A must-stop is Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.

Day Two

Day two began with free, made-to-order hot breakfast at the hotel. Then it was a 10-minute drive to the area’s biggest tourist attraction, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, while I was at work. Honestly, I had to convince Danielle to visit the Gardens, because she couldn’t imagine what about it would interest three young boys. But I got a text from her late morning: “Wow, we love the gardens! We could have stayed a lot longer.”

“It was our favorite place,” says Danielle. “We spent a lot of time at the Great Lakes Water Garden and we also hit Treehouse Village, the Sense Garden, the Rock Quarry and the Log Cabin. The education components worked into the play are wonderful. I wish we had allowed for more time – we didn’t have time to see many sculptures or the indoor play area. We will definitely go back.”

Hopcat, a restaurant/brewpub four minutes from Meijer Gardens, was the choice for lunch, followed by a visit to Rocket Fizz, a soda pop and candy shop with thousands of sweet treats from around the world.

Then it was back downtown to the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, which is celebrating 25 years of play in 2022. “It’s such a cute and neat set-up with different play areas – the rescue vehicles were Chase’s favorite and Nolan loved the postal service and grocery store. They were fascinated by the Live Hive of bees and together we made a colorful cloud in the craft area. I’m a bit of a germ freak, so I appreciated all the hand sanitizer stations and the workers constantly straightening things up!”

They returned to the hotel for a bit of a rest before driving out to meet me and my kids at Rose’s in East Grand Rapids. (“The hotel parking lot was so easy to get in and out of,” raves Danielle). Rose’s has a very approachable menu and picture-perfect views of Reeds Lake, which we strolled around after dinner. It was still hot, so we walked to nearby Jersey Junction, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, for a little sweet relief. There were smiles all around – at least, until my 2-year-old dropped his entire bowl of ice cream on the ground.

It was a very full day for my friends, so they headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

At John Ball Zoo, “Chase’s highlights were the spider monkeys and the penguins, and he liked the education about animals at each exhibit.”

Day Three

* you can do John Ball Zoo and Millennium Park on the same day

Danielle wanted to get back on the road home by noon, so the family enjoyed breakfast at the hotel again before a 10-minute drive to John Ball Zoo, which opens at 9:00 am. I was curious to learn what they thought of John Ball compared to the Detroit Zoo.

“We loved it!” Danielle told me. “We saw animals Detroit doesn’t have, like brown bears, and we got to watch them being fed, which was very exciting for the boys. The tigers and otters were very active, too. Chase’s highlights were the spider monkeys and the penguins, and he liked the education about animals at each exhibit.”

Zoo activities were also a big hit. “We rode camels, played bongo drums, had our faces painted and explored the gift shop.” They also toured the zoo’s 2022 temporary exhibit, Washed Ashore, which features giant sea-life sculptures made entirely of marine debris collected from the beaches of Oregon. “Per Chase’s request, we took a picture with every single one.”

There was just enough time for lunch at the Monkey Island Café overlooking the spider monkey exhibit before it was back into the car for the trip home.

We’re already planning a return visit for Danielle and her family. Next time, I’d like to introduce them to the Grand Rapids Public Museum and Deer Tracks Junction Adventure Park, and maybe join them on a day trip to Lake Michigan beaches and towns (30-45 minutes away). But who knows – the kids had so much fun, they might want to repeat this trip!

Looking for more family-fun ideas? Check out all these things to do with kids in Grand Rapids.