No Posts - I'm on Vacation

Statue of Liberty
photo credit: bmward_2000 Liberty via photopin (license)

The kids and I left early yesterday morning for our band/choir trip to DC/NYC. We are super excited to arrive in Washington DC today and spend the next 8 days exploring two of our greatest cities in America. We have lots of amazing sites to see and the students get to perform at Lincoln Memorial, at a church in China Town and various other spontaneous performances.

Korean War Memorial
photo credit: U.S. Army Korea (Historical Image Archive) Korean War Memorial, Washington D.C., USA, February 2009 via photopin (license)

I am most excited about touring the war memorials in DC, especially the Korean War Memorial. I've been to DC, but I was a young child and didn't appreciate all the amazing memorials then as I do now.

We will be seeing "Wicked" and "The Lion King" on Broadway and I am pumped about both of these shows even though I've seen "Wicked" already. I am also really excited about Ellis Island. I've been to NYC as a child and as an adult, but haven't made it out to the island.

The best part will be experiencing it all with our kids and some of my favorite mom friends!

There will be no more posts this week, but I'll be back later next week with some awesome reviews to share! I'll have tons of bus-riding time to read!!

Breathe, Laugh and Relax

I'm taking a few days off. 

I'm traveling to Denver and taking a few days 

to breathe, 

to laugh, 

and to relax. 

I'll be visiting one of my best friends as well as my niece.

I'm looking forward to sipping coffee in the morning and drinking wine at night.

I'm looking forward to catching up on life and sharing laughter.

I'm looking forward to seeing the mountains out the window and breathing the fresh air.

I'm looking forward to a little break from reality.

And when I return, I'll be refreshed and ready to tackle the next project!

Our Vacation to Michigan

Slowly, I am getting back into some sort of a routine after being on vacation.

It has been nice to take a blogging break 

and not have to worry about getting a post written every day.

I haven't written a book review for a few weeks and I have enjoyed that break as well.

But, I do have several that I need to write and will be doing that next week.

You will see me slowly coming back to life here on the blog, 

but I'll be sporadic until school starts. 

I don't want to miss out on the rest of our summer with the kids. 

It's gone by so fast. 

So, until then, here are some photos 

from our recent family vacation through the state of Michigan.

We started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and then went on to Green Bay.

From there we moved on up to the UP (Upper Peninsula) of the state of Michigan.

This is such a beautiful part of our great country

 and we only saw a small piece of it.

We began in Munising, then meandered over to 

Mackinaw City and visited Mackinac Island as well.

From there we went back down to the lower part of Michigan

and stayed in Traverse City, my favorite place on the trip.

We then worked our way back home 

by driving along the western border and along Lake Michigan, 

staying for a night in St Joseph/Benton Harbor. 

I hope some of the photos I am sharing 

capture some of the amazing beauty we saw in Michigan.

We did "speed zoo" at the Milwaukee Zoo 

since we didn't get there until 2:45 and they close at 5. 

But we saw everything we wanted to see 

and even got to see them feed the elephants. 

I actually recommend it, 

because the zoo wasn't as busy at this time of day. 

I always love how the peacocks are just walking around

and especially love to be treated to their beautiful

array of feathers. 

 

Even though we are Minnesota Vikings fans, 

we still thought a tour of Lambeau Field would be pretty neat. 

The Green Bay Packers organization has a really nice tour. 

I learned a lot about the history of their organization, 

the team, their coaching staff, and their stadium. 

We took the Champion Tour, which was a bit more expensive,

but we were able to see areas of the stadium

not on the regular tour.

The Munising, Michigan area is known for the 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

It really is quite beautiful. We didn't hike out to see it closer

 because it was quite chilly when we were there. 

Just 49 degrees and rainy.

But we took the trail to the overlook area and then

saw more while on a boat tour.  

Also near here is The Big Springs. 

It is a natural spring, always at 45 degrees.

The colors here were amazing. 

We took the ferry to Mackinac Island and eh....

it was just OK for our family.

