Stefanie: WANIPA 2007!!!!

The Lord blessed my family and I with a wonderful week in the UP! My Granny co-owns property on Lake Superior near Marquette, and it is such a great vacation for my whole extended family on my mom's side. My mom and her five siblings grew up going up there every summer, and the tradition has begun to pass on the the next generation. We were up there that week with Granny, Aunt Debby & Uncle Rob, and cousins Brittany and Mark - some of my favorite people in the world!!!

The day before we were to set off, my mom picked up Granny so she could spend the night at our house. Uncle Rob and Aunt Debby drove the first leg of their trip (from St. Louis to DeKalb), then spent the night at our house to get a few hours of sleep in. Then that Saturday morning, Aunt Debby and Uncle Rob got up early and drove with Granny, and we left a little later and made a stop to pick up Eric at Covenant Harbor.

Eric with his camp counselor Chuck, and friend from church, Tucker

So after finally getting on the interstate, we soon made a call to Aunt Debby (who had left hours before) just to see how far ahead of us they were. Because of a little misdirection, they had started to head to Madison, WI, instead of Milwaukee, and because of the detour, were actually a few miles behind us!!! Hehehe!!! We ended up becoming travel buddies and made most of the same pit stops for the entire 8+ hour journey. Along the way, we also passed cousins on their way back to Illinois after being at WANIPA...

Andy(not shown), Granny, Pete, Leslie, Mitch, Saul, Eric, Me, Mark,
and dogs Charley (far left), Chief and Casey!!!

When we arrived at WANIPA, my "sister" Brittany and husband Mark were already there after traveling all the way from Massachusetts!

Britt & Mark on top of Sugarloaf

Of course, we took Casey to the beach right away - and what a beach it was!!! This year was the longest beach that my mom could remember in a long time. It was fun going swimming because it took forever to get from the table by the beach grass (where we put our towels) to the Lake!!

Casey on the dune

View from the dune

Look at how tiny they are!!!
Mark, Dad, and Casey on the long beach

Casey on the beach!

Sunday morning meant church at Prince of Peace Lutheran, and then it was out to Presque Isle (the Island) for pasties by the breakwater!!! We were also blessed to have cousin Mark's parents and sister vacationing with us for a few days - what an awesome family!

The breakwater on the Island with an ore boat in the distance

Pasties on the Island!!!

Burtni!!! Susan, Bill, Britt, Mark (behind Britt), and Bekah!

The rest of the week was spent going to the cove on the Island, climbing Sugarloaf Mountain, pasties on the Island again, shopping downtown, and hanging out on the beach!!!