Fredrick Meijer Gardens

Our first trip to Fredrick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids was an eventful one.  With 10 kids and only 3 adults, there's bound to be a lost child at some point in the visit.  And who do you think that lost child was?  You guessed it, Nolan.  We were all sitting nicely, having a snack and Nolan decided to run off.  I went after him and he was out of sight!  I circled the children's garden's twice without seeing him and then found a girl who worked there and had her describe him over the walkie talkie.  After another loop around the children's garden, she caught up with me and told me that they had found him outside the children's garden going towards the front gate.  Thank God we found him.  Nolan always seems to be lost, but this is the first time we had to make it official and send out the employee search party.  For the first time he was scared when I found him, but we have had MANY more (very blunt) conversations about how dangerous it is to walk away from us.   Not sure this is ever going to sink in.  Despite the drama, we had a nice time and the gardens were beautiful!

All ten kids: Emmersyn, Connor, Elizabeth, Riley, Brady,
Lincoln, Nolan, Lydia, and Ethan

Lydia playing in the sand

Riley and Lydia playing in the Great Lakes water area