Our Family's First Flight this Winter

I had to reinstall my blogging app and lost everything I was working on, but hopefully it works again! Here are some pictures I wanted to share yesterday!
Here is a very relaxed two year old. She prefers to lose her shoes & socks in the car.



I love the Mackinac Bridge!



Bridge fare increased from $3.50 to $4.00 for 2012. It's helpful to know that (we discovered it on New Year's Day and had to do the "quick-fumble-for-50cents" drill).



Because of the ice, ferries are no longer available for transportation. So we flew for the first time this season. We arrived at the airport about 4:20. (The flight is scheduled for 4:45 and it's first come, first serve.) Here comes our plane!



Last year, there were two 6-seater planes that flew people across. This year, there's a 6-seater and a 4-seater. One of the planes tragically crashed earlier this season, which put a whole different perspective on our first flight. We are no less safe than last year, but when lives are lost it brings to reality the slight risk involved in flight. What happened is heartbreaking.
Yesterday, only the smaller airplane was running- that slowed things down. (Understand that a 4-seater includes the pilot.) Our family was its own flight.



Looking behind on the runway:



Taking off:



Beautiful!



Our flight took off a little after 5:00pm, so the sun was low:



The water was so clear in St. Ignace- you can see the bottom!



I'm not seeing ice for the upcoming pond hockey tournament (I believe those take place more north):



Goodbye St. Ignace!



There's the Mackinac Bridge!



A boat:






Looking out the window (we hadn't flown since last April, so it was a little bit of a new experience again):



Ice:











Above Mackinac Island:



This is why the ferries can't get to the island the short way:



My favorite shot of the flight!



We are getting lower (such a small plane!)







We landed safely! (as always!) It's been less than 10 minutes, and it's darker and starting to snow.


The little plane!



The taxi we reserved ahead was waiting for us (George had been waiting over half an hour when we arrived). However, more people were going to use it- we waited for everyone else to fly over. However, due to snow, the plane halted in St. Ignace after our flight. Phil taught our first born checkers while we waited. (Our youngest is under the table playing kids' games on my iPod).



After waiting an hour, the plane was still grounded in St. Ignace- so they sent our family on the carriage without the rest. A view of the snow from the carriage (I love that my new iPhone has a flash!):



As we were heading down Cadotte, we heard the plane had resumed. Fortunately, George didn't have to go back for the rest. (Made possible by the kind sharing of snowmobile rides). We got home before 7:00pm.