The hubby had to take a work trip to Springfield. Since I am now a full-time stay-at-home mommy, Claire and I decided to tag along. I am so glad we did. 1) We didn't have to go five days without seeing Jared and 2) Claire and I had a lot of fun running around and seeing the sights.
Springfield has some really nice things to see and do for families.
Day 1 (Monday):
Claire and I started off our adventures a little roughly, but it soon turned into a wonderful day of hanging out. I didn't read my notes very carefully and we tried to go to the Discovery Center this day, but as it turned out Monday is the one day a week that the Discovery Center is closed. I was slightly frustrated and just decided to head back to the hotel (all the way across town) to regroup when I saw a sign for the Bass Pro Shop. We had planned to go there later in the week, but since the Discovery Center had been a flop I got in the turn lane and followed to sign. I had almost given up hope in finding the Bass Pro Shop and turned on the road I knew would get us back to the hotel when low and behold there it was -- The Bass Pro Shop -- on our right. I turned in and parked and Claire and I headed inside.
They had some really neat things inside. There was a huge alligator (pictured below) and several tanks of some really big catfish and alligator gar. We also got to see them feed some trout - who went crazy for the food - and some kind of water fowl that shared the tank with the trout. It was really kind of fun, especially considering how our morning started out.
We spent a good two hour there and didn't even get to see everything, but it was time to go pick up daddy for lunch. So we headed out. Claire was exhausted after our morning, so we had a quick lunch and then back to the hotel for a nap.
After Claire's nap we just lazed around in the hotel - since the morning had been so full - but made a few stops at a children's clothing boutique (The Kid's Court) and a Christian book store on the way to pick Jared up from work. Then we took Jared to Academy Sports because he had wanted to get to go (plus I needed to return one pair of shorts). Claire got an automatic bubble blower (it has been so much fun) and Jared dreamed about our "future house" with the tennis courts and a place to put a heavy bag and a basketball hoop. Then we went to a steak house for dinner (Texas Roadhouse - which was delicious) where the servers line danced every once in a while. Claire thought the line dancing was great fun. She was clapping and bouncing right along with them. It was pretty cute.
Day 4 (Thursday):
This was definitely the dark day of the trip. Jared still had to work a full day, but Claire and I had to get packed up and checked out of the hotel. Plus...she needed to get a nap at some point. Luckily we got a later check-out, so Claire did get a little bit of a nap. It was a long morning and a lot to handle by myself with a 15-month-old in tow, but somehow we managed. I dropped Jared off a lunch and Claire and I ate on the run, but I finally managed to get everything packed and loaded into the car.
Claire and I hit up the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly House at Close Memorial Park. The park was amazing. It had a lot of trails and beautiful gardens. Unfortunately the butterfly house only has a couple of open hours in the evenings on certain days of the week -- too bad we didn't know about that at the beginning of the trip. So we didn't get to walk through the little exhibit, but we did enjoy the park, the geese, and the sprinkler systems. It started to get pretty hot and we still had a few hours to kill, so Claire and I headed to the Battlefield shopping area and found the mall.
Claire and I went to build-a-bear (a story for another post) and the Great American Cookie store. Then we hit up Toys-R-Us - where Claire got a ball. After which, we went to retrieve Jared and head home.
It was a really fun trip and I am so grateful that we got to go, but I was SO ready to get home. I love my home and my bed. : )
 |
| Claire being silly at the restaurant we stopped at on the way to Springfield. |
Day 1 (Monday):
Claire and I started off our adventures a little roughly, but it soon turned into a wonderful day of hanging out. I didn't read my notes very carefully and we tried to go to the Discovery Center this day, but as it turned out Monday is the one day a week that the Discovery Center is closed. I was slightly frustrated and just decided to head back to the hotel (all the way across town) to regroup when I saw a sign for the Bass Pro Shop. We had planned to go there later in the week, but since the Discovery Center had been a flop I got in the turn lane and followed to sign. I had almost given up hope in finding the Bass Pro Shop and turned on the road I knew would get us back to the hotel when low and behold there it was -- The Bass Pro Shop -- on our right. I turned in and parked and Claire and I headed inside.
They had some really neat things inside. There was a huge alligator (pictured below) and several tanks of some really big catfish and alligator gar. We also got to see them feed some trout - who went crazy for the food - and some kind of water fowl that shared the tank with the trout. It was really kind of fun, especially considering how our morning started out.
