The Quest for Cherry Pie.

We loaded up last week and took to the skies headed for Traverse City, Michigan to let our Little Men play in the Cherry Bomb Lacrosse Tournament.

Jackson plays on a newly formed team called, Sentry Lacrosse and the coach wanted the boys to experience a traveling tournament and to expand their view of lacrosse outside of our bubble.

Although we had more than a bit of trouble getting there (that was a whole blog post in and of itself), once we arrived it was worth it.

THURSDAY:

Having never been to Michigan, we arrived a day early to explore the area.  Since Delta Airlines screwed up our flights, we abandoned our original idea to make a day trip to Mackinaw Island and instead, drove over to the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

It lived up to it's cool name. We went to the official Dune Climb which is basically the world's biggest sand box. The dunes are several hundred feet high and the boys had a great time seeing how fast they could run all the way up to the top and then who could roll or run down the fastest.

Look how high this thing is! I made it half way up and about hyperventilated.  My BFF, Venus (code name) was smarter and stayed at the bottom of the dune to take pictures.

After several runs up and down, the Jackson and E.T. were hot, tired and sandy and ready for some relief. We loaded up and drove about 15 minutes to a lovely beach called Glen Lake Beach, where the little guys high-tailed it for the cool water.

I've never been to a lake like the ones in Michigan. At Glen Lake Beach, you can see that it was lined with polished rocks of all sizes. And there were tides and waves - in a lake - bizarre.

The boys (and grown-ups) had a great time looking for cool rocks with interesting colors and holes and shapes.

I brought back a bagful and gave my fish, Harold, a new look for his tank. Now, every time I look at him swimming around those rocks, it will remind me of our trip.

The boys did what little boys do... 

They dug in the sand and made sand forts, then threw rocks at them and destroyed them. Then they buried each other in the sand.  

Then they swam around to get all the sand off of them and had contests to see who could dive to the bottom of the lake and hold their breath the longest...

All the usual fun lake stuff.

We stayed on the beach for a few hours and then headed back to Traverse City. 

Of course, we had to stop for a snack. 

FRIDAY:

First day of the tournament and it was beautiful and sunny. The fields were located at the bottom of a ridge so we were surrounded by hills and trees, it was very pretty.

We played 2 games. Lost the first one but won the second one. Spirits were high.

Jackson defends the goal.

SATURDAY:

We woke up to rain but were informed by our Coach that real lacrosse players only quit when there's lightening. The tournament must go on!

So, we found a Walgreen's, bought some umbrellas and stood in the rain all day while they played their hearts out.  The things we parents do - I tell ya.

Sentry played three games: lost, won, lost.  So, we ended up winning two games and losing three. But the boys didn't seem to mind too much.  

That night, we had a team dinner at this fun restaurant called the Blue Tractor. The boys played pool and fuse ball.

So, you're probably wondering how the title of this blog post has anything at all to do with this trip...

Michigan is supposed to be known for its cherries - right?! So the whole trip, Venus and I were on the prowl for a slice of delicious cherry pie.  Preferably with ice cream on top.  But at every restaurant we went to NO ONE had it on the menu. After 5 days and no pie, we have come to the conclusion that Michigan has created a myth and they don't really grow cherries there. Because if they did, there would have been pie.

Overall, everyone had a fabulous time, the boys got to buy the official Cherry Bomb T-shirt and shorts to prove they were there and they got to eat a lot of hamburgers and ice-cream.  

All is good in their little worlds.  And in ours.

Sentry Lacrosse Team

Players include (not pictured in this order): Ben Borus, Cole Duffy, Gordon Guest, Finn Jent, John Lancaster, Sean Maguire, Elliot Nelson, Griffin Perotti, Jake Pool, Sam Ratchford, Alex Rose, Wilson Sands, Jay Smith and Jackson Smoot.