The Simple Things: Weekend at the lighthouse

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Weekend at the lighthouse

family pic in front of the lighthouse

my husband and daughter in the exact spot at the top of the lighthouse where my husband proposed

We were engaged at the top of a lighthouse (Sand Hills Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast) in the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. It is a magical place for us and a place we try to return to each year. Aside from the year we went with my husband’s parents, we typically go alone, just my husband and I. This year we asked if we could bring our daughter. She was SO excited as she knows about lighthouses from our visits to Duluth and Maine and we talk about them in her books. She was so excited in fact, she packed her suitcase (along with all the contents of her bedroom minus the furniture) a full week before we left.

Of course my husband and I were ecstatic to be going and even more so to see the excitement through her eyes- it was hard to say who of the three of us was most excited for this trip! We drove through snow to get to Michigan (crazy May weather!) and it proved to be another fantastic weekend at one of our very favorite corners of the world. Lake Superior always calls to my heart and makes me feel like I am home.

The magic continued through the weekend with excellent food, piano music and trips to the tops of the lighthouse tower to the exact spot my husband proposed, 8 years ago to the day, this time with our little girl. We spent time doing the simple things we love- throwing rocks into the lake, watching seagulls, collecting rocks (me looking for heart shaped rocks, my little girl collecting them for grandparents and my husband carrying them all for us), looking at lighthouses, taking pictures, enjoying the scenery, listening to and watching the waves. This time in the snow! Although it was unseasonably cold this year, we enjoyed the low key time together as a family in the fresh air, without a schedule or a plan, which is such a stark diversion from our day-to-day life.