Chess, Kayaks, and Lakes - Travels in Leland, Pt. 1

Summer Adventures in Leland, Days 1-4.

Day 1 - Sunday:
My family and another family, the Carolyns, go to Leland almost every summer. This summer brought a new addition - a  kayak. The trip to Leland was slightly tedious, with my dad having to stop to readjust the kayak on the roof about three times (it was so noisy)! However, as I would see later, it was worth it. After we made it to Leland, not much happened. Everyone settled in, and we took it easy the rest of the day.

Day 2 - Monday:
That morning, I played a game of chess. It was a fun game, though nothing compared to that day's later fun. That afternoon, we went into Leland. It was fun, and I bought a book: Carl Haissen's Hoot. After the trip to town, everyone went to the beach. It was awesome. Though the kayak wasn't out, I finished my book and covered my little brother in sand. That night, we went back to the beach. We were told that the Northern Lights would be visible, and even though we stayed out until nearly midnight, nobody saw them (unfortunately).

Day 3 - Tuesday:
I played a round of Apples to Apples that morning. I bought another Carl Haissen book (Chomp). Everything was normal. However, about half an hour after going to the beach, I decided to kayak. Kayaking is fairly easy, though it can take a lot of energy from your arms -- especially in choppy water. I had a lot of fun, though. I went out again, and again my arms were tired. My legs were a bit tired, too -- that day everyone had also gone out for a hike. That night, after some ice cream, my dad put on a movie. It was a fun day.

Day 4 - Wednesday:
I played a game of Anomia in the morning. However, at about noon, I was greeted with the fact that we were going to Good Harbor Beach. The water there was much less rough. After a few long kayak trips, I went to a river that flowed into the lake. My dad, my brother and I tried to build a dam to block the river. It worked for about ten minutes before we tried to get the water to flow over. When we tried to get water to flow over, it broke the dam. It was another fun day.


Kayaking on a very calm Good Harbor Bay

Baby T.: Going back to the start!

Chicago: Nobody said it was eeeaaassssyyyy...

A "Short" trip to Chicago to see Coldplay turned into a downpour or two, a space center, a boat ride, and a broken car radiator. 2.5 days. Not a day and a night. Oh, and a concert!

     So, the rain. Well, let's say that it was rainier than Seattle in a hurricane. So rainy, in fact, that the opening acts for Coldplay were cancelled after 30 minutes of downpour. More on the concert later.

Now, on Sunday, we went to the Adler Planetarium. It was more awesome than watching a documentary on Coldplay (probably), but not as awesome as one of their concerts. We saw 3 shows at the planetarium, and took about 50 photos. I learned a bunch about space!

Boats! In Chicago, you can take water taxis and water tours:  To Navy Pier, where the water tours are launched, anyway. There is a ferris (Bueller) wheel! There is also a 35 minute boat tour of the city skyline.

When we got to Chicago on Saturday, our car started smoking. Literally. It turns out the radiator was broken. And the car fixing company would have it checked out by Sunday. Later, I discovered that we would be in town until Monday

Finally, the concert. A Head Full of Dreams! Coldplay played most of the family's favorite songs. Sorry Dad, I know that they didn't play "Lost?". At the end, well, 

That's what happened.

So, Chicago. Crazy, Rainy, and Baby T.'s home. Chicago: it's amazing at it's worst, and incredible at it's best.

Wednesday: Tubing and Stargazing (plus a new addition to the blog! :0)

     Well, Here we go. So, the tubing was fun. We saw sleeping bear dunes! However, there was one tiny thing. The ride was 3 hours with no clouds! Which actually turned out to be a good thing.

     In apology, we did NOT see Orion, but we saw Hercules, and we did NOT see Scorpio, but Cassiopeia. And to add to the mix of things that I saw, I also saw Draco, Pegasus, and the Andromeda galaxy.(M13)

     About the new addition to the blog, I am going to do 2 things. I will finish Baby T. in the big apple, and I am adding throwback Thursday, which will always have a featured post on it. This week's featured post: First Post! Yay!

By: GDGS

Tuesday: Art Show

      Unfortunately, there were clouds, so instead of stargazing, we made art! Olivia painted  sunset, I painted stars,  Nate painted various things, such as a chair and a sailboat. I hope to go stargazing tomorrow!
By: GDGS
 

Stargazing On The Beach

Last night, my family and the carolyns went to Leland, MI. After a nice cooling down day, we (that is Olivia, my mom and I) Went stargazing. It was a clear night, and, frankly, it was beautiful. I could see Orion, Scorpio, and, my personal favorite, the big dipper. We are planning on going back tonight. I'll post again tomorrow!

By: GDGS

School's Out!

Sorry, I didn't have much time to do a post in the school year, so I need to apologize with a new post! So I will have Baby T. come back for the summer! In other news, I will be doing more "me" posts.

THIS WILL BE AN AWESOME SUMMER!

So all you Baby T. fans, he will come back! My "me" posts will be like a bit of a journal. Bye!

by GDGS :)

Coming Soon!

Travels with Baby T. is returning! Keep your eyes out for a new post soon!