I have lived near the shore of Lake Michigan my entire life and for as long as I can remember I have been taught to respect the power of the lake.
We were told from a young age that however frozen and dormant the lake may seem, there is always water moving and alive under the surface. Maybe closer under the surface than it may look. We were allowed to walk out on frozen ponds and smaller lakes like Muskegon lake, but Lake Michigan was off limits. I have always lived by those rules even as an adult and am proud to say that I am bringing my kids up the same way.
We have had an incredibly cold winter and at one point we were pushing the record books in the amount that Lake Michigan was ice covered. Still I have been shocked to see pictures in the paper and on social media of people walking a half mile or more out on the frozen lake past the Grand Haven lighthouse or walking across the frozen channel in Grand Haven. Crazy people. People not respecting the power of the lake.
Over the weekend the kids and I enjoyed a sunny day down by the lake. They were amazed at how frozen over everything was, but expressed no interest in wanting to climb all over those frozen peaks. We walked out a little, but not far - if they worst were to happen we never would have been out over our waist. The kids were actually more interested in staying by the shore and playing on the slippery ice and water.
Evan and Hailey work on their Olympic ice dancing routine.
This boy knew we were headed down to the lake to see the ice, and didn't wear a hat or gloves. Sigh. Since his mother loves him so much, she loaned him hers and just put her own hoodie up.
The kids loved playing with the chunks of ice. I don't know how they could stand the freezing cold water.
Especially when Hailey picked hers up to "Hi-Ya" and immediately fell into the puddle of water.
They were soaked, but having a blast. I had to force them to leave because I was freezing - I wasn't even wet.
Snow is pretty, but it's got nothing on a blue sky and some sunshine.
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