- Left early on Monday to make it there (4ish hours) in time for lunch at the Home Plate Cafe. The kids enjoyed catfish sandwiches and mac & cheese. I had a tasty lunch steak and Luke had a sad meal of lamb.
- First activity was Coleman's rock shop to dig for quartz crystals. We unloaded our tools, put on sunblock and prepared to dig in. Turns out we were at the shop, not the dig site. And we could drive another 20 minutes to Jim Coleman's site or a few minute down the road to Ron Coleman's site (totally different companies - weird). After a long morning in the car, we opted for the closer spot.
- We got busy digging and started getting the hang of what exactly we were looking for - shiny, clear, good points
- Lucy was very eager to finally get to "our house," which had a 4pm check in. She had looked through the AirBnB pics quite a few times and the girl had plans. First, explore the inside. Then, explore the outside. Then, swing on the porch swing. All of her dreams came true! The kids were excited and surprised to find that their rooms and a hang out room were downstairs, while our room was upstairs with the kitchen and den.
- We made BLT's for dinner and enjoyed the patios and little pond
- We met a very friendly goose, which the kids named Kaboom. We also discovered turtles in the pond. Originally Lucy announced that they were fish, poking their heads up out of the water. Once we realized they were turtles, she readily admitted that thinking they were fish was just "a silly thought."
- Lucy crawled into bed with me at 5:30 in the morning because she had been cold.
- Tuesday was our "Poison Ivy Hike." It was a 4.5 mile loop trail, which was very green and pretty. We did not sit down for one second during the whole hike though, because there was poison ivy EVERYWHERE. Sometimes we had to walk like we were on a balance beam to get through the trail without touching the leaves. We seem to have all managed to get through without a reaction!
- The end of the hike proved to be the kids' favorite moment of the whole trip - splashing around in the shallow creek.
- We made kabobs for dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed.
- I was up at 5 on Wed and Thursday to work on my first grad school class. Along with May Trip came my first week of class!!
- Wednesday was the day to explore Hot Springs
- The bathhouses were really interesting, at least to Luke and me!
- We had lunch at a bathhouse-turned-restaurant. It was disappointing food-wise, but ok
- We learned about the spring water shipped all over the world and got to feel the super hot springs and drink from the drinking fountains
- The kids got super funky drinks at a soda shop
- Garvan Gardens was delightful. The kids were given bingo cards with things to look for throughout the gardens - certain bridges, a fairy garden, children's tree house, animals, plants, etc. They all had fun with it, and it was a good distraction from the heat. Summer arrived during this trip.
- Dinner was brats, and we finished with a movie and cookies.
- Today is Thursday. We decided to try our hand at the farther quartz mine. We drove well into the hills to find a greasy guy smoking a cigarette who graciously let us into the dig site for only $30 instead of $40 (we were short on cash!). Although we had made every effort to get up there early to beat the heat, it was HOT and sunny by 8:15. We dug for a while. Luke had more digging in him at both sites than the rest of us had (getting his money's worth), but it was a good final event in Hot Springs
- Finally had a great meal out on our way out of town - Greek food!
- The kids dozed and watched Love Bug on the way home, and we made it back just in time for Luke to take Isaiah to his baseball game and the girls to go pick up Violet from the Gooches.
Although we all could have used a couple more days away from regular life, we very much enjoyed our little trip!
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