Stuff to do while visiting Grand Rapids with little kids (Forest Hills: houses, living in)

[invalidname]

We're taking a research trip up to Grand Rapids next weekend to check out houses for a potential move next summer. I'm a self-employed author/developer/consultant, wife and I are both originally from Michigan (families are still there), and since we can live pretty much anywhere, we really don't feel like living in Atlanta anymore.

As we tour new communities, we'll need to take breaks for our kids, a five-year-old (high-functioning autistic) and a three-year-old. I'm trying to check out places we could take a break for a couple hours with them as we work the east side of GR (Rockford, Forest Hills, etc.). Pando Snow Park looks like all kinds of fun (the kids loved sledding when we got our every-five-years snowfall last month), but is it too much for kids this little? I also see the malls have "children's play areas"... are these like soft playgrounds (climbing, slides, etc., as some of the malls down here have), or just coin-op ride-on machines?

And where else would you take two kids for a one hour distraction? Are there indoor inflatable play places (down here, we have many chains of these: Kangaroo Bobs, Monkey Joes, Bounce U, etc.)? How 'bout indoor mini golf? Chuck E Cheese?

Thanks in advance. See you next summer (provided we can swing the mortgage, and get DSL and DirecTV there).

--Chris

[Nickc121]

There's a nice children's museum

[magellan]

Yes, the Children's Museum downtown is a nice hands-on place for small children.

Woodland Mall has a play area with soft "breakfast" foods that the kids can run and play on, and Rivertown Crossings Mall has a treehouse play area with slides and big soft foamy things to play on. Both great for small kids, but very crowded and busy on the weekends (just fyi).

Pando will probably be a blast for the five year old, but might be a bit much for a 3 year old. They have tow-ropes that pull you up on the tubes so you don't have to climb the hill, plus snowboarding and ski trails.

There are Chuck E Cheeses on the NW and SE sides of town. There's also a big Craig's Cruisers on the South side, which has a large indoor arcade, indoor go cart tracks, laser tag, and a lot of other activities.

Depending on where you're staying, the Ramada Plaza Inn on 28th Street near Woodland Mall has an indoor waterslide with their pool, and the Holiday Inn Express on the South side also has a (larger) indoor waterpark.

Good luck!