Docking in Door County

Hello from Door County, Wisconsin! We are on VACATION! Its been great so far! I forgot to bring along the cord to our camera so I could post pictures as they happen, but we thought we'd begin to recount our trip for you and post the pictures later. We, along with Grandma Blunier, left Monday morning and had a pleasant, cool, and rainy trip up here, arriving around 3:30 or so to our pretty condo in Ephraim, WI, along Green Bay/Lake Michigan. We got settled in, did some grocery shopping, had a wonderful, condo-cooked meal of spaghetti and green beans. While Dave and Faith prepared supper the other kids had help from Grandma B. podding peas (Dave and the kids went out before we left in the rain and thunder to get the long-awaited peas just ready for picking! Just couldn't leave them!), went on a walk along the coast and had ice cream at the famous Wilson's Ice Cream Parlor. Hoping for sun and warmth tomorrow (its barely 60).

Tuesday- started out the day at Peninsula State Park (about 5-10 minute drive from Ehpraim) in the rain with the forecast of "rain all day and all day all week"- tried not to be discouraged. We found a short .5 mile trail around the visitor's center and enjoyed that, so found another longer one. However, about halfway into it, the forest began looking darker and darker, and with rain and storms predicted all day, we chickened out and turned around. It was nearing lunch time, but too cold to picnic. I had NOT brought along warm enough clothes or coats! We found a nice enclosed shelter looking over the water and had a nice lunch. Then we braved the wind and chill and tumbled down the rocky hillside to the water below. We had a little serendipitious walk along the shore before climbing the cliff back up. Next we went to a lookout tower and enjoyed the view. We tramped around a few more short trails and then decided to finish up with a 2 mile hike through the woods and meadow. I was so impressed with little legs that just kept trudging along! And still no true downpour or storm. We were dirty and tired, so we headed back to our warm and cozy condo for a rest and supper and family activities! Went to bed praying in faith for a miracle in the form of SUN.

Wednesday- woke up to... gloom and rain. Tried not to give up hope and kept preparing for sun! Spent time in the early morning like yesterday, each working on our Sword studies and scripture memorization for the Bible Bee in August. The condo has a cute out of the ordinary room just perfect for Jared and Lily to claim as their toy room and spend time together. Around 10 we started out for Peninsula S.P. again. It wasn't raining! We rented bikes (not very cost effective!) for two hours and set out on the Sunset bike trail- this was my dream come true! It was wonderful, for the most part. I have waited 12 years to bike as a family and this was it! (as was hiking yesterday). The trail looped through the beautiful trees and then along the coast where we could see the sparkling blue water- and... could it be??? THE SUN! Yes! It was! It came out shortly into our bike excursion and stayed out ALL THE REST OF THE DAY. God had answered our prayers in a miraculous way!! We had a beautiful picnic along the beach (aside from the bold sea gulls scolding us for not sharing and then pooping on Lily!)and then the kids played in the sand and even in the water, clothes and all. If you would have told me this is how we would spend our day (which is how I had envisioned the whole trip) earlier that morning, I would have struggled to believe. The 50's had jumped to the low 70's with that powerful sun. They were all having so much fun that we decided to head back to get our suits. We spent the remainder of the afternoon on Ephraim beach, enjoying every minute.

After a great day in the sun we headed back to the condo to clean up for supper. Tonight's supper was a traditional fish boil at the White Gull Inn. It was fun to watch the boil, and the food ended up being pretty tasty. Jared was the only one that just couldn't like it. The waitress felt sorry for him and gave us a discounted price on his meal. Jared said "too bad we all didn't like it!" Grandma B. insisted on picking up the tab for which we were grateful. We then drove down to a sunset beach and it was really pretty, though we didn't wait around for the sunset.

Thursday morning again started out cloudy. We decided we had to check out Al Johnson's the restaurant with goats on the roof. Lucky for us, the goats were out! It was pretty cool. After enjoying a tasty breakfast, we headed to a winery and orchard. We took a tour of the winery and then Mom, Dad and Grandma got to taste some wine. The kids didn't get left out, there were several juices and snacks to sample too. Then we headed back to the condo for a quick lunch. After lunch Faith, Marcus, Grandma and Dad headed to minature golf while the little ones and mom relaxed at the condo. Now the kids are out swimming with Grandma and Mom while I (Dad) catch up on emails, etc.