This past weekend, we packed up the kids and headed for northwest Arkansas. Brian has spent quite a bit of time there over the past four years, so we thought we would go check it out before we were too far for it to make sense for us to visit. We were fortunate to have points for the Embassy Suites, so we could stay for free. The kids had fun riding the bell hop cart, swimming in the pool, riding the elevator and eating the yummy food at breakfast. But I think their favorite part was looking down at the atrium from the floor that we were staying on. We were on the 8th of 9 floors. When we walked into the hotel, one of the first things that Nicole said was, "this sure is a beautiful hotel!"

Here are the kids riding on the cart as we are taking our things out to the car, leaving the hotel.

On Saturday morning we drove into downtown Bentonville which is where the head quarters for Wal-mart are. We went to the Wal-mart visitor center which is located in the original store that was purchased by Sam Walton and his wife. It was a Ben Franklin franchise and was called the Walton 5 & 10. It was interesting to see and read about the history of the store and how things have evolved into what they are today. I didn't get to read as much as I would have liked because it was hard to keep the kids interested, but they liked seeing some of the things that were in there. Sam Walton's truck is located inside and Jeremy thought that was neat. Then we walked around the park that is in the middle of the square. As you can see in the picture above there is a fountain in the center of the park with a statue. The statue is a memorial to the men who fought in the civil war. I guess I need to read up on my Cival War history because I didn't realize that there were battlefields in Arkansas and parks that memorialize them. In this square there were people out selling things. Anything from fruits and vegetables to wood cutting boards, purses, scarfs, etc. It was fun to walk around and look. We did buy a wooden cutting board in the shape of Oklahoma and they drilled out a spot and marked where Tulsa is with a small peg of black walnut wood. It is kind of neat.

After visiting the Wal-mart visitor center and getting some lunch, we tried our hand at miniature golf. It was really hot, so we kind of ran through the course, but the kids had fun. I think Max really enjoyed himself. He was glad that he didn't have to sit in his car seat or his stroller for a while. (I had a picture of Nicole playing too, but I accidently deleted it from this spot, and I can't get it back here. Sorry Nicole).

Here is Max trying to hit the ball down to the hole. He liked to pick up the ball and try to throw it into the hole.

At the same place we played miniature golf, they had a mechanical bull ride. The kids really wanted to do it, so we gave in and let them try. They had a lot of fun. Brian even got in on the action. Max got to sit on it, but it was not moving when he did.

Back at home, Max has decided that he needs to feed himself. Most of the time he does pretty well, but tonight we had spaghetti, so he made quite a mess. He is getting so grown up I can't believe it. I am trying to get him to say some words, but so far all he says is ma ma, da da, and ahh.

We still have not had any offers on the house. Someone came and looked at it on Saturday and our realtor talked to their realtor and it sounds like they are trying to decide between two houses. Hopefully they will choose the right one and we can begin really shopping for our new house and get moved to Houston. Brian is starting down there this week. He will be back and forth until we get moved. We thought that he might be able to be here more than there until we move, but it appears that there are a lot of things to be done in that neck of the woods, so until we are able to move, we might not get to see as much of him as we would like, but we know this is a temporary situation and we will be glad when we can all be in the same place again.

I hope everyone is well. We will keep you updated with news on the move and other things that are happening with our family. Take care!

Love, Jeri