From there, we ventured to the World of Discovery, a fascinating, hands-on science center and children's museum where we spent hours exploring a huge range of concepts from pulley systems, to frequency, magnetics, electrical currents, manufacturing, and a plethora of just plain fun exhibits. Our favorite exhibit was downstairs where our son delighted in this huge tubing structure where you could place a colorful scarf inside an entry hole and watch your scarf get sucked through the clear tubing, twisting and turning through a maze that extended up two stories high and onto the ceiling, and then fly out of another hole, floating down slowly enough for Asher to catch it in the air. He couldn't get enough. We also spent a lot of time at an adjacent smoke machine, where you could push on the rim of this circular mushroom-like structure and smoke rings would shoot out and up to the ceiling. We also got to touch a snake and saw all kinds of animals (mice with babies, hermit crabs, a python, and tarantulas). eek!
After a good two hours at the museum, we headed to our hotel, Capital Hotel. It was a little fancy for my taste and I felt slightly uncomfortable with the over the top staff and stuffy ambiance. I hadn't brought any fine clothes or my pearls (not that I have any) and came prepared for a trip to the lake, not the Riviera. The staff was friendly though and we were only staying the night. We decided to head to Peabody Park and the River Market, which were in walking distance of the hotel. Lawson and Asher played on the slide and climbed through some pretty cool tunnels through huge boulders at this park along the river. We made our way to the River Market, where all different kinds of food vendors held shop, and cooled down with some very yummy popsicles from Le Pops. The chocolate popsicle was my favorite of the day, but Lawson thought his cantaloupe pop was very tasty too. We ate dinner at Copper Grill, nothing extraordinary but a fine restaurant.
Friday morning we decided to take a trolley ride around downtown Little Rock and were glad that we did. The trolley was beautifully crafted and our driver was friendly and entertaining. We decided to stay on for the full length of the tour, which ended up lasting an hour, but if we ever do it over again, we would just do the first half, over the river and back near River Market, because it got a little long for Asher. After our ride, we decided to explore the submarine our guide pointed out during our tour but it turned out the minimum age was 5 yrs and it was another hour long tour. So instead we fed the turtles in the water next to the submarine and then headed an hour to Hot Springs, but not before a quick stop to pick up our last taste of Le Pops - the salted caramel pop and lemonade basil pop were yum!
The drive to Hot Springs was easy breezy. When we arrived, we went to an awesome toy store on the downtown strip called The Toy Chest. I'm partial because the owners are family, but they carry toys that can't be found in big box stores and we had a blast stocking up on gifts. We rented a condo on Lake Hamilton for this part of the trip and lucked out with great views of the lake. For dinner we ate at On the Border, because we wanted something quick and easy. Not ones to skimp on dessert, we found a great local ice cream shop called Scoops and devoured our treats.
Saturday was action-packed. We started out early for Magic Springs and Crystal Falls amusement and water park. We had a blast. After riding all of the kiddie rides, we went to cool off in the wave pool and kiddie water parks. Asher loved going down the water slides. For lunch, we decided to find a pizza vendor and also ended up getting to watch a fun pirate show. We thought Asher would be pooped after the adventures of the morning, but he was still raring to go after our rest time back at the condo so we opted to try the Mid-America Science Museum and were so glad we did. We all enjoyed the hands-on exhibits and had a hard time leaving. We dined at Bleu Monkey for dinner and loved the ambiance, large menu, and friendly waitstaff. We had to try the fried mac and cheese balls (how could they not be good!) and the crabby patty (in honor of Spongebob - Asher's favorite) and really liked everything.
Side note on Spongebob: Okay, so I know some of you are probably thinking, how could I let my 3yr old watch such a terrible show. I'm with you, trust me, I used to be you. So here I go, pulling my "sick card." Asher's granddad introduced the show while I was sick in the hospital in St. Louis. Asher instantly fell in love. When I returned home to this awful show, full of violence and bad language, I thought I would have to pull out the big guns to put an end to Asher's happy viewing. However, I have rationalized this many times over: If Asher had a big brother or sister, he would be exposed to the same foul language and this way I could explain what words are okay and not okay. This has actually worked. They use "stupid" (and many other nasty words) on every episode. When that word crossed Asher's lips, I explained that it was not a nice word and that he is not to say it or no more Spongebob. He understood and doesn't use it. In fact, when he hears that word, he covers his mouth and says, "they said the 's'-word!" Also, his love for this show comes in handy when I need some leverage to quell some behavioral issues innate in many little people of 3 years.
Sunday morning was lovely and laid back. We got to ride on my great-aunt's and -uncle's boat on Lake Hamilton, Hun and Son swam, and then we enjoyed lunch at Outback before heading home to Memphis. The drive was a welcome rest from our exhausting trip and we even got to top off our trip with the sight of a beautiful rainbow when we reached Memphis.
All in all, we had a great trip before school started back. Asher started pre-k (I can't believe it) and is loving it. Next up, Seaside for Labor Day! Woohoo!
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