Port Washington... with the Kids!

July 30, 2016:  Marc and I made our first trip to Port Washington in 2014, for our 9th Anniversary.  We absolutely fell in love with this charming little lake-side town!  In the summer of 2015, we pit-stopped here on our way home from the UP with Andy & Lindsey.  This summer we decided to take our kids!  We loved it so much we decided to make it a summer tradition.  It's about a 3 hour drive for us (just north of Milwaukee).  We also pass a couple outlet malls so it's great for back-to-school shopping!

We started our morning at the beach.  We took the kids scooters because there is a nice paved path from the parking lot to the beach.  It was a cooler morning but that didn't stop the kids from enjoying the weather.  When we got to the beach, we saw the "no swim" sign up.  The kids were bummed but they had fun playing in the sand.  Marc and I got to relax for a bit.     

You can see the lighthouse in the distance!

Next we went to lunch at New Port Shores.  It was a perfect day to eat outside--not to hot, but nice and sunny!  This restaurant has a great patio, complete with a giant sandbox for the kids to play in while we waited for our food.  The kids enjoyed big mugs of "Sprecher" Root Beer (made in Wisconsin).  

After lunch we took a walk out to the lighthouse.  This little town is known for this picture perfect light house.  You walk on a long pier out into Lake Michigan to get to the lighthouse.  It is always dotted with sightseers and fishers.  The walk itself is gorgeous, surrounded by beautiful blue skies and of course the Lake!

Carver got Splashed by a HUGE wave!

Sitting under the lighthouse, enjoying the view

After our light house walk, we enjoyed some shopping.  The popcorn store is ALWAYS a must... as is the candy store... and the butcher.  We took a break from our shopping to enjoy some ice cream.

Goodies from the Candy Store!

Before we headed for home, we spent some time at this huge playground!  The playground has a mini replica of the lighthouse.  It's built up on a bluff overlooking the lake.. so again, gorgeous views.  We enjoyed some late afternoon time here before we left for home. 

And what trip to Wisconsin is ever complete with out some CHEESE?!?!  We stopped at the Cheese Castle on our way home for some yummies.

Such a perfect summer day... we are looking forward to many more Port Washington Days to come!

Michigan Trip with the Knopps

July 2-4, 2016:

We had an awesome little 4th of July get-away with the Knopp family.  They came for a long weekend and we took a trip up to Indiana/Michigan.  We left early Saturday morning and stopped at State Line Blueberries for some blueberry picking.  We all had fun and left with a lot of blueberries... and some local honey... and some blueberry lemonade! 

Next up, we headed to New Buffalo (one of our favorite Michigan beach towns!).  We found a park to have our picnic lunch and then we hit up the local farmer's market.

Next, we did a little exploring and walked down to the beach--we weren't planning to swim, just wanted our toes in the sand and some of those awesome Lake Michigan views...

Liam didn't get the "no swimming" memo...

After a little beach time, we did some hiking at Galien River County Park & Wetlands.  Its a newer park with some great trails, an awesome look-out tower, and some pretty awesome views.  We enjoyed hiking out over the wetlands on a bridge path.  We also loved the look out tower!

Our last stop for the day was a highly recommended burger place--Redamaks.  The burgers and cheese fries did NOT disappoint and to top it off, we had to try the cheesecake shake!  We finished off our day with some hotel swimming and patio time. 

Tired after a LONG day!

Day 2--We started with breakfast at our hotel and then on to Indiana Dunes for a day of beach fun!  We did not anticipate the holiday weekend crowd and waited for an hour to enter the park.  That was not fun but once we were in, our day was great!  The kids swam, played, built sand castles, made some Dude Perfect videos on the sand dunes... it was a perfect day!

We ended our day with a yummy dinner at Portillos.  The next day was 4th of July and we were able to meet he Windhams for breakfast before Knopps headed back home.