Day 10; 6/1/09

We started the day out by trying to go to the Fort Smith Historical Museum....but it was closed. So we drove down the street to the Fort Smith National Historic Site. The city of Fort Smith is named after a fort named Smith from back in the 1800's. There is a building that had the first jail, and the first court house.The court house is from Judge Parker, he is known as "The hanging judge". Any criminal he found guilty got the sentence us a hanging. We did not get to the gallows (where they did the hangings) today, but we will go back to see those a different day.
In the lower level of the building was where the first jail was. It was 1 common room that everyone used. That lead to a lot of fights and illness, so after years of that, they built a new 3-story, more commonly known type of jail. There was a small scale replica of the newer jail. Marc got to lay on one of the beds the prisoners slept on.After we went to the Fort we had lunch with Marc's Nannie & Papaw (Grandfather & step-Grandmother). And now the kids are both getting some much-needed sleep.

Day 9: 5/31/09

Today we drove to Branson, MO to visit Marc Grandmother. We met at Culvers for some lunch. Ruth was amazed at how much Marc had grown......
and how cute Samantha is.After some lunch we went to a small strip mall with a large covered "porch" in front. We went there so the kids could run and get some energy out. There were some very pretty wooden benches so we decided to have a photo shoot and gets lots of pictures of various groups of people.
This is a picture of Ruth (Marc's Grandmother), Marc Sr (Marc's Dad), his children, Marc Jr. Melisa, and Jennifer and all of the offspring (grandkids).Samantha was finally able to meet her Aunt Jennifer. It took them both a little while to warm up to each other, but by the time we left Branson, they were all smiles, hugs, and kisses with each other.After the phot shoot we went to the outlet mall. (I bought a couple of cute shirts) and Marc got a new CARS t-shirt for $5. After the outlet mall we went to McDonald's for some ice cream. After all of that we got back in the car for the 3 hour drive back to Fort Smith.
It was a long day, but fun. I think Marc's Grandmother had a good time seeing the kids. :)

Day 8: 5/30/09

Today my mother-in-law, Pearl, took us to the Renaissance Festival. We weren't sure if Marc would like it or not. We spent about 4 hours there. We went directly to the kids area first. We took an "enchanted boardwalk" through the forest. At the end of the boardwalk there was a whole fairy land. There were about 5 fairies (all decked out in costumes and make-up), several buildings, and a pet dragon that lived under the boardwalk. He blew bubbles out of his nose when he snored. :)There were some mid-way type games that were castle themed for the kids to play. In order for them to play them, the kids had to dig in a big sand pit and find coins to pay for the games.There were some ladies (I'm not sure who/what they were supposed to be) walking around naming trees after the kids they talked to. This is a picture of Marc with the ladies and the tree Marc.Pearl paid for Marc and his cousin Kaylee to ride the ponies. (Marc should be glad that Grandma was paying for the day, because we wouldn't pay $5 for him to ride the pony ;) ). Marc has never ridden a pony before so he was a little unsure at first, but in the end he said he had fun.Marc and Samantha posed for some pictures in the throne for us.There was a lady walking around tying ribbons around kids wrists to remind them to be happy and smile all day. I think it worked, Marc wasn't crabby for most of the day. ;)When I was younger my Aunt Sari & Uncle Gary took me and my cousin Susanne to the Renaissance Festivals for a couple of summers. Each time we went my cousin and I got the flower head dresses that some of the maidens wear. I told Marc that we had to get one for Samantha, so i could relive my childhood through her.We were amazed at how long she wore it. She pulled it down around her neck (it was a little big for her) a few times, but I put it back on her head and she smiled, and rode in the stroller. :)
We bought Marc a sword. There some really realistic cool looking ones, but they were wood and we were afraid he would hurt himself, or someone else, with it. We ended up getting him one made out of rubber, so it would hurt less when someone got hit with it.We spent about 4 hours there and I think we had fun. It was about 90 degrees. Luckily most of the kids section, where we spent most of our time, was in the woods so it was semi-shaded. Made enjoyed all the hand-on activities and looking at all of the people dressed up.