we have been having some pretty epic weekends around here lately. while we should be staying home and taking advantage of the melted snow and brown yard, getting ready for spring clean up around the farm.. we just don’t want to. exploring is so much more fun. and this past weekend was nothing short of it. we saw dinosaurs, we antiqued, we ate hot chicken…it was awesome. well maybe not the actual dinosaurs but everything around the dinosaurs we loved.
friday night we had dinner at home. after a long busy week of catching up from being in florida it was nice to just relax at home a bit. we ate some soup i picked up on my way home from uncle cheetahs soup shop and played for a bit before heading to bed early for a big couple of days.
saturday morning i headed out bright and early towards ohio to go antiquing. i went to maumee and jeffreys antiques in ohio. i was suprised it was a bit pricier than i expected but i still managed to find some treasures to take home. i only kept two things for myself and the rest headed to the shop. i kept a black floral shaving mug that i unfortunately dropped the minute i got home. i also kept a birds of paradise brown transfer ware sugar bowl. don’t ask me why i loved it and i’m going to find a home for it…somewhere around here. i headed back to grand rapids in the late afternoon and met up with joe and otto at food dance in kalamazoo. i didn’t want to tell joe that i had a late lunch at culvers (i’m always yelling at him about fast food) so we split the fondue (totally healthy right?) and shared stories from the day. joe and otto met up with the boy cousins and grandpa and played some virtual golf in grand rapids and then went to pizza hut. we went for a drive around dusk to look for deer and i couldn’t believe how many we saw out in the fields. i am loving that the sun isn’t setting until 8pm. when it’s dark at 5:30 i shut down and get nothing done.
sunday morning we headed in to the early service for church. of course otto fell asleep as we were pulling in so i went to church while joe drove around listening to the sermon from two weeks ago on a podcast. after church we went to grand rapids to try out the newest fried chicken place called hancock. the food was awesome but it was disappointing they had no seating options for kids. no booster seats or highchairs. It was a bit of a struggle to eat my amazing breakfast sandwich with an unrestrained toddler but we managed. my breakfast sandwich was a hot fried chicken patty with french toast bread, sunny side up egg, bacon and pimento cheese. it was to die for.
after we ate our body weight in a fast brunch (food came out quick!) we headed to the JW Marriott for a drink over looking the grand river. they had a small jazz ensemble playing so it was super entertaining for otto. once my family arrived we walked across the bridge to the Grand Rapids Public Museum to see the dinosaurs. you have to purchase a separate ticket for the dinosaur exhibit but if you have a dino enthusiast in your family it’s a must. the exhibit runs a bit into april so it’s coming to a close. otto was a little scared at the life like giant dinos but loved the rest of the exhibit like digging for dinosaur bones.
i think otto enjoyed the taxidermy exhibits over the rest of the museum. he would point and make animal noises it was a blast. we also went to the toy exhibit which brought back memories of all the toys through the generations. they had a ton of places for kids to play including an old school arcade. i thought it was super thoughtful to keep the arcade separate from the rest of the exhibit so people with light and sound sensitivity could still enjoy the exhibit. we played with blocks and a giant xylophone before calling it a day because there was a game the menfolk couldn’t miss.
we quick stopped at the downtown market on our way home to grab some cheese and bread for dinner and maybe a chocolate chip cookie for the road.
otto slept for about 3 solid hours after returning home so i think we got our moneys worth of that sunday. we picked up around the house, got ready for the week and made some amazing grilled cheese sandwiches with truffle raclette cheese. a perfect way to end the weekend.
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