Mackinac Island

Last Wednesday, Chris and I were blessed with the opportunity to join the Knights of Columbus on Mackinac Island for their yearly convention. For 3 days, Knights from all over the state of Michigan basically take over the island. The entire Grand Hotel is booked solid and so are many of the other hotels. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at the Grand Hotel. We arrived on Wednesday so we could get settled in and start setting up the hospitality room for the diocease of Grand Rapids. We also had time to explore the hotel and walk around the grounds. On Thursday, the guys squeezed in a round of golf at the Grand Hotel golf course and the ladies had time for shopping. That afternoon, the men had to register for the convention and we finished setting up the hospitality room. After all of this, there was no more time for play. We had daily mass, the men had various meetings to attend, and there was also a program just for all of the ladies. Friday night we had the State Officers Banquet and every night there was time to visit all of the hospitality suits. For anyone not familiar with a hospitality suit, it is free food and free drinks (oh, and time to visit with other Knights!) We had many long days and very short nights, but we had a great time. We got home late on Saturday and definitely enjoyed being back in our own bed.

I couldn't pick just a few pictures to share with you, so I hope you enjoy all of the ones I did pick. I wanted to show everyone the beauty of the Grand Hotel. It is over 100 years old and incredibly beautiful. During the day, regular clothes are fine. However, in the evening you must be in a tie and jacket, dress or pant suit to dine in the hotel or to be on the parlor level after 5. Every room in the Grand Hotel looks very different and has a feel all its own. That's why I just couldn't share a couple of pictures with all of you. I hope you enjoy!

The Grand Hotel as seen from the ferry ride over.

Chris in his Color Corps regalia with me in my formal ready for the banquet.

Our room

These 2 pictures are of the Governor's sweet.

The above picture is one of the bedrooms.
The picture below are of the parlor area that joins the 2 bedrooms.

The movie "Somewhere in Time" was filmed at the Grand Hotel.

Below is a picture of the "Somewhere in Time" suite.

The following pictures are of various areas in the hotel.

The Mackinac Bridge at night.

The Grand Hotel at night.

The view of the hotel from the 7th hole on the golf course.

One of the special things the Color Corps did while we were at the convention was take part in a living rosary. The Knights staked out a rosary around the fountain and all of the Color Corps members stood around the fountain forming the beads on the rosary.

As each prayer was being said for the particular bead we were on, the Knight representing that bead was given a balloon to hold onto until we were finished praying the rosary. At the conclusion of the rosary, everyone holding a balloon released it representing our prayers being sent to heaven.

This picutre shows how many Knights of Columbus Color Corps assisted with the living rosary.

An Afternoon Out

Last Friday was another beautiful day, and I just couldn't stand the thought of staying inside one more minute. I told Chris to grab his camera, it was time for us to get out as a family and enjoy the afternoon. My hope was to go places where Chris could take some pictures for his business and Olivia would have a place to play. We sort of succeeded. Our first stop was a park near the Grand River. They did have some play equipment for Olivia to play on, but it wasn't too inspiring for pictures. There were a lot of great natural areas, but nothing was inspiring Chris.

Olivia just loves to swing! It seems every time we put her in one, she loves to lean back as you give her a push. What a little ham!

This park did have a boardwalk that went out into the pond (not really a lake) so people could fish. We did see tons of minnows and other fish, but no turtles or frogs. As we were leaving, more people had arrived to fish off the boardwalk.

Next we drove out to one of our favorite places...Grand Haven.

This is a view from the end of the pier, looking back towards the shore.

While Chris went out on the pier to take pictures, Olivia and I played on the beach. She really loved the sand and considering how new she is to walking, she did a great job walking on the beach.

You can't go to the lake without sticking your toes in the water, no matter what time of year it is or what the temperature may be. Olivia really loved doing this!

We really had a great afternoon. When we told Olivia that it was time to go, she threw a huge fit! I guess I know where we will be spending a lot of time this summer. :)