contributed by Jenna Scott

Sunday afternoon we snatched Dan from the front door of church and headed straight to The Grand Rapids Public Museum. Our much anticipated first stop was the Holiday Magic Laser Light Show. I can’t give it away, but, trust me. No matter your age or stage, you will have SO MUCH FUN laughing and singing along to choice holiday music while being whirled and delighted by the special effects. With four kids in tow, anything that encourages interaction (aka being allowed to make noise, laugh, comment, and be wiggly) is highly enjoyable.
Next we headed off to see exactly what Leonardo da Vinci had spent his life working up in the Machines in Motion exhibit. We had a blast trying out different cranks, levers, pulleys, spinning ball bearings, climbing into an archaic tank, drawing a self-portrait and building our own machines. We leisurely wandered through the rest of the museum’s exhibits while being surprised each time we found what my kids called the “hidden Santas”. We found 11, see if you can beat us!
With winter break coming up, the museum is offering what they are calling “Snowflake Break Days”, where you get significantly reduced admission rates as well as free crafts and free carousel rides on the special dates. You can get more information on the dates and rates at grmuseum.org.

If you get hungry or thirsty (or if your feet need a little break), there are baked goods available on the main floor or hot cocoa and sweets available for purchase in the Museum Café.
We ended our adventure with a few rides on the merry-go-round. The kids loved it and the hubs and I enjoyed feeling and acting like kids again as we “raced” our kids’  horses to see whose was in the highest position when the ride ended and the music stopped. We flashed our museum ticket to the parking garage on our way out and got ½ off our parking rate—what a deal!

There was more to do than we had time to do at the museum, so a return trip is a must for us. The next time we hope to grab the “I Spy” cards available as we follow the alphabet through all the exhibits and attempt to spy all the images on the cards. We also heard a lot of buzz about the “Elf hunt”. We’ll have to tackle that task next time…
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A little about Jenna Scott-

former HS English teacher and Human Resources Generalist who is married to a man of ministry and now gets to have adventures with their four children, cook fabulous meals, and sometimes put her professional writing degree to use.

Read more from Jenna at her blog quite e-musing.
 


Comments

Melody

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:44:39

I have heard great things about the public museum. I've heard a few moms express how surprised they were at the amount of fun their kids had at the museum, even the young ones. I encourage everyone to get out there and try it!

Snowflake break is a great time to go and save some $$, if you're into that!

 



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