Little Rock

We had such a great time in Little Rock this year.  Every year it gets a little easier to travel with the kids and with naps not being a requirement anymore, we had more time for activities.  We also took advantage of the hospitality offered by Brenda & Michael again and stayed at their house.  Was nice to be able to put the kids to bed and then stay up talking a bit with them.  We got to see Erin & Corey on Friday evening but I forgot to take any pictures.  Oh well - next time!

The other nice thing this year was that Janae wasn't as shy. This is her giving Grandma Great a hug the first time we saw her.

Brenda brought a lot of books & toys from her school to share with the girls.  We read every book at least once & loved the variety of toys she had. :)

We went to the Greek Festival on Sunday with Brenda & Michael.  We ate lunch, watched some Greek dancers and got a tour of their church.  Brenda & Michael got some tickets for the kids to ride some of the rides too.  Lana REALLY wanted to go on this ride.  It basically spins around & around in circles... she's not our dare-devil & I wasn't surprised when she only made it for a minute on this ride before screaming to get off.

Janae was too little to ride this ride so they just let the kids (her and a 2 year old) rock back & forth - although I think she would've done just fine if she'd been able to go 360 degrees.

After hitting the bounce house with the last of our tickets, Janae finished up her blue Icee to help her cool down.  The girls were also treated to marionette puppets (a cat for Lana & a dog for Janae) from Brenda & Michael. :)

Grandma Great reading a story to Janae.

We decided to go to Crater of Diamonds State Park on this trip.  It is about an hour & a half south west of Little Rock and is an actual diamond "mine" where you can search for diamonds & gem stones.  This is a shot from the deck of the Visitor's Center.  The dirt is the area where you can search.

The girls all ready for their adventure

Lana digging for diamonds.  We found out later that the best way to search for diamonds was to walk back & forth while keeping your eyes on the ground. Apparently the diamonds work their way to the surface and you can see them glimmering in the sun.  (No, we did not find any diamonds.)

The girls found loads of fun rocks though.  Janae kept having my take pictures of all the rocks she found.  This is 1 of maybe 20 pictures I took of some of the pretty rocks she discovered.  :)

A satisfied, hot customer!

The girls. :)

Brenda & Michael were so wonderful.  We were well-fed, well-entertained & well-loved on our trip.  Thank you so much for your hospitality!