Totem Pole Park - June 15

Last weekend we camped for one night at Totem Pole Park in Petersburg, MI with my brother and his family. We had a short 20-minute drive to get to the park. The campground is very family friendly. They had a lot of activities for kids, a nice man-made lake to swim in and the cutest little park to play in. I didn't think that the lake would be warm enough to swim in already, but it was. Of course, the kids are fearless and don't really care about water temperature, but Aunt Liesel does.

Saturday night my brother made a real nice bonfire and my niece purchased a packet of "Mystic Fire" from the campground store. She sprinkled it on the fire and we had an amazing light show. I tried really hard to capture it in a few of the photos below.

It's hard to believe that we have already went on five camping trips this year. We have many more planned and lots more memories to make.

Allison and Conner on the dragon at the playground.

It was a mystic fire kind of night.

Mystic Fire really made for such a great light show.

Cousins Camping Weekend at Muskegon State Park

This past weekend we ventured to Muskegon State Park for a "Cousins Camping Reunion" weekend. A few years ago, we (all of my first cousins on my dad's side of the family, minus 1) all got together at Soaring Eagle Casino and had a great time. This year we decided to give camping a whirl. We selected Muskegon based on the proximity for most of us. Cousins traveled from Kalkaska, Monroe, Livonia, and Maryland (you both get the prize for traveling the farthest...lol).

Muskegon State Park

The park itself was beautiful. The campsites were very roomy and everything was so well kept. In my book, this park is on my top five  best State Parks in Michigan that I've visited. We never left the park. We were able to walk right down to Lake Michigan and enjoy the water and the sand dunes. The weather could have been a little warmer, but for those that know me well, know that I don't mind a little cooler temperatures, plus it was perfect bonfire weather. We all had campsites together and used my brother's campsite as the meeting place. We shared meals, new card games, stories (old and new), lots of laughs and made more great memories along the way.


I'm very fortunate to be part of a great family who truly enjoys their time together. The only thing missing is a group photo of all of us. Oh well, I guess that means we have to do this again real soon! 

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On a walk with Jim we ran across this really awesome root system of a tree. It seems appropriate after a great weekend with family to end with this quote by Maria Sharapova...

I know my roots and I cannot forget the journey I made.

Below are some more photos from our outstanding weekend in Muskegon.

The stairway down to Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan - I could have walked for miles.