Drummond Island: A Family Vacation

Since my siblings and I have all moved away from home, we don't get to spend time together very often. So, my parents and siblings all decided to get together for a week-long vacation this summer -- a real vacation, where we go somewhere and no one has to worry about working or cleaning the house or any other commitments that come with staying at your own home. Somehow (and truly I am not sure how this happened), we rented a house on the southeast corner of Drummond Island, Michigan:

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For those not familiar with Drummond Island, it is the easternmost part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, approximately two miles from Cockburn Island, Canada. And it is VERY sparsely populated.

We stayed in a lovely house, a 100-plus-year-old-house called The Stone House (and everyone on the island knew of The Stone House). The eight-bedroom Stone House sits on 45 wooded acres, with the house right on Scammon Cove (Lake Huron), and with its own private beach. It was a wonderful location to spend a week with the family!

The house was just perfect for our vacation. We had privacy (we never saw any neighbors, and only saw other people when we ventured out into town), enough bedrooms for everyone, our own private beach, a firepit for evenings, and lots of space to play in the yard.

With us on the vacation were:

Mikel ("Poppa"), sitting on the steps with Adelaida.

My Mom ("Nonna"), sitting inside with Adelaida.

Bill, wading out into the lake.

Rachel R, with her dad on a beautiful day.

Michael, helping Adelaida ride Henry.

Sami, relaxing on the beach with Henry.

BJ ("crazy uncle BJ") playing "voice modulation" with Adelaida.

Rachel M, sitting on the porch with Adelaida on a chilly morning.

Henry, Michael and Sami's dog, who has grown from a 6-lb ball of fur at Christmas to an 80-lb ball of energy!

Duffy, BJ and Rachel M's dog, who tried so hard to keep up with Henry!

I'll post more about our various adventures on the island later -- we certainly had a lot of fun!