Fourth of July on the Seventh of July!

Fourth of July with my family on this small Island in the middle of Lake Huron is the best!!

An early celebration of the fourth at the Little Stone Church (United Congregational Church) beneath the gorgeous window with Dr. Vincent Carroll and a drummer and bugler from Fort Mackinac.

                                                                                                         

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The Cable Cottage crew won the best of costume award at Windermere Point on the 4th.  Below is the process for the making of our wonderful T-shirts.  Oldest granddaughter Logan's idea with her aunt Mendi pushing the idea through!  What fun...
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Pre-planning and taping at the dining room table: 

Spraying on the stripes and eventually the stars...canned spray paint. 

Hanging of the stripes prior to adding the stars! 

 And this is Logan Stanzione, my oldest granddaughter....a student at Western Illinois U.

The hanging of the finished product....over the trash cans!!

We all autographed our own shirts, soaked them over night, washed them and wore them with pride all day long!  Way to go team Cable in front of one of the two Island firetrucks!!

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The Annual International Stone Skipping Contest every 4th of July on Mackinac!

 The professional rock skippers autographing....of all things...rocks!

 Children (they seldom skip; they gerplunk) and amateurs also compete for prizes. 

Let the skipping begin! 

 And the winner gets this trophy shown below, a box of fudge and the largest rock on the Island he can take with him.  (No women in the competition right now.)  And of course, all of the prestige that comes with it.  
           Wonderful article in the Wall Street Journal on Rock Skipping.  Check it out!!
         http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324251504578577723454307336.html

 

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And a few odds and ends of scenes for the 4th of July!!

 Mendi's patriotic nails!!!

Uncle Sam in a boat in the harbor...Fort Mackinac in the background!

And the 4th of July fireworks are sent soaring into the air from a barge on Lake Huron in front of Cable Cottage.  The many photos I took while ooing and aahing were not good...this one is the only one that I think represents the beauty we all saw!  

 And that's it folks for 4th of July, 2013!!