Surprised by Little Rock

All has been quiet here on the blog.  The children and I just finished an epic journey to Texas to see friends and every. single. person. I am related to.  It was a long journey, both good and hard.  I will post about that later, but I want to tell you how much we enjoyed a stopover in Little Rock, AK.  Now, I have lived in Nashville for 14 years and I have made the journey back home to Texas at least once per year and not once have I ever stopped it Little Rock.  Google Maps (and before that, MapQuest, and before that, an ATLAS) took me around the edge of the city to avoid traffic downtown, so I don't think I ever even saw downtown Little Rock in all of those trips.  Perhaps I did, but I was in a hurry to get home or to get to family.

Traveling with kids kinda slows a body down though.  By the time we hit Little Rock, we had been driving for seven hours, with multiple (MULTIPLE!!!  Coordinate your bladders, people!) stops.  Alone, it would have only been five, and we were all a little frazzled.  As we crossed the Arkansas River downtown, the kids spied a spray ground.  If you don't have kids, you might not know what a spray ground is, but it is a huge fountain that is for people to actually get in and run around in.  Usually children.  They pointed it out and I made the split decision to pull off at the next exit to find it.  Clothes and all, they jumped in and ran (or crawled) around. (I had towels and a change of clothes pulled out for each child, coincidentally, having packed that way just in case we needed to stop overnight somewhere or someone peed their pants.)

Refreshed in spirit and body, we hit the road and plugged away toward my hometown in Texas.  It was another 6 hours, but we made it!

So on the way back, I made the decision to stop, spend the night and explore Little Rock a little further.  I ended up getting an amazing deal on the nicest hotel in downtown (thank you hotels.com!) and the kids and I walked (everybody this time since the baby became a walked in the space of this trip), played in the huge park, and playground, momentarily lost the 3 yr old (and my ability to breathe) and when we were all found, we got pizza as "room service" and all bedded down for a great night of sleep.

It was surprisingly lovely!  I shouldn't be surprised, but I will admit, I have gotten a bit snobby about travel within the continental United States.  It has to be historic, big(ish), family friendly, and have culture etc.  Little Rock has all that, just not any I could observe from the 440 loop that runs around town.  Lesson learned.  I've even made a plea to the hubs to take us back there for a long weekend or something fun!  We shall see.   With our oldest starting school this August, our travel plans will have to coincide with Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the (too short) visit.

Listening to the Sax player across the street 

After all of the horses we saw in Texas, you would think we would be over them, but no. A HORSE! They hollered. 

The youngest is a new walker, in the middle of the spray! 

Hard to catch my fast girl (in the pink flowered suit) 

This guy. This smile. It gets me. 

Arkansas River overlook (with a submarine in the background!) 

Oh, these monkeys! 

"Mama, let's go pose on those rocks and you take our picture", she says. Oh, this girl. 

This one didn't want to be left out of the fun, but I only have so many hands! 

Goodnight Little Rock! 

Bellies full of dinner, kids off to dreamland.