Five years ago you wouldn't have caught me with a Meijer Gardens Membership.  I didn't have kids and I thought that they were expensive...only a certain group of people could afford such a luxury.  Besides, I didn't really understand art.  Looking at a bunch of sculptures really wasn't my thing.  But then life happened. Shortly after my son was born we moved from Alger Heights to a fixer-upper in Cascade.  I met other moms who were members at Meijer Gardens and decided to give it a try.

Those of you who have been there know what I found...a wonderful place to visit with your children, year round!  I admit I was shocked when I found myself paying the yearly membership fee, but that quickly wore off.  Let me tell you how this Grand Rapids Kids family uses our membership...

We go to visit the butterflies at 4 pm while everyone else is leaving.  How wonderful to have the place to yourselves!

We stop in for just a few minutes after a shopping trip to visit the childrens garden.

We linger at the free August concerts.

We visit Santa and take our Christmas photos in front of the beautiful assortment of trees.

We walk with other moms and strollers and stop by the waterfall to see the giant fish in the pond.

We climb on the pumpkin patch pumpkins and admire the giant pumpkins on loan from area farmers.

We visit the Childrens Museum in May because our membership allows us to do that for free.

I've found that our membership gets used over and over, and every year we find new ways to enjoy the place.  If you have a chance, check out the Gardens and see if they are a good fit for you.  (And I'm not being paid to say any of this!)

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