Door County

 We made another trip to Door County this summer and had just as much fun this year as we did last year, honestly probably more if that is possible! We left on Saturday, July 27th at 5:45 am to meet Keith, Jean Ann, Val, Scott, Bridgette, and Garret in Woodhull. The Springfield crew met us in Door County. We made several restroom and gas stops and ate lunch at a Meji Grocery Store in our campers. Bryce rode with mamaw and papa and kept us updated every few hours or so. We arrived at HTR campground around 3. We got all settled in and hung out together until we left for the fish boil at 5:30. We ate outside again almost at the same spots as last year and it was sooo good. We got to watch Torch again do his thing, but this time it was super windy so it was a little more dangerous. After supper, we walked across the street to the beach for some pictures and headed back to the campground to get a good nights sleep. 

Sunday, July 28th: We woke up, ate a quick breakfast, and headed to the ferry that took us to Washington Island. It was a pretty windy and rocky ride but the kids loved it and we were even able to see several pelicans in the water. We rode with mamaw and papa to have one less vehicle to travel with. We checked out the visitors center and headed to a coffee shop called WISCO Coffee. We hung out and then headed to a Lavender Farm where we took some sweet little pictures among the lavender bushes but didn't pay the $3 each to walk through the fields. While going to the Lavender Farm we passed a little antique farm so we stopped to check it out. It was a sweet little old school farm that even had goats and chickens. From there we headed to School House Rock Beach which was super cool. There was no sand, only smooth flat rocks. The kids changed into their suits and got in the very cold water. We had fun trying to skip rocks and just enjoyed the view. We then went to Jackson Harbor Soup for lunch and it was delicious. I had an amazing chicken pesto sandwich which was to die for. It was so busy so we were there for quite awhile. Blaine really wanted popcorn, so we stopped at a fun little popcorn shop to have a snack for the trip back and headed to the ferry. Once we reached land, we headed to ride Go Carts and went to our favorite putt putt placed called The Red Putter. We ended the night at the campground with a taco night all together. 

Monday, July 29th: We got up early to head to Al Johnson's. We were able to get so quickly that they didn't even have much time to shop in the store. Ali and Blaine were so excited to finally get to see the goats on the roof. We weren't able to see them last summer so we couldn't wait to see them this year! After breakfast, we headed to Seaquest Orchard where the kids had fun in the rope maze just like last year. From there we headed to a super amazing Christmas store called Tannenbaum's. It was so much fun and I spent so much money there! We decided to skip lunch that day and had ice cream instead! We headed across the street to our favorite ice cream place called Door County Ice Cream Factory. I was so bummed that they didn't have sticky bun ice cream like they had last year. I settled on peanut butter cup which was really good too. From there we headed to the Eagle Tower Lookout where we were able to take some pretty great pictures. Blaine was pretty scared this year to be up that high so he didn't want to get too close to the edge. After that, we drove down the road and stopped at a lighthouse. Because there was a cost, we didn't go up into it but of course took some great pictures. We stopped at Lautenbach's for some candy and did a fun wine tasting outside on their patio. I got the best tasting wine I have ever had called Cherry Sparkle. We headed back to the campground where the kids spent some time in the pool. We ordered pizza at Wild Tomato in Sister Bay and ate it at the park across from the restaurant. We ended the day where we started it at Al Johnson's enjoyed some Stockholm Coolers in the beer garden. We said our goodbyes to Mamaw and Papa since they were leaving bright and early the next morning. We were so glad that they were able to join us this year. 

Tuesday, July 30th: Our family and the Binkley family decided to skip a 10 mile biking adventure and sleep in to enjoy a breakfast at the campground. After breakfast Shane and Bryce took off for a local 9 hole short course to play golf. The rest of us hung out at the campground and went to the pool again and enjoyed lunch at the campground. It was nice to have a lazy morning after running around the previous day. After lunch we headed to Hands-On which is an amazing and huge art experience. There were 4 different buildings and you could choose from mosaics, pottery, canvas painting, metal painting, and stained glass. Everyone in the group went except for the Lakes and everyone spread out and decided what to do. Bryce and I made mosaics and Blaine, Ali, and Shane choose metal painting. Ali and Blaine painted goats and Shane painted a flower. We were there for around 2 hours and it was the most fun. We headed back to the campground pool and enjoyed a yummy porkchop supper complete with cheesy corn noodles all together at the campground. 

