Kites!

We went to Mackinaw City today to see the Kite Festival. It was held in a park on S. Huron Ave, right on the water. The turnout was pretty good, and even though the wind didn't seem very strong down low there were plenty of lofty sights to see. Bill and Grace liked looking at the different designs, and a few people had some "trick" kites and were making them dance. We also got to see a dragon kite that was 150ft long. We managed to get Wee Lad's standard-shaped Fish pattern kite up to a respectable height. I still had plenty of line left but I wanted to leave myself plenty of room away from the other kites. His favorite seemed to be a kite shaped like a giant lizard.

After flying and watching kites for a little while we went across the street to Mackinaw Crossings for some shopping. They had put in a new playground in the middle of the shopping center, and Wee Lad and Lass enjoyed that for a while while Jennifer looked around. Then we went into Mackinaw Outfitters, where there was a 10,000 Gallon freshwater fish tank to look at, and a rock wall. Wee Lad scaled the wall to a height of 7ft, about 1/5 of the way to the top! Then we went to Enchanted Knights and looked at all the fantasy offerings, jewelry and collectibles. We stopped at Scalawags for a quick snack and drinks. | Then Jen took the kids to play some more while I stopped in at Harbor Wear to see what kind of touristy shirts I could find. I found one with a pirate theme advertising "Skully's Charters", with a tagline that says "We always get the booty!" They also had a companion shirt that I didn't pick up, babydoll T style, ... that says "I AM the Booty!" I also found a pink "Polar Bear Club" T for the lass and a Pirate themed T for the lad.

After that we walked back down S. Huron Ave to Alices Kandy and Korn. I am sure we walked out with more candy than anyone actually needs but it's quite good.