art prize 2013

Every summer Grand Rapids hosts Art Prize, an art contest where artists all over the world submit their work in hopes of winning the $200,000 grand prize. Hundreds of venues in downtown Grand Rapids host the various works of art and people from all over the state come to take a peek. We were able to spend some time walking around downtown and looking at some of the work, and boy was it inspiring!

At night this dragon would breathe fire

Panda bears made from old bike tires

"Head in the Clouds"

This was an egg vending machine. For 50 cents you got an eggs with a miniature one-of-a-kind piece of art. The proceeds went to support all the artists who worked on this project. Will had fun opening the egg and looking at all the pieces of work on the outside.

Showing Will where he's from

"Silk Waves" in the Grand River

First Place
Sleeping Bear Dune Lakeshore by Ann Loveless
Photo

Second Place
Polar Expressed by Anni Couter
Photo

swisslane dairy farms

A couple weeks ago we went on a field trip to Swisslane Dairy Farm in Alto. Boy was it fun! A couple days before we went I kept asking Will if he wanted to see a cow and he would always say yes.

Will had a grin on his face the entire time we were there. We toured the dairy farm and saw cows at different ages. We saw big pregnant cows, teenage cows and baby cows. We were even able to bottle-feed the baby cows. Will loved saying hi to each and every cow and he even got licked in the face by a baby calf. Every time he heard a cow moo he would moo back at them. Then we went on a hay ride around the farm and saw how things were run and also got to see how the cows were milked.

At the end of the tour we all gathered in the big red barn where we got some chocolate milk and cheese as a snack and the little kids were able to run around a hay bale room and corn kernel box. Will did not want to leave and we ended up being the last to leave. We crossed the street to their small store and bought some delicious cheese. It was a very fun day and Will still talks about the cows and barn we saw on the farm.

robinettes apple haus

Before the Saturday morning session of General Conference, we decided to head over to Robinettes Apple Haus. It was supposed to rain all weekend so we weren't sure if we were able to go or not. We got everyone in the car, drove by and saw cars parked outside so we decided to give it a shot. I cannot describe to you how good the air smells at this place--like apples and cinnamon. While we were there we taste-tested apples from the orchards, Will picked out baby pumpkins for him and Noah, gobbled up sugary donuts and apple cider, and played outside in the leaves. We all had a great time and we've already gone back for more. This is probably one of my places here in Michigan.