but those who answered an ad for a high-paying job - so, some of the this Grand Hotel is actually crooked in structure).  There is a fort on top of the island, and the nation's second national park (following Yellowstone).

And, of course, Mackinac would not be the same without some of their famous fudge.

Being a Grain of Sand on Sleeping Bear Dunes Dune Climb

If you ever get a chance to go to Traverse City, Michigan; be sure to go to the Sleeping Bear Dunes Dune Climb.  Get there after the heat of the day, just before sundown for a beautiful experience.  It's great physical exercise for the kids and the adults.  And, it will wear down your kids, so they sleep well.

Sand is amazing.  The Bible refers to sand on a seashore, in an effort to explain how God cares for us.  He cares for us even though we are one among many, and very insignificant in comparison to all of creation.  Imagine that?  A creator, God of the universe, looking down and knowing so much detail about our lives that he can find us like finding a grain of sand in the dune.

In our dune climb, we had a whole other kind of spiritual encounter.  My husband and I had climbed this dune during our honeymoon, almost 20 years ago.  I remember it being a bit of climb even then, still in my 20's.  But, this time, we returned with 3 kids and almost 20 years older.  The kids took off, and I struggled huffing and puffing behind, till I reached the first huge top.  I was quite happy with that.  But, the kids wanted to go on.  We told them that they could climb to the top of the next hill.....Their "top" was different than what we thought the "top" was.  They went out of sight and out of hearing range, as we screamed their names with no response.  My husband took off up the steep incline that neither of us wanted to climb.  The sun was going down, and we knew we needed to get our kids back before it was dark.  We did, but not without some P&P (panic & prayer).  There's just nothing like being on top of a sandhill in a town you're unfamiliar with, when the sun is going down, and not knowing how far away your kids have wandered.

Long story short - We found them, at the top of the hill we told them they could climb, only they had continued on to another "top" which they claimed is where they were originally headed, to which we had approved.  All is well.  We are all safe and sound.  But, not without a spiritual lesson to me with our sand:

Like God cares for us, even though we are like a grain of sand; we cared for our kids the same way.  Among that sand pile, we so dearly enjoyed climbing on our honeymoon and couldn't wait for the day when we could bring our kids to share in the fun - we were insignificant grains of sand, together forming a significant family in love with our creator.

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Dutch Village Review and Lessons from Holland

Wooden Shoe - Cooper - Cheese ...  What do all these have in common?  They're all part of the culture from the Netherlands:  Holland to be exact!

My family recently had the pleasure of visiting Dutch Village.  This is a miniature dutch village replica "theme park" in Holland, MI.  I can tell you that if you happen upon a brochure about the place, be prepared because it's even better than anticipated.  To me, it was like a miniature Epcot, focusing only on the Dutch portion - and, much less humidity than the Florida version.  The day we visited, the weather was perfectly cool with a nice breeze, which only added to our enjoyment.

We arrived at the park just before 1:00, and didn't leave until after 5:00 p.m.  While we were there, we learned enough for an entire unit of social studies.  Here's some of the highlights:

We watched an 18 minute movie about Holland (the original Holland in the Netherlands, not the replica in Michigan).  It was a family-friendly movie, complete with a cartoon mouse who was only interested in the cheese from Holland.  The movie had real film footage of the Netherlands as well.  It was very informative and well worth the stop.

The pathway around the Dutch Village then winds around over a canal and toward an outside theater.  The theater has a beautiful street organ which played music while folk dancers performed in wooden shoes.  At the end of the show, they taught us a dance too.  We had a blast, with our musical daddy and two dancing daughters.

Once we got the kids to stop dancing, they enjoyed playing on a huge wooden shoe playground:

And, then came some more learning fun.  We watched how wooden shoes are made, and discovered why they became popular.  One reason was the shortage of leather due to a cow epidemic.  It was also a lesson opportunity in arithmetic, as each shoe was sized in centimeters as well as American sizes.  Another, is because of how wet the Netherlands is, being below sea level, these shoes were more durable.  Regardless of the reason they came about, they make for some fun trying on, wearing, and of course, dancing some more in our own wooden shoes:

We also enjoyed shopping for Dutch clothing:

And, time for more learning.  This time - about cheese.  We were hungry and thirsty by this point, so sampling some authentic dutch cheese sounded terrific.  We ended up buying some Gouda and learning about how cheese is made.  We learned that the craftsmen who made the cheese molds were called coopers.  We learned that the cheese to be sold is sealed in red wax, while the cheese for personal use was sealed in clear wax.  The cheese was wrapped in the shape of a ball, and some can take as long as 18 months to age.  So yummy!

Then, onto more science.  We walked the goats (or, rather, they walked us); pet the bunnies, and watched the little horses.

Of course, we'd be remiss to not mention the amazing artists who came out of the Netherlands:

Then, there was some physical education on the little pumper train cars, and just plain fun.

And, we couldn't resist a family photo in the Wedding Wagon, next to the little Dutch church.  And, of course, a picture of us posing alongside the kissing dutch boy and girl.