Very commercialized and expensive. 

But we can say we were there and 

the Grand Hotel is truly amazing to look at. 

(We didn't pay the $10/person to go inside)

Several people told us to be sure to visit the 

Sleeping Bear Dunes.

They are west of Traverse City.

I highly recommend it. 

Really a neat experience.

Our favorite stop was in Traverse City. 

Great beaches and really nice community with something for everyone. 

Beach time was a blast.

We had to try a Michigan Pasty. 

We found some at the Bear Trap Inn near Munising in Shingleton. 

They are handmade every morning by a "grandma" and were quite good.

There are different variations of the inside ingredients 

and some come with a gravy.

Ours had potatoes, carrots, onions and ground beef inside. 

I had to visit a bookstore on the trip and 

this one in Munising beckoned me to come on in.

Falling Rock Cafe and Bookstore offers coffee, sandwiches,

 books from local authors and a large used books selection.

I picked up a used Laurie Notaro book 

and a book from local author Ellen Airgood,

 titled PRAIRIE EVERS. 

It's one both my daughter and I can enjoy!

I loved the patrons wall of coffee mugs.  

This is our first look at the Mackinac Bridge. 

A 5 mile bridge that connects the UP to the lower part of the state. 

I'm not a fan of bridges.

Let me rephrase that, I really dislike bridges.

So, this was tough for me. 

I cried the first time we crossed it.

I nearly hyperventilated the second time. 

The third and fourth time I tried to keep my breathing more controlled. 

I survived. 

But, I am certainly glad I didn't have to DRIVE myself across it. 

We went ziplining at Mystery Spot in St. Ignace, Michigan.

Fun. 

The kids loved it. 

I was just glad to be on solid ground when we were done.

The guy had to push me off for the first line because I was too scared to jump.

So many cherry stands and markets. 

We saw orchards of cherry trees everywhere we went. 

Very sweet and delicious!

Of course, I got lots of reading in. 

I finished three books 

and all of my magazines that I took on the trip. 

We had lots of ice cream, 

which if you know my mom, 

is a required part of any vacation.

Who am I kidding?

It's a required part of everyday, according to my mom!  

There were ice cream shops, fudge shops and popcorn shops 

on nearly every single corner of every town we visited.

I won't forget these views or 

the memories made with our kids on this trip.

Many people have asked us why we chose to travel to Michigan

and I think these photos say it all. 

Books I'm Taking Along on Vacation

I've decided which books I'm going to take along on our Summer Vacation.  I chose books that I have been anxious to read and not necessarily books I need to review or have a deadline for.  I don't know if I will get to all 4 of these books, but that is my hope.  If I do finish all of them, I still have plenty on my iPad waiting to be read.  We will have a lot of drive time, but a lot of it will be scenic and I won't want to have my head buried in a book.  Plus, I should probably chat with my husband and kids a bit! So stay tuned, to see what I end up reading on our Summer Vacation.

PAPERBOY By Vince Vawter

I've been wanting to read this since I bought it last summer and I am determined to get it read.  I was interested because it is a coming-of-age story (which I love) and the main character is a young boy who stutters.  Since our boys stutter, I am always interested in reading how it is portrayed in stories.  It has gotten great reviews and I'm anxious to read it.

THE LIFE LIST by Lori Nelson Spielman

For no good reason, this novel keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the pile.  I have had it for way too long and am determined to read it this month.  I have had several friends, as well as my sister, tell me how great it is which is enough reason for me to get it read! 

THREE GOOD THINGS By Wendy Francis

This has been on my list to read, but I just recently got it in my hands thanks to my cousin, Melanie.  She read it and thought I would like it as well.  Looks like the perfect vacation read to me!

LITTLE MERCIES by Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf is an Iowa author and has just recently come out with her newest book.  This one involves a woman who is a social worker in Cedar Rapids.  Aside from it being a book by Heather, the premise sounds right up my alley.  I purchased it for my Kindle and can't wait to devour it. 

