My family and I just returned from Traverse City a few days ago, and I'm already wishing I could go back! If I could use one word to describe my trip to Norther Michigan, I would call it RELAXING!

Northern Michigan is one of the most beautiful places because of all of the Great Lakes that surround the area. Speaking of beautiful, we also took a visit to what was just named "Americas Most Beautiful Place to Visit", The Sleeping Bear Dunes!

We decided to take a four day trip to Traverse City after we had to cancel our original summer vacation, due to scheduling conflicts...so my older sister and brother in law weren't able to join us on this trip, so we missed them for sure!

Now off to the Daily Dish~ A Week Spent in Beautiful Northern Michigan!

First of all, I had to share this application on Seans I Phone! It literally showed the route that we took through Michigan from Ann Arbor to Traverse City! The drive that was only supposed to take us 4 hours ended up being about 5-6 hours after a flat tire on the way up!

Thank God for hard working men! I always say there is nothing more attractive than seeing my hubby work hard! I know God put that in us women so we could spot ourselves a good man from miles away! ;)

It may have taken a while to get there, but when we finally arrived, we saw that it was worth the long trip up! Our rental home was on the lake, and had massive windows! The view was breathtaking!

I'm telling you... the huge windows MADE this place! :)

The beautiful lake didn't hurt either! :)

As usual, I headed straight to the kitchen to see what supplies we had to work with for the week! :)

I tried my best to take in every moment of natural beauty! Life just seemed to slow down while we were there!

Our first stop was to Olive Garden for dinner! We were all starving after the long road trip, and Olive Garden has choices that we all love! I love the salad and minestrone soup~ although I'm always sure to ask for dressing on the side!

I got the Venitian Apricot Chicken~ The sauce is the perfect combination of sweet and salty! :)

Then we were off to the grocery store to stock up our fridge for the week! When we returned home we were all exhausted and fell asleep early pretty early that night!

One of my favorite parts of the trip was waking up early (I am a pretty early riser naturally), and going outside to spend time with God. It was so beautiful and peaceful to watch the sunrise! It reminded me how AWESOME our God is every time I saw the beauty of the sunrise on the lake!

We spent the entire first day being lazy and hanging out on the lake! We kayaked, rode the jet skis, and went tubing! It was a blast!

The also had a hot tub, which was the ultimate relaxation station! :)

For dinner, we went to a place someone recommended to us, The North Peak. It was a really cozy atmosphere, and the menu was filled with local favorites!

Sean enjoyed the bread basket as always! Haha!

Emily got this amazing Greek Style Thin Crust Pizza...She even shared a piece with me when she saw me eyeing it! :)

We made it home just in time to watch the sunset! Just beautiful!

We hung around the lake again for most of the next day, and hit the bike trails in the afternoon! We were blessed with wonderful sunny skies the whole time!

Check out the view! Now that is a bike trail!!!

We spent the next day visiting all of the cute Shops in Downtown Traverse. There was a food and wine festival going on, so the downtown area was very busy~ but fun!

We also went to go see the movie "The Help"...One of my new favorite movies by far! If you haven't seen it yet, you have to see it ASAP! It was so inspiring!

We picked up 4 jars of this Cherry Salsa to take home with us after sampling it...It was that good! :)

We also got a little something to bring back to our dogs back home (who were staying in a kennel)...It's so funny, we talk about our dogs so much when we're on a trip...It's like they're our children!

One of the home-cooked meals we enjoyed was Chicken Taco's!!! We added Bell Peppers, so they were sort of a mix between fajitas and tacos, so we got a combo pack that had both hard and soft taco shells!

The Cherry Salsa MADE this meal! It was the perfect combination of sweet, salty, and spicy!

One of the best times we shared while on vacation was gathered around the table! We enjoyed both the food and the conversations...Now that's what life's all about if you ask me! :)

We also played numerous rounds of Sequence. This game is awesome! It's a card and board game In One! Emily and I played against Sean and my dad...Now, I don't want to brag, but let's just say the girls dominated! ;)

The last day of our vacation was spent at the Sleepy Bear Sand Dunes. There are so many different natural attractions to take part in while at the dunes, but we chose to do the 'strenuous' hike to Lake Michigan. We were warned that it was 'strenuous'...But I think that was an understatement!

This was just one of the many steep inclines we climbed, and let me just say that climbing in hot sand is just a bit more difficult than hiking on solid ground!

Where's Emily!?! Oh she's the little speck in the distance! I'm telling you...This picture doesn't do the massive steep hills that we climbed justice!

We made it to Lake Michigan! Totally worth it! The view was beautiful, and it's truly amazing to see a lake so huge that it looks like an ocean!

This view made it all worth it!

Our trip home was much simpler. We even did BodyPump that evening upon returning! We all agreed that it was nice to get out of the 'gym' setting for a few days and just be active outdoors!

Since returning, I've spent the past few days helping Emily get her 3rd grade classroom set up for the school year ahead! I can't wait to get back in my kitchen and start whipping up more recipes! :) I have so many ideas I'm just itching to share!

I hope everyone has had a blessed week, and remember, even if you didn't get a chance to 'go on vacation' this summer, you can always take a moment to slow down and appreciate the little things in life! Beauty truly does surround us on a daily basis~ I think we are often just too busy to take it in!