Spring Break: Arkansas

I'm back today with another recap of our Spring Break Vacation. We spent the first weekend of Spring Break camping in Hot Springs, you can read about it here and here. 

After leaving Hot Springs, we drove to my parents house to leave our camper. We didn't want to pull it with us since we knew we wouldn't be staying in it when we went to visit DJ's parents. We arrived to DJ's dad's house on Monday evening and had dinner, and on Tuesday morning, they put the girls to work gardening! 

Adalyn had her gardening gloves on and was ready to go! 

DJ's parents just moved in to a new home, so there was lots of work to get done. They put the flagpole in the ground and the girls helped plant some flowers around it. 

Then they moved to the back yard for some gardening. 

Adalyn decided she was hot and needed to cool off with her feet in the pool. 

After lunch, the girls and I headed down the road to the neighbor's house to see the goats and cows. 

They decided that we needed a pet goat! 

I told them, our HOA wouldn't allow it and goats climb on everything! But it was fun to see the animals. 

And when we got back, the girls convinced us to blow up a float and let them get in the water. 

Clothes and all! They stayed mostly dry, until Gretchen got out, tried and to pull her sisters around, and then bam, the float flipped over and Megan and Addy went right in!

I'm not sure they actually minded! 

We had rain on Wednesday, so Grandma Dee had art activities set up for the girls. They made aprons, scrunchies, painted, and had so much fun! 

Gretchen drew symbols from her favorite books on her apron. 

And they all painted little anchors for Grandma Dee to keep. 

Thursday morning, we got up to head to Jonesboro, where DJ's mom and sister live. But first, we had to get a family picture! 

When we arrived in Jonesboro, we headed out to eat lunch. Nana took the little girls home with her, and DJ and I took Gretchen around Arkansas State University where we went to school. 

Gretchen has already started making a spreadsheet of colleges, and ASU is not on her list. I made her get out of the car and take a picture anyway. Thankfully, she was a good sport and played along. 

We also drove by to the sorority houses. They weren't built when I was in school, but I can imagine all the fun the Alpha Gams are having here! 

While we were out, these girls were dressing up. 

Later that night, our family from Florida arrived and Gretchen was thrilled to see her cousins! 

All of the cousins in one place! This doesn't happen too often since we all live in different states. 

Later that night, the girls stayed up to watch the new Disney movie and had a sleepover. 

We were up Friday morning bright early to head back to my parent's house because we had another little camping trip planned! 

 

Let's Chat Easter

Is anyone else all "oh crap, Easter is on Sunday, and I'm so not ready for it!" Coming home from Spring Break had me trying to recover, and bam, Easter is here and I'm scrambling. I mean, I still haven't bought Easter basket goodies for the girls. If you're like me, I have a quick round up of last minute ideas for you at the bottom of this post, so keep reading :) 

I did somehow manage to get our Easter decorations out. Mostly because I was needing to find the girls Easter baskets, so I figured I might as well put up a few decorations. 

In our entry way, I have a vase off eggs, a wooden Easter sign, and a little carton of dyed eggs. 

I added a little egg wreath that I found this year at Target in one of my farmhouse baskets, and then I decided to add two pictures the girls had painted. It looks silly, but I don't care because it's only up for a week or so. 

In our kitchen, I added a wreath to the door, a little bunny, and cake stand. 

I also stacked our Eater plates and a pewter deviled egg holder. 

I added some Eucalyptus to my flowers, a little bunny, a nest of eggs, and tiny bunny salt & pepper shakes. 

This furniture piece is new and I'm so excited to have it. DJ's parents had this "dry sink" in their home, and they recently downsized and didn't have room for this piece. It originally belonged to his grandparents, and it matches our dining table so well! Right now, I have it under our Bevo picture just outside the dining area, but eventually I'll move it under our dining room window, but our school shelf is there for now. 

On the sideboard, I added a wooden bunny, egg candlesticks, a little plant, a sign, and smaller wooden bunnies that my mom gave me. 

And in the living room, I hung up our felt Easter banner, placed the girls Easter baskets out, and decorated my tiered tray. 

Little eggs, carrots, and a wooden egg complete the stand. 

Alright, who needs some last minute Easter gift ideas?!!?