I also plan to catch up on some magazines that I have been neglecting the last few months.  I like reading magazines on trips because you don't have to be so focused on your reading and can still have conversations and stay engaged while looking through them.  I'm looking forward to catching up on a few months of REAL SIMPLE, LIFE: BEAUTIFUL, BOOKMARKS, and WATCH.

You'll have to check back and see how much of this I actually get read.  There will be a lot of beautiful sights to see out my window as well!  Curious where we are traveling to? We are going to tour the great state of Michigan.  We plan to travel across the Upper Peninsula, over to Mackinac Island, and then down along the western border of Michigan.  It's going to be beautiful, maybe a bit chilly, but full of memories made with our kids!

How about you, can you read in the car?

Do you take books or magazines on vacation?

Vacation Snack Idea

Are you looking for an easy snack to make up for your next road trip or summer vacation?  These are simple to make up and get you about 20 bags of snacks to take along.  They are perfect for hiking, long car rides, a day at the pool, play dates, summer camps, and sporting events. I recently made these for a summer camp snack for 40 kids.  This snack was much quicker to assemble than making 40 cookies or bars. Depending on coupons and your local prices, you can make up about 20 bags for about $13 which figures out to about $.65/bag.

Vacation Snack
1 Box Golden Grahams Cereal
1 Large Bag of M&Ms
1 Bag of Mini Marshmellows
20 Sandwich Size Baggies

Empty 1 cup of Golden Grahams Cereal into a baggie.  Then empty 1/4 cup of M&Ms into the baggie. Finally add a 1/2 cup of mini marshmellows to the baggie.  Gently mix up the items and seal the bag.

Gorkow Family Vacation - Pensacola Beach - 2013

Being on vacation made me realize how often I am with our kids, but not really WITH them.  You know what I mean?  I am so focused on the next thing on my list, the next place to be, event to attend, etc that I have been missing out on conversations, fun times, and memories.  I haven't noticed the subtle changes the kids are making in their appearance and demeanor. This vacation was just what I needed to reconnect and refocus my priorities.

In the short time that we have been home, I tried to have conversations, play games, and just be together before they head off to school and our schedule becomes crazy again.

Here are some of the highlights from our trip to Pensacola Beach!

We spent our first night in Metropolis, Illinois and then realized Superman was right next door.  

We then headed to Nashville to spend time with my BFF, Tammy and her family. We checked out this Sky High place that is basically full of indoor trampolines.  The kids and the dads had a blast!

Yes, Tammy, I had to put our photo on here! Send me a bill! ;)

As soon as we got to our hotel, we couldn't wait to get on the beach!

Couldn't you just look at this every single day?

Our view from the balcony of our hotel room.  This never got old!  

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express.  I highly recommend this hotel as the customer service was top notch, the rooms were clean, and the location was perfect! Every room has a gulf view with balcony!

The sunsets were just as amazing as they are in my backyard.

Beach day!

We took a drive out through the Gulf Islands National Seashore, which also led us to Fort Pickens. 

Another afternoon on the beach and the boys tried out paddle boarding.

We took an evening dolphin cruise with Premier Dolphin Cruises. 

I highly recommend the evening cruise. The sunset was amazing and we saw several dolphins.  

The dolphins were tough to catch on camera, but here are a couple photos.

They were a lot of fun to watch and we were treated to another sighting on our last morning.  

We spotted one while watching from our hotel room balcony just off the edge of the shore.  

We had one rainy day and the water was full of vivid and amazing colors 

of greens and blues after the storm came through.  The photo doesn't do it justice.

Being so close to a Navy base, we were treated to a few fly overs by the Blue Angels.  I also recommend visiting the Naval Air Museum if you ever visit this area.  We toured it on our last trip here.  

One of my favorite things about the beach is standing on the edge of the water 

and feeling the tide roll in and out over your feet.  I could do this for hours!

Our last night on the beach.  We hated to leave, but know we will be back again!

Another great Gorkow Family Vacation in the books!