We got home from our lake trip, repacked our bags and headed to Fayetteville for a few days! We stopped to eat at Stobey's train stop restaurant on our way there. Part of the restaurant is a real train car...complete with train whistle on the front porch. The kids thought this was fun. Love that La is holding her ears while pulling the whistle!
The weather took a surprising dip in temps....high was in the 70s the entire time we there! Marvelous! Our first night there, we went to the Walton 5-10. It was so neat seeing Sam Walton's first store that grew into the mega Wal-Mart chain.
The store is now filled with vintage toys, cokes and candies that would have been sold during that time...in vintage packaging. Really fun to reminisce!
This is Mr. Walton's office as it looked at the time of his death in 1992. Doesn't look like where a millionaire would reside. It is said that he didn't spend much time at his office...always wanted to be in the stores with his employees.
His wife's wedding dress.
The store as it looked when it originally opened.
Mr. Walton's pick up truck that he drove until his death as well. Not a big spender...that Mr. Walton!
Mr. Walton's car keys and sunglasses.
They have a 50s style soda fountain. All 8 of us got ice cream treats for a whopping $8.
Hudson enjoying blue and yellow Wal-Mart ice cream. An exclusive flavor for Wal-Mart called spark...after the new yellow little sunburst logo that Wal-Mart launched a few years ago.
As we were leaving the Walton 5 and10 and watching back to our car...Hudson spotted this basketball goal tree in the distance. We walked over to it to see what it was. We got close and we still weren't sure! We went to the building nearby to inquire about what it was. The gentlemen there told us it was an art statue. That this was a hotel and that there was more art on the first floor that we could come in and look at. So, we went in...
We saw some interesting art for sure! These little green penguin guys were everywhere?!
This was a taxidermied chicken wearing angora rabbit. It's just one of those things you don't see coming in your day!
Yikes! A turkey wearing a giant wig?
The next day was super special. We went to pick up my grandfather and go visit my grandmother at her rehab hospital. Had not been to their home in several years....it was just as I remembered!
My grandpa is so cool! Always leaves the house in a hat! Love it!
SO thankful we had a wonderful visit with my grandmother...she was having a good day! Blessing!
We had a great time looking at family pics on my ipad and catching up with them. Grandpa told us about how he played tennis with Sam Walton every day for years. The kids were super impressed because they had just learned about Mr. Walton the night before.
We stayed most of the day...and the kids were so good. They loved taking turns pushing Grandma from room to room.
We had planned on taking Grandpa out to lunch. But, he invited us all to just stay and eat there with Grandma...which seemed like so much more fun for Grandma. Kinda sad leaving her out of lunch. However, I had no idea what meal was being served that day...and was worried the kids might not eat it. Which wouldn't hurt them...but I thought Grandpa might be like "do you not like your lunch?" and it would be a bit awkward. However, they served the kids hot dogs, tator tots, watermelon and ice cream! Score! They ate every bite!
They were having a Christmas in July party that afternoon...so we stuck around for that! The kids had a lot of fun. I think it made it more fun for Grandma and Grandpa having the kids there at the party. There was Santa, singing, cupcakes and presents! Score!
We SO enjoyed our time there. It had been too long since we had seen them! Grandma was doing so much better than I expected. I hope she continues to get better and can go home. Grandpa SO misses her...and it just breaks my heart. I could hardly watch him kiss her goodbye when it was time for us to take him back home.
It was a great day!
The next morning we went to see the Crystal Bridges art museum in Bentonville. The museum had come up with a little art scavenger hunt that kept the kids interested and was a lot of fun.
The highlight of my time there was seeing Normal Rockwall's Rosie the Riveter painting and the Andy Warhol Dolly Parton painting. SO cool to see in real life. They aren't even behind glass! Crazy!
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Next stop....Terra Studios....AKA the Blue Bird of Happiness Factory (those are ALL blue birds behind the kids)
We enjoyed watching the man make the blue birds from fiery melted glass. Pretty interesting!
The property there has a little gift shop, restaurant, a rock labyrinth, several chess boards, and lot of other little interesting "things" (gargoyle little statues? not sure if I want to really know what those are about.) The kids had a fun time exploring.
The table had a glass top...with sand and things underneath. Definitely a conversation piece!
We finished the day with a game of giant chess! Again amazing July weather! Fun trip!
Despite ALL the fun things we did in Fayetteville, I think the kids enjoyed just staying and playing at the hotel the most!
La and Hud packed their bags and headed to Mimi and DooDads for a fun few days! I was starting back to work so mom offered to let them come stay a few days in T-Town. This gave me a few days to adjust to my new work routine without them underfoot. 
They were treated to SO many fun things...beginning with Ice Cream at Burger King and Chuck E Cheese! 
Mom had a new grocery cart toy with a scanner that entertained La most of one evening.
Day 2 included a trip to the Discovery Museum. They found lots of fun things to explore there..JPG)
We got a face time call from Hudson this night...he had pulled his top tooth! The tooth fairy even found him at Mimi's house!
Day 3 consisted of the new splash park in Texarkana, the park, feeding the ducks, snowcones, then the slip-n slide and bounce house at Mimi's. Seriously? How much fun can you pack into ONE day?!
Day 3 started with a trip to the donut shop for breakfast and then a kids project hosted by Home Depot. They built little wooden Home Depot trucks. So cute!
After the project, they announced they were having a coloring contest. Right up my kids alley! They were on it!
Then off to play put put golf and ride go carts!
Yummy dinner at Mooyah!
La and Hud got a call form Depot later in the afternoon telling them they had both won the coloring contest for their age groups! Here are the pics! They had to go back up to Home Depot and pick up their prizes! Oh...they were SO excited!
What a memorable way to end a great time in Texarkana! Thank you Mimi and DooDad for making this such an incredibly fun trip for them! Now...get some rest! You must be exhausted!
