Sand, Heat and a Tornado; What's not to Love?

 A beach sunset can make anything possible... It can cause dreams to flourish and love to grow....

 Our weekend camping at the Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan went better than I'd hoped. We were dragging a very reluctant 13 year old along with us. A teenager who doesn't like sand, heat, bugs, or having to hang out with his parents very much. All things that we would be doing in abundance for 4 straight days. AWEsome.

 Thankfully, there were cousins for our other kids to play with, while Justin read book after book by the snack bar and then back at camp by himself...

They managed to have a blast without him, collecting rocks...

 Coating themselves with clay from the creek...

 Floating in the peacefully still lake water...

 Building dozens of sand castles...

 Searching for minnows....

 And burying themselves...

 Many, many times...

Until finally, he came back to the family. Grudgingly, but still.

We were all together again.

 Also, I don't think there is a single angsty teenager in existence who would turn down a waffle cone of mint chip in a local ice cream parlor.

Other fun outings to experience with teenagers who aren't thrilled to hang out with their families include driving as fast as you can from the tornado warning that hit your campground. Trust me; he LOVED that one. Me? Not so much.

 But we survived and even had all of our tents and supplies and chairs remain intact and mostly dry. WINNING!

 Our favorite way to end our Michigan camping vacations is a trip to the blueberry patch. In fact, I am enjoying a DELICIOUS shake with the freshest, sweetest berries as I type this. Yum, yum, yummy!