In the city

On Monday we spent the day in the city.

Not the big city, but a bigger city than our own. I had an ulterior motive to spend a little time downtown and we couldn't let the summer of 2011 end without our annual summer visit to the Meijer gardens.

I didn't take a lot of pictures. Not for lack of subject matter or anything. It is just that we have been there often enough that the pictures look like the same thing except the subject has on a different outfit and is maybe a little taller. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that I had a senior photo shoot later that night and I needed to have space on my memory card.

Or maybe it had a little to do with that.

This Doovy of ours is getting so grown up looking.

Baby girl splashing in the fountain. As I sat and watched her doing this I remembered back to what seems like yesterday but was in fact three years ago when we were at the gardens and she wouldn't stop crying. It turned out that one of her poor little toes was mashed in her shoe. Once we got her bare foot she was ecstatic to play in this fountain.

We went on a kids tram tour of the sculptures for the first time. It was fun for the kids and gave them a chance to interact with the art. Evan really got into it. He was answering questions and working out ideas. Some girl next to him kept hearing what he was saying then would scream it out and get the credit for the thought. She was really irritating me.

Evan and Justin Beaver. I'm here all week folks.

My three kids cannot get enough of this old fashioned water pump. I think we should install one in our yard. It would keep them constantly occupied.

Evan loves the cacti room. He wanted to pretend he was going to sit on it. Hailey almost really knocked him into it after I got this shot. Luckily quick foot shifting and disaster was averted.

My motive for being in downtown Grand Rapids was to take some picture to submit to the Grand Rapids Photo Project. It is a project (obviously) that two women are working on for Art Prize. Basically there are six venues in the city that you need to photograph while standing on these bright orange footprints. I had heard about a couple other families that walked around downtown with their kids looking for footprints like it was a treasure hunt and having a fabulous time.

My kids were into it only until the first set of footprints was discovered. At that point they were over it. They wanted to go back to the car. Their legs were tired. Their toes were hurting. But Trent and I were on a quest. A quest to see a moose. Vacation reference.

Second shot. Grand Rapids Art Museum. Kids sitting pretending they are eating dinner.

Evan wanted to be the one to find the footprints, but would drag along behind with his tired legs. Then he would be furious when someone else found them.

Don't they look so happy to be walking around the city on a beautiful day? I mean what would they be doing at home besides watching TV or playing games on the computer. Mean parents trying to give them a little exercise and culture.

Fifth shot. Calder sculpture. Almost done kids. One more to go!

Little sister decided she would emulate the homeless and take up residence in Calder Plaza.

A painted wall as we walked toward the final shot. Big cities are so awesome.

My three footprint hunters after they found the final. It was a long and whiny road back to our vehicle.

And when we got to our vehicle - look what we found! It took us a bit longer than we anticipated. I hope that when we go back for Art Prize the kids are a little more excited about walking around. Maybe if we get them out of school for the afternoon like we did last year. Even tired feet are better than sitting in class! In hindsight, we could have planned it out much better. We ended up back tracking a lot and could have streamlined our route. It was an adventure in the city - someday we will look back and have a good laugh.