Spring Break has come and gone, and we had a great time! We visited beautiful, exotic Little Rock, Arkansas. Yeah, super bizarre vacation destination, BUT...we want to visit all 50 states with the chums, and no high school kid is going to get excited about vacation in Arkansas (sorry, Arkansas) so we did it now! And just in case you were wondering, Little Rock, Arkansas is exciting for little kids. We broke up the drive a bit and started at The City Musuem. We had been before about 3 years ago, and while the boys enjoyed it, they didn't fully experience it the way they did this time.
On the way to the city museum we drove under a bridge that was under construction. All of the cooling liquid from the blade came gushing through the cracks and covered the windshield. We didn't realize how much liquid got on the car until we got to The City Museum when the parking attendant asked with much awe and confusion, "What happened to your car?!?! Did you drive through a flock of birds?!" Of course, I had just washed the car the night before so that was a great little surprise.
In true Danielle fashion, I misread the directions 30 minutes after leaving The City Museum, keeping my record of "Missing crucial exits while on vacation" at a perfect 100% (and we travel a pretty fair amount both near and far). But it wasn't a total disaster this time. We ended up passing Sikeston and decided to go to, where else, Lambert's Cafe...Home of the Throwed Rolls. It is a favorite of my grandparents, and I thought the boys would get a kick out of it. Both chums got the chance to catch a roll, and everything was delicious, although the sheer quantity of food was excessive. Ian told me, "I think it's really fancy the way they throw the rolls here." I'm still cracking up about this assessment of Lambert's.
Our first day in Little Rock we climbed Pinnacle Mountain. When we drove into the park I was unjustifiably irritated with Cole. The top of the mountain is covered in boulders and in NO way looks family friendly. But, of course, he'd never been there before so he didn't know what to expect either. HOWEVER...as is typical of the Cole-Danielle dynamic...neither of us said a word because neither of us wanted to be the wimp in the situation. I'm happy to say we reached the summit! And were definitely one of the younger families on the trail. The view from the top was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, and the boys were so proud of themselves.
We refueled at a Mexican restaurant. I asked for us to be seated outside, and I was the ONLY one happy about this. While the matriarch of the family soaked up some Vitamin D in the 78 degree sun, the males of the family...all of the males in the family...griped about the sun and the wind and their general discontent with being forced to eat outside. After everyone's blood sugar reached normal levels again, people were happier. Don't be fooled...I was still the only one that was happy, but they were all significantly less unpleasant.
Little Rock has a trolley called the River Rail Streetcar. This was the epitome of cool according to the chums. And for $3.00 for the ENTIRE family to take a 25 minute roundtrip, I had to somewhat agree with this sentiment. We rode it two different days, and it was worth every penny each time.
We opted for a two bedroom hotel suite. (Cue the choir of angels.) We will never be able to travel any other way again. After our first disastrous hotel experience in Mexico, that left Cole and I laying in the dark from 7:30 pm until morning every day, occasionally tuning in to exclusively Spanish-speaking Dora the Explorer once we were positive the boys were a step above comatose, we started booking one bedroom suites. But the extra buffer between the bedrooms so you can actually talk and have the TV volume above 1 is totally worth the extra scratch. We all slept well every night which greatly increases a family's tolerance for each other when the vacation turns sour...which is typically around 4:00 pm every single day.
We found a great park for the chums to run amok every afternoon. It had tunnels and secret passages and "caves." It was great for their age group.
We went to the zoo. Now, when you grow up going to the St. Louis Zoo, which is free, you kind of expect a LOT of bang for your buck at other zoos. This was not the case, in my humble opinion, but it wasn't about me. Eli really wanted to go, he loved it, so really it was worth it. We did eat some Dippin' Dots there which was awesome, but they weren't served in a dish, they came in a bag from the Dippin' Dots kiosk! What the hell is that?!?!? Not cool, kiosk. Not cool.
Just two good lookin' dudes at supper one night.
Our final destination was the Museum of Discovery. All I can say is WOW!!! It was fabulous!!!! We have gone to many a children's museum and this one was by far the most unique and hands on I have ever seen. I just can't explain how cool it was and how I wish, wish, wish the Museum of Discovery was closer to us. This Museum is geared at children a little older, probably 6-10, and it had all kinds of exhibits that were physics based. It was just so great, and it had a great room for younger children where Eli was able to adorn himself in costume after costume for about three hours. Oh, and both boys got the chance to lay on a bed of nails. Pretty cool stuff.
And finally came the drive home. Two exhausted boys in the back seat is a pretty sure fire way to know it was a great trip! Arkansas, we had a great time. Catch ya later!
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