Spring Break 2009

Spring break has come and gone and throughout the week we traveled through five states (including Texas)! Below is a map of said trip! We traveled about 2,000 miles total (so glad we rented a car) and packed many sites and much fun into our week! We were lucky; the kids were pretty well behaved for the hours spent in the car, even without a DVD player (Beckton, our pyro, melted it up with the space heater). Beckton came down with a light cold which allowed him to sleep the majority of the time...Although my camera has decided to slowly retire on me, I was able to capture much of our adventures... although some are a bit fuzzy!

I STILL HAVE FOUR (4) DAYS LEFT TO EDIT, SO CHECK BACK FOR THE REST OF OUR
SPRING BREAK ADVENTURES!

Friday, March 13th (N.Texas to Hot Springs, Arkansas)
Weather was rainy...We pulled Jocelyn from school early and pounded the road. We traveled from North Texas to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We checked into a historic downtown Hot Springs Hotel, The Springs, nestled against the beautiful mountains. We dined at local restaurant, Fusions, then hit the sack after a long day!

Saturday, March 14th (Hot Springs, AR to Siloam Springs)
Weather was decent, overcast but no rain... Morgan enjoyed a hot mineral soak at the Quapaw Bath House while the kids and I enjoyed a chance to sleep in. We checked out of our historic hotel and ventured through town eying all the horse racing fans, very entertaining, so many people for the horses. We had a lite lunch at a local eatery, Dixie Cafe, then returned to downtown to tour and hike! We hike in Hot Springs National Park, which was beautiful. We climbed all 300+ stairs at the Mountain Tower, it was decided the munchkins should earn the privilege of a view from the tower, although reluctant (and begging to take the elevator) they climbed and were humbled (from exhaustion and the view)! We filled our water bottles with the free Hot Springs water. It was so neat; there were people coming from all over...hours away...with pickups full of empty gallon jugs, filling them up and taking them home. It was GOOD water! We walked bathhouse row and toured and old bathhouse turned museum, Fordyce Bathhouse/Museum, such a neat tour. Everything was preserved and you could really picture how things worked!

FYI-This is a good website for pictures of everything we saw, there are numbered links (1-5) just under the header of different attractions: http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.hot-springs.html

On our way out of town we stopped at a rock/crystal shop, Boxers Crystals and the we picked out: a Mexican geode, some crystal, fiber optic crystal wands (selenite), polished coral and Beckton picked three mini-marble puppies...they kids were thrilled. We made it to Siloam Springs (OK and AR, it's on the boarder)!

Hot Springs National Park, Historic Downtown Hot Springs and Mountain Tower:

The Hot Springs Water and Fordyce Bathhouse:

Sunday, March 15th (W. Siloam Springs, OK & Siloam Springs, Ar)

Weather was nice, fairly warm... The kids woke up and begged to swim! We met Morgans good friend from the Philippines, Boyet (Fernando), and he treated us to a special Filipino lunch! We met two of Boyet's sisters, Linda and Maria (Bheng) and got to spend a lot of time with Bheng's family; husband and three of her boys! We headed to Natural Falls State Park (on the Oklahoma side) and hiked to Dripping Springs...it was so beautiful and the weather was great! We took a short drive and entered the Wild-Wilderness Drive Through Safari, 180 + acres of exotic animals. We loved it, we saw so many animals and the kids had fun in the petting zoo. We captured a pygmy goat jumping and played with kangaroos!

Natural Falls and Dripping Springs:

The Animals:

Kangaroos:

Monday, March 16th (Siloam Springs to Bentonville, AR to Branson, MO)

We said our Goodbyes to Boyet and thanked him for the fun! We had local Mexican food for lunch! We hit the Little Debbie Snack Shop, an outlet for the McKee Foods(Little Debbie and Sunbelt) where Boyet works. The kids were allowed one treat each; cosmic brownies for Jocelyn and creme filled chocolate cupcakes for Beckton. Morgan grabbed a few boxes of granola bars and some 50¢ granola cereal. I-proudly, didn't give in and picked nothing! We headed towards Bentonville, AR and excitedly picked up Nana Kathi at XNA airport (just 30 minutes from Bentonville). We met up with Morgan's childhood friend, Robin, and his family.We drove by the Walmart headquarters and checked out the original Walmart, now a museum, Walton's 5-10 (they are closed on Monday so we just peeked)! The kids played at the Bentonville town square in the fountain and enjoyed the sun. We took a very rare family photo, I prefer to be behind the camera instead of infront of it! This picture shows the worst of my cameras issure, sorry Kathi!

Bentonville Square and Waltons 5-10:

After a beautiful day in the state of Arkansas, we headed to Missouri...BRANSON! We had a fun filled dinner at Lambert's, home of throwed rolls...yep it's throwed! They actually throw rolls at you...BIG hot rolls too...the kids loved it and Nana got her chicken livers so everyone was happy, Beckton enjoyed the car ride and snoozed!

Lambert's:

What happens when the kids spend too much time in the car: