Manistee: 8.26 - 8.28

We were fortunate enough to be invited to Manistee, Mi by one of the professors in Dustin's department. He owns a cottage near the beach and has plenty of room for visitors. We happily accepted the invitation and headed up north (it's about 3 hours from us, on the western side of the state) on Friday.

We had two bedrooms, a living area and a full bathroom at our disposal the whole weekend (this was in the basement). The house even came supplied with lots of toys (they have grandchildren). Henry was in new-toy-heaven. I think Henry's second-favorite part of the cottage was the huge wrap-around porch. There were no mosquitoes up there, so he was constantly opening and closing the screen door and running around the porch by himself. He thought he was big stuff.   

We spent our time at the beach, trying out a local breakfast place, walking the riverwalk downtown, watching the sunset at the beach, and eating awesome home-cooked meals (courtesy of the professor's wife). I didn't cook a single thing the entire weekend; it was awesome.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Prior to putting on the swim diaper.

Jumping the waves with Dad.

 Building a little canal.

Splashing. His face cracks me up in this photo.

We went back to a different part of the shore for sunset.

Before sunset.

There was a little stream/pool of water that led to the lake near the spot where we went at sunset. The water was a lot warmer and Henry had a really good time wading around in it... and of course digging in the sand.

I think we can officially say we got our money's worth out of this swim shirt/shorts. He wore them all last summer and all this summer. They're 18 months and they are just now getting a little snug. Perfect timing!