After Bass Pro, it was time to pick up daddy for lunch, so we went to get him and headed to an Italian restaurant that was reminiscent of Noodles back home--it wasn't as good though. After lunch daddy dropped a sleeping Claire and I off back at the hotel -- we both had a good little nap time. I think we both needed the rest and slept for quite a while. When Claire (and I) woke up we got into our swimsuits and headed to the hotel pool for some splash time. It was a lot of fun and we had just gotten out/dried off when daddy arrived back at the hotel. We had leftovers from lunch, so we heated those up and had a quick dinner and then Claire and I took daddy back to Bass Pro, so he could see the alligator. We stopped by Wal-Mart on our way back to the hotel to pick up some things we had forgotten and then went back to the hotel for the night.
Day 2 (Tuesday):
Claire and I tried out the Discovery Center again and had a fabulous time. It really is a neat little place. There are all kinds of hands-on things for kids to do. They even had a room for kids five and under, so the big groups of school-aged kids didn't bother us. Claire even enjoyed watching the bigger kids try things out. I really enjoyed the Discovery Center and I think Claire did too.
In the afternoon we tried out the Library Center - I thought surely it would be as good as Fayetteville's because Springfield is a bigger town...but I was sadly mistaken. It is a nice Library, but their children's section is not nearly as nice or good as ours. We are truly blessed with the Fayetteville Public Library. Since we didn't spend as much time as I thought we would at the Library we headed next door to Academy Sports and wasted some time looking around and buying a couple of pairs of shorts for mommy.
After picking up daddy we had some more pool time (did I mention that Claire is a little water bug - she loves it!) and then went to dinner at this Korean restaurant (Soo's). Jared took a pic of our spread (it really was quite the spread) with his phone, so I will have to try and get that on here. It was amazing. The food was delicious and it was really fun trying something new. The lady who was the hostess/server was so sweet and she LOVED Claire. (Who doesn't love Claire?) If we go back to Springfield we will go back to Soo's.
Day 3 (Wednesday):
Claire and I hit up the Dickerson Park Zoo this morning. I knew we would spend a lot of time there and the mornings are when we have the most of it between dropping off and picking up daddy. The Zoo was amazing. It was probably my favorite outing of the whole trip. I feel guilty saying that because I know Jared really loves going to a good Zoo and he had to work while we were there.
 |
| The peacocks were just roaming around the zoo freely. It was amazing. |
I am so glad we went in the morning. It was a cool and beautiful morning and there weren't a whole lot of people there in the middle of the week. They had some great exhibits. We got to see some baby black bear cubs playing together. Claire got to feed a giraffe, a goat, and a big woolly cow. (She loved feeding the animals--her hands got nice and slobbery.) We got to see monkeys, birds, big cats, elephants, etc. Most of the typical zoo critters and a couple I had never seen/noticed at a zoo before.
After Claire's nap we just lazed around in the hotel - since the morning had been so full - but made a few stops at a children's clothing boutique (The Kid's Court) and a Christian book store on the way to pick Jared up from work. Then we took Jared to Academy Sports because he had wanted to get to go (plus I needed to return one pair of shorts). Claire got an automatic bubble blower (it has been so much fun) and Jared dreamed about our "future house" with the tennis courts and a place to put a heavy bag and a basketball hoop. Then we went to a steak house for dinner (Texas Roadhouse - which was delicious) where the servers line danced every once in a while. Claire thought the line dancing was great fun. She was clapping and bouncing right along with them. It was pretty cute.
Day 4 (Thursday):
This was definitely the dark day of the trip. Jared still had to work a full day, but Claire and I had to get packed up and checked out of the hotel. Plus...she needed to get a nap at some point. Luckily we got a later check-out, so Claire did get a little bit of a nap. It was a long morning and a lot to handle by myself with a 15-month-old in tow, but somehow we managed. I dropped Jared off a lunch and Claire and I ate on the run, but I finally managed to get everything packed and loaded into the car.
Claire and I hit up the Botanical Gardens and Butterfly House at Close Memorial Park. The park was amazing. It had a lot of trails and beautiful gardens. Unfortunately the butterfly house only has a couple of open hours in the evenings on certain days of the week -- too bad we didn't know about that at the beginning of the trip. So we didn't get to walk through the little exhibit, but we did enjoy the park, the geese, and the sprinkler systems. It started to get pretty hot and we still had a few hours to kill, so Claire and I headed to the Battlefield shopping area and found the mall.
Claire and I went to build-a-bear (a story for another post) and the Great American Cookie store. Then we hit up Toys-R-Us - where Claire got a ball. After which, we went to retrieve Jared and head home.
It was a really fun trip and I am so grateful that we got to go, but I was SO ready to get home. I love my home and my bed. : )
No comments:
Post a Comment