Wednesday, July 31: We had a quick breakfast at the campground then headed to Bayside Coffee just like last year. We walked down to the docks and of course took more pictures. We then split up into two different groups. All the guys minus Scott, Garrett, Blaine, and Will took off for the same golf course that Shane and Bryce went to the day before and the rest of us went on the 2 mile hike at Eagle Bluff that we did last year. We had just as much fun as we did last year but man we were worn out. We headed back to the campground for lunch and the kids swam in the pool yet again. Some of the crew did some shopping while Viv, Ali, Blaine, and I hung out at the camper and pool. The rest of the crew went to another fish boil at the same place we went to on the first night. We decided to skip that idea and instead we went to Wilson's as just the 5 of us. We got to sit outside and wave at the crew as they all drove by which was super fun! Last year, we really wanted to try a new putt putt place called Pirate's Cove, but we never got a chance. We decided to go there this year after supper and it was a pretty cool place. We then went back to Door County Ice Cream Factory, and called it a night. We said our goodbyes to the Staab family as they were heading out early the next morning. 

Thursday, August 1st: We woke up and headed to a coffee shop called Skipstone Coffee where we sat in the Al Johnson's beer garden and drank our coffee and ate our snacks. We drove around a little bit to find somewhere to rent kayaks and ended up back at the public beach in Sister Bay. We rented a few kayaks and used Keith and Jean Ann's blow up paddle boards. We ordered Wild Tomato Pizza for lunch again and ate it at the beach. It was a nice and relaxing afternoon. Ryan, Shane, and Bryce went golfing at the same course again while the rest of us relaxed at the campers. Even though we swam all day, the kids still wanted to swim in the pool to try out their new googles that Shane bought them while we were at the beach. We had a relaxing rest of the day at the campground where we had hamburgers and hot dogs for supper and enjoyed smores around the campfire. 

Friday, August 2nd: We said our goodbyes to the Binkley family and enjoyed a big breakfast with the rest of the crew. Scott and Bridgette made pancakes and our kids thought they were the greatest pancakes in the world! We then walked over to Wood Orchard from our campground and the guys minus Garret and Blaine went golfing once again. The rest of us went back to Hands On and did more art projects. Blaine, Ali, and I did pottery painting and the rest of the crew did stained glass ornaments. We met up with the rest of the crew at Shipwrecked and sat upstairs again just like last year. After lunch we walked down tot he harbor, stopped at the local market in Egg Harbor and headed back to the campground to swim in the pool. Jean Ann wasn't feeling very well so she went to sleep in the camper while the rest of us went to Pirate's Cove Putt Putt, Door County Ice Cream Factory for the 3rd time, and ended the night back at the Go Carts. 

Saturday, August 3rd:  We woke up early and headed to the Old Post Office in for breakfast. We ate outside again and the weather was so nice! After breakfast, we drove to Sister Bay and did a little shopping. We then went back to Ephraim to check on prices and times for parasailing because that is what Bryce had his heart set on. While they were checking on that, Blaine and Ali and I went back to Wilson's for some root beer for Blaine since he loved it so much. We headed back to the campground for lunch and just relaxed and hung out at the camper and pool. We went to Hands-On to pick up our pottery from the day before and went to Wood Orchard to get our cherry pie to take home and donuts for mamaw and papa. The kids also enjoyed some honey sticks. We went to Chef's Hat for supper since it was just across the street from where they were going parasailing. Bryce and Val went together and Jean Ann went on her own. They all went 350 feet up into the air. Bryce said it was awesome and can't wait to do it again. He said next time he wants to go up 500 feet. They were gone on the boat for almost 2 hours. Ali really wanted to go to Grumpies for ice cream so as soon as Bryce was done we high tailed it to Egg Harbor right before it closed. We said our goodbyes to everyone because they were going to be leaving earlier in the morning than we planned to leave. We pulled out around 8:45am on Monday morning and got home around 5. It was a long day of driving but we were glad to be home. Until next time Door County!