Mackinaw Island Fieldtrip

 The whole reason the girls and I had planned to stay in Michigan was so Karinda could go on her field trip to Mackinaw Island May 14 & 15.  I hadn't planned on going at first but I am so glad I went with.  (Thanks Cliff and Karen for watching Kylie).  I appreciate Innocademy even more now after the field trip.  There was 91 people on the trip.  38 parents and 53 students.  Some of those parents had 2 or 3 kids so it was almost one on one with your kids.  To me it shows just how much the Innocademy parents care, and want to be involved with their kids.  We primarily hung out with Karinda's friends Merideth and Katelyn, and I had the privilege of getting to know their moms a little more too.  Such a group of wonderful Christian people!  I also got to know another dad on the way up on the bus ride and learned just how much prayer has gone into Innocademy.  We are so blessed to have our kids at such an awesome school!

 Merideth, Katelyn, and Karinda, and a larger group of kids from Inno, they pair off a little but they seem to all get along so well.

 We left the school at 7:00 Monday morning a little nervous about a 4-5 hour bus ride but it went wonderfully!  We stopped at Fort Michilimackinack to have lunch and then we visited the fort.  It was pretty cool, just wish I had more time there.

 Merideth, Katelyn, and Karinda as colonial people.

 The girls got to wash clothes like the people did back then, they thought it was pretty cool.

 After the fort in Mackinaw city we crossed the bridge to St. Ignace.

 And took the Star Line Ferry Across.

 There was 91 people on the trip and we all stayed in the Inn on Mackinaw, a bed and breakfast.  It was amazingly large and very pretty.

 The weather was beautiful and we had a little free time before dinner at the Yankee Tavern so we shopped, and the girls played by the water.

 The horse outside the B&B was a very popular photo op.  Karinda and Trina pose for a pic.

 We look like we are dressed like it is very cold, but we were comfortable.  It's not very often I have time with just Karinda.  While she was a little disappointed to have to room with just me and not her friends, I thought it was very nice!

 In the morning we visited Fort Michilimackinack.  I preferred this fort, it seemed cleaner and neater, and the view was incredible.

 We got to see the cannon go off (just not that one) and we watched them shoot the guns.

                                                  Such a cute lady.
Karinda and Kate as soldiers.  They had a whole area for kids where they could dress up and play games.  Here the guy would tell them what to do, they really had fun!



We were on our own for lunch and had a little more free time, so we rented a tandem bike and rode around the island.  We first started out just riding to see arch rock, but the stairs were closed so when we were about half way around Karinda realized it and asked if we were going around the island. When I said yes, she was ok with it, but when I had asked her the night before if she wanted to do it, 8 miles seemed really long.  We did it in just under an hour with a couple of stops and we both really had fun. 

Then we got to ride in a horse and carriage through the island.  It was really fun to see and hear about some of the things you wouldn't see or know on your own.

There are not supposed to be any cars on the island but we did see an ambulance and a police car.

Karinda did finally get to see Arch Rock before we headed back.  It was an incredible school field trip!