Adventure Thursday!

It's a Thursday! The perfect time for Adventure Thursday! (More pictures here.)

My mom joined us today, which was extra fun. The plan was to go to Dutch Village in Holland. We picked up my mom on the way there and followed the directions from Google Maps...and got a bit lost. Or, as we told the kids, we "took the scenic route." When we knew we were fairly close, we stopped at VIPets to ask for directions - it's the perfect place to stop, because...animals! This particular VIPets had a box full of adorable puppies, and all of us spent several minutes cooing over the cuteness. So! Cute!

Eventually we dragged ourselves away from the puppies and chinchillas and several dozen other cute animals and drove the remaining half mile to Dutch Village.

The kids each got coupons for free entrance to the park as part of the Summer Reading Program through the library. So only my mom and i would have to pay ... except when we went to pay, the lady behind the counter was all, "Some people came in with Groupon tickets, and they had to buy 4 but they only used 2," and she totally let my mom and me in for free too. It was SO nice!

The kids and i had been there before, though it had been a couple of years, but my mom had never been there before. We went on the Ferris Wheel (twice) and the kids and my mom went on the swings. We petted lots of animals and tried on lots of wooden shoes. We browsed shops. It was totally fun!

And, when we were all tired and hot and sweaty and thirsty, we headed across the street to Steak 'n Shake for half-price shakes! (Zane: "What if the 'n stood for 'in'?! Steak in shake!") We had a very nice, but incredibly slow and somewhat ... inexperienced waitress. And so, rather than taking about half an hour, we were there over an hour. And she forgot to put the brownies in Katrina's and my shakes. But! Katrina batted her eyelashes at the waitress, and she brought a whole brownie for Katrina to bring home. Bonus!

And that was pretty much the day!