Spring Break - Day 3 {Little Rock and Hot Springs}

Sunrise over the Mississippi

Be still my heart! ♥
After watching the sunrise, we had breakfast and prayed together before heading south to Little Rock.

Thankful for technology.  Worshiping with our church family via live-streaming on Alex's phone as we are driving down the highway. 

I love the close relationships our girls have with each other.

A sweet moment caught by Braylee

Looking extra cute

Another sweet moment caught by Braylee.

As we were walking down to the River Market area, Brynna saw a used bookstore with a sign that read "Books & Gifts." She said, "Oh we should go there! I love books!" Without missing a beat, Brielle said, "And I love gifts!" 😄

Downtown Little Rock at the River Market
We told them about "Calling the Hogs." Sooie!

View from Junction Pedestrian Bridge, built on the rock that gives Little Rock its name.

We found a playground by the river that the girls loved but I don't have a single picture from it. Our favorite memory though was of Beilyn.  She kept going down this long metal tube slide and at one point, I heard Alex say, "She just went head first!" We watched for her to come out the other end. She face planted right into the ground, popped up, announced "Me otay!" and ran up the hill to try it again! 😆 She is resilient!

We are always on the lookout for awesome dessert shops and this one deserves lots of thumbs ups!
Kilwins, downtown Little Rock

The Snapper, as in a giant turtle. It was soooo good!

"Superman" flavored ice cream for my Superman-loving girl

After dessert, we visited the Historic Arkansas Museum. It was similar to Spring Mill's Pioneer Village, but unfortunately, not all of the buildings were open since it was a Sunday.

Then we were off to Hot Springs...

Brynna is my favorite Snapchat filter partner.

Once in Hot Springs, we stopped at the Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo first. It's a little rinky-dink place that opened in 1902. The girls held an alligator for the first time and loved seeing all of the animals, especially the little goats.  You should have seen the girls jump as they were admiring "husky dogs" when Alex said they were actually wolves. 😄

I had to promise Brielle a $1 in order for her to even touch it. She was scared!
Beilyn kept asking, "alligator nice mean? which one?" She decided they are nice.

Bria wasn't scared at all!

This was too sweet.  She offered the little goat a piece of bread. 

When he didn't take it, she decided to eat it herself. 😊

Is this not the cutest thing ever?

Beilyn said she was going to sit right there by this "old one" to help him. ♥

She is such an animal lover. 

Hot Springs National Park is definitely unique compared to the other parks. The park centers around the "bath house row" that was created around natural hot springs. People would travel long distances to stay at these luxurious bath houses for relaxation or healing of arthritis and other ailments.

It was HOT in Hot Springs, hotter than it had been in Little Rock.
There might have been a whine or two about how mom had made them wear jeans. 😉

In front of one of the historic hot springs but our family is so big we are blocking most of it.
I was surprised by how hot the water is!

We toured the Fordyce Bath House which originally opened in 1915 and is now a museum. It was beautiful! I love being able to step back in time and try to imagine what it was really like back then.

The beauty shop in the Fordyce Bath house.

The men's bath house- huge and ornate.  The women's was plain and about 1/4 the size.
It was interesting to read about how the women likely didn't even realize they weren't getting the same accommodations as the men. 

In front of the Fordyce Bath House

We stayed at a KOA that night. We ate dinner outside and walked down to the playground, thinking it was such a leisurely way to end our Sunday evening... until Beilyn decided she needed to pee.  right then. at the playground. pants around her ankles. 😜

I took Beilyn back for a shower and Alex said he witnessed one of the worst displays of basketball he had ever seen. haha!