On our second (and last) day in Ludington, MI, we woke up to cloudy skies and drizzling rain. It was a bit of a bummer, as we had been hoping to enjoy an outdoor adventure--like a sand dune ride! Nevertheless, we still made the best of our time by visiting a children's museum in Ludington. I wasn't sure if the boys would be too old for the activities, but thankfully they still had a great time.
The museum was called Sandcastles Children's Museum, so I guess having a sand play area was a given. Hidden in this sand pit were treasure coins that the kids could turn in to the front desk in exchange for a small prize. Even after finding their coins, all three kids stayed in this area for quite a while.
Jaden and Cody also really liked this climbing wall and were determined to walk the whole length of it without falling to the floor. It wasn't an easy task!
The museum had a lot of exhibits spread across three levels, so as per usual, Jason and I divided up with the kids. Adley was happy doing her own thing (away from her brothers) and spent a good length of time at each exhibit too.
Her favorite sections involved dramatic play-- at this cute neonatal area...
...and at this post office.
Adley and I both enjoyed this apple picking activity. After gathering the apples and dumping them in the bucket, the pulley system actually worked to lift the apples to the top of the tree and dump them back into the apple-picking slots. So fun!
All three kids finally collaborated at the upstairs music center. These drums were a HUGE hit!
After tiring everyone out at the musuem, we hit up House of Flavors for an ice cream treat. We had eaten our breakfast at this popular restaurant and had gazed longingly at their menu of 40 unique ice cream flavors. It felt good to fulfill our cravings, and the kids loved having ice cream before lunch! Yum!
Before leaving town, we had to try out the sand dunes-- even in the misty/drizzly weather! Worth it.
While still in Michigan, we had arranged to meet my friend Maggie and her family again, this time closer to their home in Whitehall. Maggie suggested going to the Lewis Adventure Farm and Zoo, and it was a winner. Our kids thought this place was the BEST! It was on/off raining during our entire visit, but we still found enough to keep us busy for several hours. The kids started off by feeding the animals in the zoo area.
Then we hopped around to all the other great areas on this farm. It was astounding how much there was to do! I'll let these photos speak for themselves...
As you can tell by the large smiles, the kids had an amazing afternoon here! The adults even got in on some of the fun. Here's Jason working on his cowboy lassoing skills...
and pretending he's on Survivor with this puzzle. Ha!
We were so thankful to Maggie and her three sweet kiddos for suggesting this fun place. I enjoyed catching up with my dear friend too!
We ended our time together by having dinner at Maggie's home. Maggie and her husband Josh treated us to a yummy taco dinner and homemade popsicles. Maggie's kids even let our crew try out their 4-wheelers. Great friends... fun times!
After the rocky travel issues at the start of our vacation, we were happy that our drive back to Chicago and our flight back home were uneventful. All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing time in beautiful Michigan!
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