On the 21st of July we loaded up the truck to make the drive to the Warren Dunes State Park, which is located in Sawyer, just south of St. Joseph. We were tagging along with two other dune-veteran families for this trip, the Gramer's and the Landwerlen's. We left home a little after 7:30am for the long 3+ hour drive to the park. It was a good thing that we arrived early, however, as we were able to pick out a nice spot on the beach to set up our "camp" for the day. It wasn't long before swarms of people began to crowd in around us.

    One of the highlights of the day came after we ate lunch. We made the climb up Tower Hill, the 240' tall hill that greeted us across the parking lot. From the top of the hill we made our way to a small creek that ran through the dunes and out into Lake Michigan south of where we had set up for the day. This little walk was a lot of fun, as the kids had fun covering themselves in mud "paint" for the duration of the hike. Towards the end of our walk we came upon a smaller sand dune, which the kids (and some adults) opted to climb up and run back down and into the creek. Some hit the water with more force than others, and some were slightly more graceful on their trip down, but no matter what they all had fun.

    After our walk we spent some more time on the beach playing in the water and getting sunburned (ok, that last part was mainly just me...). I was feeling pretty wore out from the night before (working second shift stinks for this early morning stuff, especially when you look at the clock and it reads 3:XXam and you know the alarm is going of around 6:00am!) and Tyler wasn't feeling overly well (he had been battling a sore throat, probably due to sinus allergies, for a couple of days now). We decided to pack up, and managed to leave the park around 5:00pm. We had a long ways to go to keep up with the others, however, as they were real troopers and stuck around until 9:00pm before they called it a day!

    All in all it was a very fun day, one that we look forward to replicating again next summer! Until then, enjoy the pictures...

Warren Dunes State Park
	A look out at a hazy sky over Lake Michigan from our spot on the beach.
	Samantha, Ben, Tyler, Elizabeth, Taren, and Hannah making their way out to a sand bar in the lake.
	Tevin, Drew, and Nick playing a little closer to shore.
	Jayden and Tara playing with a beach ball.
	Thad making his way out to the older kids on the sand bar.
	Thad must have had something interesting to show off when he got out there...
	The kids swimming around on the sand bar once again.
	Jayden, Erin, and Jason playing on the beach.
	Elizabeth, Hannah, and Sam playing football on the sand bar.
	Drew looking towards shore from the lake.
	Ben, Taren, and Tyler working on a sandcastle.
	Drew giving Jay a push in her inner tube...
	...as they have fun playing together...
	...as they make their way towards shore.
	A look at "Tower Hill" across the parking lot from where we set up on the beach.
	A look at another hill across the parking lot.
	Tara, Tania, and Melissa decided to get in on the fun as one of the kids threw a bucket of water at them from behind.
	Ben and Tyler working on the sandcastle once again.
	Thad leading the ladies out to the sand bar.
	Another look at the adults heading towards the sand bar.
Please click here for page two of the photos