Klompen Aplenty

Before entering Windmill Island Gardens, they encountered a strange sculpture of a man holding a pipe and tulips.

Despite the rainy skies, we wandered on into the park and sat down for the short video about Windmill Island Gardens. The presentation focused a great deal on wind, water, and Dutch children, but seemed to be a bit lacking in audio quality and explanations of exactly why it was decided to move a windmill from Holland to Holland, Michigan.

The rain seemed to have quelled most visits to the park, so we only saw a few other tourists besides us. We made our way across the bridge (modeled after a drawbridge but actually fixed in place) and meandered to the windmill, De Zwaan, which actually does still work. We got a tour of the mill and then stayed to see the World’s Least Enthusiastic Dutch Dancers (as we dubbed them) all but yawn their way through a set of dances, accompanied by a relentlessly-snacking and disinterested employee with a portable CD player.

We managed to contain our excitement and wandered around a bit more, picking up some odds and ends at the gift stores before heading for the car once again. On the way to the parking lot, Steven and Katherine paused to play checkers with their feet, astounding themselves and the family by demonstrating the ability to leap while holding a checker with their feet.