Allow me to share a short conversation that I had with my
wife this past weekend.
Bethany: "Did
you ever blog about our trip to Arkansas?"
Me:
"No."
Bethany:
"Wait, you've got to blog about that. It was the kids' first time staying
in a hotel."
Me: "Yeah, I
probably should."
Yes, it's true. I let a very noteworthy moment in the life
of my kids go by with nary a documentation. That's not a good thing. Never fear
though as I will be following through on my promise to my wife and documenting
this moment (or series of moments).
The Saturday before last (i.e. October 26th), Bethany and I
loaded up the kids in the Traverse and headed due south on 71 (or I-49 if you
rather) towards Arkansas. This wasn't just any old weekend away. We actually
had a big reason for going which was to go visit Tabi and Malachi Eliason after
they moved down there last spring. In fact, since they moved down there, they
added another member to their existing family of three (Cassie) with the
arrival of their son, Wyatt. Needless to say, we were excited to make his
acquaintance and they were just as excited to have us visit.
After arriving a little before noon, we let the kids burn
off a little energy at the Elisason's before loading them back up and heading
to Braum's for some burgers, fries, and shakes. At this point, I feel it
necessary to point out the oddity that is the prizes in Braum's kid's meals.
Ellie received none other than a toothbrush. It was definitely the most random
kid's meal prize I had ever seen. Ellie didn't seem to mind one iota. In fact,
she was excited and couldn't wait to brush her teeth with it. It's just as well
since she kind of needed a new toothbrush anyway.
After we finished lunch, we had honestly been planning on
returning to the Eliasen house to let the kids play or maybe even heading to
our hotel for an afternoon splash session in the pool. Malachi had other plans
though as he had been doing some research and had come up with a great way for
our two families to spend the afternoon: the Scott Family Amazeum. Allow me to
blatantly steal from the Amazeum's website for a brief moment in order to
properly describe it.
- The Scott Family Amazeum is a hands-on, interactive museum for children and families located in Bentonville, Ark. A museum with a foundation in the arts and sciences, the Amazeum encourages creativity, curiosity and community through exhibits, educational collaboration, and programs, workshops and camps. Amazeum experiences include a climbable tree canopy, indoor cave, tinkering hub, nearly one acre of outdoor space, and ever-evolving daily pop-up activities.
Sounds pretty cool, right? Ellie thought so as well as we
spent the next couple of hours exploring everything the Amazeum had to offer.
If you're wondering, her personal favorites included the five-foot tall
'Lite-Brite' display, the Water Amazements (where she pretty much got soaked),
and basically anything else that made noise or enabled her to crank a wheel or
pull a lever.
Oh yes, there's one last Amazeum exhibit Ellie loved. I bet
you'll never guess. It was the Market (proudly brought to you by Arkansas' own Walmart).
Honestly, Ellie could have spent the entire two hours we spent at the Amazeum
"shopping for groceries", "paying for groceries", and then
starting the entire process all over again. Of course, part of this experience
also included Ellie getting territorial over "her" groceries and
anything else she happened to be playing with. Before it was all said and done,
Bethany and I had to pretty much drag her out of the Market kicking and
screaming all the way.
 |
| Ethan and I even took part in the fun! |
As Tabi eloquently phrased it (and I less eloquently
paraphrased it), "You know what's rough about Ellie being so tall and
seemingly mature for her age? People watching that unfold just thought you had
a really bratty five-year-old instead of a normal three-year-old that's big for
her age." Bethany and I could not have agreed more.
At this point, I can see that there is much more to write
about from our weekend in Arkansas than can fit nicely in one blog post.
Therefore, I'm going to go ahead and tie a nice little bow around this post for
today and then I'll finish it up tomorrow. Promise to come back, OK? #DaddyWrite
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