Up North Michigan 2014-Day 6-Sleeping Bear Dunes

One of the must visit places during our Up North trip, was the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Seashore.  My husband's family has extremely fond memories of climbing the dunes when Hubby & his sister were children and we knew the kiddos on the vacation would love all the wide-open sand! 

 

 While things have changed a bit, due to erosion, park popularity, etc., we still found the Dune Climb and spent a couple of hours climbing up and down the mountain of sand. We also packed a picnic lunch to enjoy at the base of the gigantic sand pile! 

Everyone got in on the sand climbing...even this pregnant lady!  I only made it about halfway up, which is still a ridiculously long ways from the end of the sand climb...but I was definitely feeling the difficulty of climbing through sand! 

Elyse wasn't quite sure about all the sand being on her hands and feet at first...but then as she watched her cousins take the lead she couldn't help but join in! 

This was as far as momma made it!

She even slid all the way to the bottom on her booty and then climbed back up with her cousin Jackson...that's tough stuff!

She was definitely happy to make it to Pappy's outstretched hand!

 And then it was time for the next stop...so we all headed down the giant ant hill to load up and head back to the car. 

Elyse was pretty much done with things at this point...new places, new people, new schedule, and missing naptime most days are not a good combination.  So we quickly took in the sights at one of the Dune Overlooks, and then she headed back to the car with Mamaw to hopefully catch a quick rest. 

We couldn't leave the seashore without taking in the stunning views of Lake Michigan...the sand dunes truly are a beautiful sight!

See those small black dots...yeah those are crazy people climbing up a dune.  Not recommended by the parks department but a challenge for many!  We DID NOT participate in this particular activity!  ha! 

Elyse fell asleep fairly quickly in the car and while she slept, we found a nearby beach for the older kids to enjoy for a bit.  We had about a 2 hour drive home and while we were worried that she would be a bear the whole time, she sat back, relaxed and I think enjoyed the silence of being the only kiddo in the car with her parents' full attention! 

 

We spent the evening at home with a quick dinner of leftovers and then of course another baseball game was on the schedule!