HOT SPRINGS TRIP #2, LAKE DAY & MORE!

Yesterday I blogged the first part of our Hot Springs trip with friends, and here's the rest of the fun!  Four years ago, we took the oldest four children of our group to the lake, and getting a life jacket on Bella especially was a disaster.  On this trip, the boat rental guy said he had never seen a group of kids so excited about putting on life jackets.  😂😂😂😂  That's us: safety first at all times.

Again, the clouds were threatening, but instead of raining on us, they provided a nice cloud cover and an almost totally clear lake.  I think we saw two other boats the entirety of our time on the water.  There was tubing fun and A TON of swimming fun.  The littles mostly liked to hang out on the boat and eat a steady stream of snacks.

It really was a great morning!  We hit the pool one more time that night as well and finished up the popsicles.




For our last big outing, we dined at the famed Pancake Shop.  Since pancakes are a big favorite with all the children, this was a major win before having to say our fond farewells and see you soons.






This last pic of the kids really sums up our time - mostly, most of the children were pretty happy, but there was usually at least one having a hard time (not always Violet, though she definitely did not want her picture taken at this moment.  or anything else.)



I can't believe how far the four of us have come in the last 16 years, and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for our families - I certainly never could have pictured all that he's granted us thus far, and I am so grateful.



Until next time, Claus family! ❤️

HOT SPRINGS TRIP #1

After having the Clauses at our house, we all drove to Hot Springs.  Our trip to Hot Springs managed to be well balanced between activity and rest aka "slightly less activity" when you have seven children with you.  Our first stop in Hot Springs was to hit up the Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo, which we had never visited before.  Due to the recent tragedy - I'm going to skip all the gator pictures and just show the fun we had at the petting zoo.  Since being home we asked the girls what their favorite part of the entire trip was and they said visiting this place - so it was a hit with us.

(Violet was not at all interested in being set down with the goats.)

We did get to hold a baby alligator and see a bunch of them, which was pretty fascinating.  We hit up downtown for a treat before heading back to our condo for dinner and swimming.  Pushing the daddies in the water was a favorite activity the whole trip, and we spent a lot of time near water.

A lot of rain was predicted, so we tried to keep our activities flexible.  We ended up heading to the Mid-America Science Museum - another first for us.  It was amazing and so fun for everyone!

This water attraction was a major draw for our entire party.

We adults enjoyed the heat imaging.



The outdoor nature walk and rope bridge area kept us entertained for quite some time.

(The kids were less than thrilled about this photo op.)

The entire place was fantastic - we can't wait to go back!

We rounded out our night with dinner at Taco Mama's (so tasty!) and popsicles on the porch, and we were certainly ready to put our sweet, but tired, children into bed.




We got a few scattered showers, but mostly, the rain held off.  We were hot, but not sweltering.  Seeing my children play with the children of long time BFFs is such a treasured experience for me.  I had several moments throughout this trip when I wondered if it was all too good to be true - the joy, the sweetness, the innocence.  I'm so thankful for dear friends and cherished time and also bedtime, when we get to put those treasures down to sleep and have adult conversation. 😉

FRIENDSIES CAME TO TOWN

Every year we do some kind of trip/getaway with our BFFs from college.  Last year, we met up in Dallas, the year before that they joined us in the Rock, we went to Sea World in 2013 and Hot Springs in 2012 - and so on.  We've had a good run, and this trip did not disappoint - in fact, things are getting better and better.

This time, Brian and Steph and co. first joined us in Little Rock for two nights.  We hit up the town sans kiddos for a fabulous double date including dinner at The Fold and a Chocolate Sack at SO.

Saturday morning we went blueberry picking.  The heat was unexpectedly oppressive, but our older berry pickers did good work, and we enjoyed the rewards all week.

After working up an appetite blueberry picking (and eating), we went for a picnic and short walk near Pinnacle mountain.

To round out our Little Rock fun, we hit up a Traveler's game.  It was pretty hot, and we were tired, so we didn't last long.  Pretty much just long enough for everyone to beg for a treat and consume a bit of cotton candy.

It really was so good to be together - our kids play great together, and they are truly like family.