Road Trip

As summer is coming to a close, I felt the need to do something different and vacation-like before going back to work. The thing that I most wanted to do (and could afford) was go and see old friends back in Cabot and Little Rock. I decided to embark on a road trip last week with the three kids all by myself, as Stuart still had to stay in Bentonville for work.

We took one bag of pool gear and one bag for the hotel, and that's it! I wanted to pack light, so that I could manage to get it all into the hotel on my own, especially if a certain 2 year old decided to have a tantrum! We left Wednesday morning and returned Thursday night, and we were able to stay at a hotel in Little Rock for FREE with some hotel points we had accumulated. All of our meals were with friends, so gas was the only expense.

This was a trial run of how far I could travel alone with Arden since I've never driven with her out of town by myself. She is normally a terrible traveler who never sleeps in the car and cries/screams for much of the long drive. Amazingly enough, she did GREAT on the trip and was only mildly fussy for short periods on the three hour drive down. We arrived at noon with a picnic lunch in the van that I had brought with us and went to Splash Zone in Jacksonville to meet friends. We ate our lunch at the park next door (though the kids were too excited to eat anything!) and went swimming with the Burlesons and the Hollaways. The kids had so much fun returning to their favorite Cabot area water activity. We have so many great memories there!

Then we drove up the highway to Cabot and briefly stopped by our old house and neighborhood as well as Owen's old school. It was bittersweet to see our old life. I remembered taking Owen to his first day of kindergarten there and bringing Hudson and Arden home from the hospital. I remembered that those were my main years of being a stay-at-home mom, and how different (but good) my life is now. We spontaneously dropped by the Vances and visited with Angie and her boys for about 45 minutes before heading to the McElroys where we were spending the rest of the evening.

I had such a good time visiting with one of my best friends from Cabot, Kristy McElroy, who is pregnant with baby #4 in October!! Our children are all friends and close in age, and the boys had fun swimming for a second time that day in their backyard pool after we ate a pizza dinner. Our brief visit was over much too soon when it was time to make the drive into Little Rock to check into our hotel.

We arrived at 9 p.m. in our hotel, and Arden hadn't had a nap all day. The kids loved the hotel, although Arden was very scared to ride the glass elevator to our room on the 9th floor, and we had to force her to get in the elevator everytime we rode it. Amazingly enough, the kids obeyed so well, and we all fell asleep very quickly, with Arden sharing a bed with me and not a crib. She didn't fall out of the hotel bed (which is another first!) and slept well all night, except for the fact that she kept kicking me in the head!

We ate a big breakfast which was included with our stay at the hotel, then we loaded up our luggage to check out. The only glitch in my trip was that when we tried to get into our van on Thursday morning, the car battery was DEAD! So, I went into the hotel to see if they would let me back in my room and found out that a hotel employee could jump start it for me, so I wouldn't have to wait for roadside assistance to come. Luckily, the car started quickly, and there wasn't any other more significant problem with the van. I had initially feared that I would have to get it towed to the dealership and be stranded in the hotel for another night while my car was being repaired. We then set off to hit Mardel's since we don't have one in my area, and I got some great posters and items to decorate my classroom. The kids twisted my arm to get each of them a Webkins, which I probably gave into since I was just so happy and thankful that my vehicle was running again!

Finally, we drove to Maumelle around 10:30 and spent the next few hours with long-time friend Christine Franklin and her kids. The kids loved playing in their big backyard and playing "hide and seek." We ate lunch with Christine, and her "rainbow popsicles" were a big hit; my kids are still talking about them! We left Little Rock around 2:00, so we would be home by dinner.

The kids all crashed and slept for much of the three hour drive home, and Arden didn't wake up until we were in Springdale! It was a very fun and enjoyable trip, and it has given me more confidence to do it again now that my children are getting older. I didn't realize how much I had missed my old friends, and I know that I need to see them more often.

I love where I live now, but I love where I moved from, and I will always enjoy returning to see my old "home."