View from our room ...

When my in-laws told me that they were sending us to the Grand Hotel's "Old Fashioned Fourth of July Celebration," I was absolutely speechless. Fireworks on Independence Day is one of the highlights of my whole year. And we were going to spend it at the Grand Hotel, watching fireworks from the world's longest front porch,listening to a six-piece band and sipping champagne. Wow.

In retrospect, the prospect of my children at a five-star resort should have sent up red flags -- or at least made us stop and think before inviting another child, Christopher's best friend Jacob. But Jacob is a really good kid, and we were in a party mood. The more, the merrier! Right?

Sure!

That's not to say the weekend went without a hitch. Take two special-needs children and put them in a five-star resort, and there is bound to be a moment or two when a parent wishes for a cloak of invisibility.

The first struck us when we'd been on the island about two hours. Sarah and I were lounging at the pool, waiting for the rest of the family to come back from a bike ride. Then Craig called: he couldn't find the boys.

He'd taken the boys on a ride around the island, and directed them to take the path back to the pool house. Fifteen minutes later, he followed them ... and realized he'd sent them up the wrong path. The boys had disappeared.

Trying not to panic, I ran to the concierge's desk, who alerted security and then the police. Craig and I combed the hillside, me with a whiny 8 year old in tow (she wanted to go back to the pool, dang it.) Two hours, three policemen, and one lost bike later -- Voila! The boys were in the manager's office, besmirching the expensive upholstery with their mud-caked shorts.

"I just wanted to give them a little independence," Craig told me later. "Boys need a little freedom sometimes." I put my arms around my husband and kissed him. He already felt bad enough. And after their scare, I doubted that the boys would wander very far again.

And they didn't, at least until the next day when they gave the children's program director fits when they wandered away from the inflatables and never-ending ice cream and went to find me (again, at the pool).

The staff was unflinchingly smiling and courteous, but I suspect our mug shots have been posted on a "least wanted guests" poster in the employee lounge. On a dart board, perhaps.

By any measure, the trip was a huge success, from the ferry ride on Arnold Transit (who managed to find our car after we lost the valet ticket) to the Saturday night excursion to dust off our ballroom moves with live orchestral music, while the kids enjoyed free movies and popcorn. And just as I'd imagined, Sunday night was the best of all: a sumptuous picnic at the Mackinac Fort, followed by three fireworks displays (St. Ignace, Mackinac City and ours) we could see from our balcony.

For three days we were lost in the adventure, pampered and thrilled. We may never be able to do it again (something the hotel staff may find reassuring), but the memories we took home with us are going to last a lifetime.

What's your favorite July 4 memory?

Heidi Hess Saxton is a contributing writer to the AnnArbor.com "Parenting" section, and founder of the "Extraordinary Moms Network," an online resource for parents of adoptive, foster, and special needs children.