In May we spent a beautiful afternoon flying kites and playing in the sand at the top of a dune near Glen Haven, one of our favorite close-but-feel-like-you’re-far-away kind of places. We drove home and asked each other, “we get to live here?” Grateful to call this “home.” Thank you, Sleeping Bear Dunes.
I’m not really a nostalgic person; I don’t usually try to relive great moments; I also don’t really enjoy sitting around and chatting about the “good ole days.” But when Chris suggested heading out to the Dune Climb, aka Sand Mountain, I jumped at it. But it wasn’t really because we had such a great time there earlier this fall. It was because it seemed daunting to take our whole family of four (!) out there and I knew it would do all our spirits (and lungs) good to GET OUT. And we did it! And had a great time. Every time I get out with both girls and get home safely without any complete meltdowns or disasters, I feel like I won the lottery. Maybe not a big, retire-now-and-travel-the-world lottery, but a decent one. Yes!
So apparently we live a hop, skip and a jump from America’s “most beautiful place,” according to Good Morning America. That’s right, the Sleeping Bear Dunes are just a short drive away, but it’s a funny thing when you live somewhere that people plan a trip across the country (or world) to experience and it’s right in your backyard. Daily life gets in the way of playing tourist and you don’t make time for these magical places. It’s not that we take it for granted, well maybe we do, but often we just don’t take the time to get in the car to explore when we can walk down to West Bay and play in the surf and sand. So we decided to take the little birdie to climb the “sand mountain,” or more officially known as The Dune Climb. She had a blast! Well, of course she did, because really now, who wouldn’t? It’s 150 feet of sand, sand, sand. Blue skies, crisp air, Mama and Papa all to herself, running and jumping. Bliss. First thing Wren said when she woke up the next morning was, “Mama, I want to go back to sand mountain again today.” Yeah, me too.
It made us thankful for where we are able to live and for this precious time just the three of us have left together before another little birdie joins our nest. Next fall we’ll have a baby crawling around with sand-filled thigh rolls. Oh my! Life sure is crazy.
