Day 2 - Saturday July 20, 2012

Waking up on vacation!!!   Always RIGHT!!!!  After a long night, the boys didn't sleep in as long as I would have liked, and of course Appa was right on schedule with her 5AM wake up call (thanks Paul for taking her out this morning!), but waking up on the boat in a new city is always nice.  On the dog's second potty break, Peyton and I were on the main berth listening to the most horrible sounds of birds.  For the life of us, we couldn't believe the cackling that we heard outside the boat.  We are used to waking up to the sound of sea gulls either flying around, or in some cases enjoying a fish on our bow, but these noises were truly unique to us.  It even sounded like some of the birds were laughing.   When Paul returned he asked us if we heard the birds.  We both responded with a resolute YES, and asked what was going on out there!!!   He laughed as he began to explain that there was a device on the dock that is motion activated with fake birds rotating on a rod and making these horrible noises!    I guess what a great way to keep the sea gulls away, but lucky us it is right next to our boat!

After filling our bellies with breakfast on the boat, we were off to investigate the marina, pool and showers in order to get our bearings.   We are staying at Skipper Buds Harbor Center Marina, which is the main marina here in Sheboygan.  They have nice and clean showers, which is always a major plus when staying on the boat, and the pool area is quite nice.  They have a great ship's store that is geared towards kids, with cheap candy galore!!   Peyton and Pierce had eyes wide open when going in there, and even tried to rope us in to buying candy and ice-cream at 10AM...  for those of you  that know me, there was no way that was going to happen!

Then off to the city to check out all the fun things we could do.   I knew from Sheboygan's tourist site that they have a farmer's market every Saturday, so that was my first goal.   We drove a short distance in the truck to find a row of easy up's near a park.   As we got out and approached the place, we quickly found out that we were in fact not at the farmer's market but found the art fair.   Once a year, this town puts on a arts weekend festival at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.   We decided to check it out and let the kids run a little bit, unfortunately Pierce didn't really want anything to do with it.   After only getting 8 hours of sleep the night before (he is used to 10-12 on average) he was quickly crumpling into a whining mess of a kid.  Needless to say we quickly walked the art fair, and saw some truly amazing works of art.   If only my pocket book could handle a piece of art that cost around $700 I would have brought home some amazing pictures, however I profess to being a cheap skate, so we bought some spicy nuts and headed off to try to find the farmers market.

The boys began the daily hunger game, and we quickly found out that they didn't eat enough in the morning.  After a constant "I'm hungry" for about 30 minutes we decided to stop for an early lunch.  Paul, always the coffee connoisseur, selected The Weather Center Cafe, a local coffee house on the river.  I didn't mind hoping that it would be as good as the Weather Vane, back in Menasha!  Overall it was good, according to Paul the coffee was good, and Peyton ordered a HUGE burrito.  To my amazement, he actually ate most of it and Pierce continuing his downward spiral to a whiny mess kept getting louder and louder.  We tried to make a fast exit out of there, but ended up with a 10 min potty break thanks to Mr. Whiny!!  On the way back to the boat, for some much needed R&R and a NAP, we stopped at the candy store as I figured I needed something for bribing....  I mean, positive rewards!  The Victorian Chocolate Shoppe was good, but in all honesty their caramels can't compete with some of the shops we have back home.

Once at the boat, it was downstairs for a much needed nap for both Pierce and myself.  Peyton decided to take the dinghy for a spin and I think Paul worked on the blog.   After waking up it was off to the pool for some much needed refreshment.  Pierce is getting amazing with being able to swim around by himself in the water with his super happy orange floating device, and Peyton is such a good swimmer that I never have to worry about him.  So I was able to enjoy some quiet time watching them have a good time, and quickly needed to join in the fun because it was just too hot to sun bathe next to the pool.  It was much more comfortable in it!

We ate dinner poolside and then in true Lake Michigan vacation tradition, wrapped up our evening with ice-cream at the South Pier Parlor.   We tried to dinghy it there, but found out that putting the dinghy at the docks reserved for "Mega Yacht Parking" would prevent us from actually getting out of the boat.   It was hilarious, but we drove it back and took the truck over.

Overall a GREAT and relaxing day!  As much as I may whine and contemplate to myself with stress when the kids get unruly, I really do enjoy these vacations and really ground myself with how fortunate and blessed I am!