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.

Day 7: 5/29/09

Today we went to Fayetteville, AR to visit my sister-in-law, Jennifer. When we got there, she was not there. We had lunch at AQ Chickenhouse. They have some of the best chicken I have ever eaten. Each time we come to AR, we go over to AQ at least once. (We didn't get any pictures of the kids).
After leaving Fayetteville we went to Salisaw, OK. Marc lived there for a couple of years with his Dad, so they wanted to go "down memory lane". While we were there we went to Sequoyah's Cabin. Sequoyah is known for developing the Cherokee Alphabet. The original log cabin that he built by hand back in 1829 is still on the exact same spot of land that he built it on. When it became a National Historic Landmark, the state build a brick building around the original building to protect it from the elements. There wasn't a super good spot to take a picture of the kids, so we took it in front of a little fountain that was on the grounds.

Day 6: Fort Smith, AR 5/28/09

Fort Smith has a really nice park called Creekmore Park. There are 3 playgrounds, several picnic areas, some nice open green areas for running around, a pool, a mini-golf course, and a small train that costs $.25 to go around the perimeter of the park. Today's weather was supposed to be mid-seventies and sunny. The weather changes tomorrow and gets really hot, so we decided to go to the park today. Here are some pics of the kids playing.

Samantha swingingMarc swingingMarc playing in a HUGE sandbox that is thereWe met my mother-in-law, Pearl, my niece, Kaylee, and my father-in-law Marc Sr at the park for some good play time. Marc has had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Kaylee.We took Marc on the train last time we were here and he had a blast so we thought we would take him on it again..and see how Samantha liked it. It was a hit with them both!.There were some pretty flowers and trees so we decided to try to have a photo shoot. We got some cute pictures of Marc, but Samantha was not in the mood to have her picture taken. So here are the cutest of the bunch.....

Day 5: Fort Smith, AR 5/27/09

My Mother-in-law, Pearl, wanted to take her grand kids (and their parents) to Chuck E Cheese for lunch today. Samantha loved the pizza.....and Marc had fun playing the games.....After lunch we went and showed our cute kiddos to Marc's Grandfather (Papaw) and step-Grandmother (Nannie).
The kids with Papaw.......
and with Nannie......and with Lisa (who is technically Marc's Aunt. Nannie & Papaw adopted her)......
After some time with Nannie & Papaw we went over to Marc's sister & brother-in-law's house (Melisa & Paul) for dinner and so Marc could play with some of his cousins. They live in the country so Marc had a lot of room to run and play outside. He had a lot of fun, he isn't used to the amount of space to run free.and Samantha had fun playing with their Fridge Phonics letters.

Day 4: Fort Smith, AR 5/26/09

Last night samantha was sitting on Marc's Elmo Suitcase (which is about 4-6 inches from the ground). Next thing we all knew she was face first on the floor screaming. After a few minutes she settled down, played, and went to bed for the night. This morning about 7:30 we got up and got ready to go down and gey breakfast. She was completely lathargic, her eyes were kind of glazed over, and she had a few dry heaves. We called our doctor's office back in MI and they said those were signs of a concussion and that we needed to take her to the ER or Med Center. Our hotel is right across the street from a hospital so we took her to that ER. After 1 agonzining hour of waiting, the doctor finally came in and examined her. He said she had no obvious signs of a concussion, so he suggested we take her back to the hotle and keep an eye on her. While we were waiting for the doctor, we had to fight to keep her awake. the doctor told us that she would be fine to fall asleep...so we let her. We got the discharge orders and came back to the hotel. My father-in-law was here with Marc and he wanted to cuddle Samantha. While Marc Sr hel Samantha, Marc Jr got her some milk (we did not eat before we went to the ER). As soon as she saw the cup of milk she perked up. She slept for about 10-15 mnutes between the time in thed Er and the ride home. Within 10 minutes of getting back in the hotel room she was sitting in the high chair eating fruit loops and drinking her milk, back to normal, happy as can be. She has been fine ever since. Needless to sat, we took it pretty easy and slow the rest of the day.
We think we figured out that our ER health deductible is $500 so we decided that she has a "$500 ankle bracelet".

Day 3: Fort Smith, AR 5/25/09

We left Kansas City about 11:00 this morning. We drove the final 4 1/2 hours to Fort Smith, AR and arrived around 4:30 after a few stops along the way. We told immediate family that we would be at the hotel and "accepting guests" after 5:30. We have a room full! Here are some pictures of the kids with various family members.

Samantha with BumpaSamantha with Grandma PearlSamantha with Grandma DebbieMarc with cousin ParkerSamantha with cousin ParkerSamantha with Aunt MisseyMarc with Bumpa (Grandpa)Samantha with Cousin AceleySamantha with Uncle Paul

Day 2: Kansas City, MO 5/24/09

We started out today at the zoo. The weather was warm, sunny, and muggy. The zoo prides themselves on giving the animals large habitats to roam in. Since the animals have large habitats, that means lots of walking for us. It was a very nice zoo. It was divided into 2 different sections; Africa and other. We started in Africa, which is a mile walking tour. We took a tram over to Africa.We sat down to rest for awhile about half-way through Africa. Samantha fell asleep at some point in Africa.

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We only did Africa because we were hot and tired.
Marc was getting a little bored walking around looking at animals so we decided to try finding characters from his favotire movies. We found characters from the Lion King and Madagascar movies. We found from Lion King: Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumba, and Rafiki. From Madagascar we found: Marty, Gloria, Alex, Melvin, King Julian.
This is a picture of the kids on Gloria.This is a picture of marc with King Julian.After the zoo we had lunch at Fiorello's Jack Stack House. It had the best smoked ham, sausage, and turkey that we have ever had. it was yummy!
After lunch we headed to Union Station.
Union Station was huge!!Included in Union Station were the typical shops and restaurants along with a science museum, a theater/movie screen, a big train set to look at......a room for a traveling exhibit. Right now it is Narnia; The Exhibition. It was full of props from the movie. It took us about 45 minutes to go through the exhibit. We were not allowed to take pictures in the exhibit hall so the only picture we got was at the front gate.Outside of Union Station there was "Celebration at the Station", a celebration for memorial Day. The local Symphony Orchestra was performing so there was an instrument petter zoo. Marc walked over and immedicately found the percussion instruments.For dinner we went to the T-Rex cafe. This is a theme restaurant like Rain Forrest Cafe only with a dinosaur theme. There were anamintronic dinosaurs around each table. The food was so-so, and expensive, but we were paying for the experience. It was pretty fun.Part of the Celebration at the Station there were fireworks. Our hotel was about 2 blocks from Union Station so we were able to watch the fireworks from the parking lot of our hotel.
All-in-all, it was a good day.