For Teen Girls:

3 Minute Devotion Book

Fuji Max Film

Red Aspen Nails

Itunes Gift Card

Lavender Bath Bombs

Scrunchie Set

Friendship Bracelet String

Believe You Can Journal

Giggles

Loofa set

For Younger Girls:

Rock Painting

Ivy & Bean Chapter Books

Hatchimals

Lego Dot

Colored Pencils

Bathing Suit

Butterfly Kite

Sketch Pads

I Am Confident Journal

Whew! I hope that lists helps some of you out this year! Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

 

Mid America Museum

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was relaxing and you're ready to tackle the week ahead! I know I'm looking forward to a shorter work week ahead! 

I'm back recapping our weekend camping trip to Hot Springs, and we're picking up on a Sunday afternoon where we went to the.......

Mid America Science Museum!!!!

I remember having a field trip here as a kid, and y'all, this museum did not disappoint. We had the best time. The girls were exploring everything they could and we laughed a ton! The price point was great too and if you're in the area, I would 100% recommend going! 

There were so many hands on activities there. The girls explored as much as they could. 

This water area took up two floors. Here we are at the top. They played here forever! 

We explored rocks and minerals of Arkansas which was perfect since we studied them in homeschooling this year, and then there was a space walk which was right up Megan's alley. 

Can we just take a minute and appreciate Adalyn right now. This was 100% how she wanted to take her picture and I am cracking up. 

There were creative stations, and even an area where we could all shock each other. The girls got a kick out of surprising us with a shock, and then we all held hands to see how many of us could feel it! 

Adalyn made a crown for me, and one for DJ. 

And then we ended up at the two story water station again, but on the bottom this time. The girls lined up all of the balls, and watched them shoot up in to the air. They stayed here until we dragged them away so we could play outside. 

There was a gigantic net and the girls loved running around on it! I even got out there too! 

We eventually decided to call it day, but we had to hula hoop before we left! 

We went on a dinosaur walk when we were there and then took a picture with T-Rex as we were leaving. 

And one of the girls picked me a bouquet of bunny rabbit flowers! Do you see the little bunny faces in them?

We went back to the campground, and the girls played at the playground. Megan took this picture of Adalyn and again, I'm cracking up! I'm not sure what got in to her that day, but she was a hoot! 

We had DJ's college roommate and his family come over on Sunday evening, and the girls loved playing with their boys! The rain stayed away most of the day, but while they were visiting, it down poured, and we somehow fit 10 people in our camper! 

Monday morning, all of the girls piled in with Gee and Papaw for our drive back to their house where we dropped off the camper, and then headed north to DJ's parents! 

 

Catherine's Landing & Hot Springs

This year for Spring Break, we decided to head to Arkansas to visit family. It's been a while since we've seen several family members, so this trip was perfect timing. 

We packed our camper and left early Saturday morning to meet my parent's in Hot Springs. 

It's not a road trip through Texas without a stop in West at the Czech Stop for Kalaches. 

While we drove, Gretchen worked on her friendship bracelets. 

We arrived at Catherine's Landing around 3 in the afternoon and set up our camper right next to my parent's. We thought it would be fun to spend our first weekend here and camp and it's not far from my parent's house so they met us. 

The girls made a beeline to the playground and buried Adalyn in the rocks all the way up to her neck. 

They convinced us that it would be a good time to go swimming even though it was in the 60s, but the pool was supposedly heated- spoiler alert- it wasn't! After a few minutes the girls were done. 

This girl was trying to warm up. 

and so was she. 

Catherine's Landing is a beautiful spot just south of Hot Springs. There are cabins and yurts and lots of camping spaces. There's a pool, splash pad, playground, hiking, a zip line, kayak rentals- we seriously could've stayed here for days and not get bored. 

The guys cooking dinner. 

After dinner, Adayn lost her tooth! The tooth fairy came to see her at the campground. 

And we all cooked smores. 

There was a 100% chance of rain on Sunday and we were not excited about it. Thankfully, the rain wasn't suppose to move through until the afternoon, so we opted to head downtown in the morning. We took water bottles and filled them up at the public hot springs fountain. 

Hot Springs dyes their fountains green for St. Patrick's Day. 

We explored bath house row. 

And even tried out a tub! 

The bath houses here are famous and we told the girls about DJ and I having a bath in one when Gretchen was just a few months old!

I didn't realize this, but bathhouse row is a national park. The girls completed 7 activities in a guide book and go their junior park ranger badges! 

We made our way to the hot springs, and the water felt wonderful! 

And then we went over to the Arlington hotel. 

Our morning was perfect walking around down town. The girls enjoyed seeing the city and exploring! Check back next week to see how we spent the afternoon!