Country Mice

When you live in Northwest Arkansas and you have a child or children, Branson, MO becomes a vacation destination by virtue of convenience.  Long car rides with kids are not fun and flying with kids is not cheap.

We like to visit Silver Dollar City in the fall when the summer heat has faded and leaves are gorgeous throughout the Ozark mountains.  We return year after  year to enjoy the hike through the park-it's uphill both ways to everywhere.  So we pack up Eva in our handy dandy osprey poco pack.  If you have a little one and plan to do some hiking, I highly recommend this pack.  It's adjustable in 100 different ways and fits both Daniel and me comfortably.  AND it's built in such a way as to provide an air gap between the adult and child.  That air gap is priceless.

Don't you hate it when kids won't make nice faces for the camera?
And BAM that's all of our pictures from the park.  I don't know how this happens. Summary: we ate a lot; it was pretty; we watched a western show; we walked a lot; and Eva loved soaking it all in.  

After our day at the park, we met up with my parents for breakfast.  These pictures are very telling.  Eva loves her Dedu and loves her coffee.

During our travels, we used priceline to find a good deal on a hotel.  We stayed at a schwanky hotel downtown KC area for super cheap.  We circled the hotel and pulled up to the entrance only to learn that they don't have a parking lot.  They only have valet. We're not valet people.  We were dressed like hobos.  Our car was packed enough to make a hoarder proud and was an aromatic medley of baby food, peed on pants, and garlic hummus.  

We grabbed our stuff and scrambled inside as a line had formed behind us.  Daniel carried all our weekend luggage.  I carried Eva, her diaper bag, and a torn open bag of diapers but managed to forget Eva's baby food in the car.

So Daniel went back down to retrieve it from the car in our crunchy paper bag from our local food coop.  In the lobby, a woman spied Daniel and said loudly to her husband, "I didn't realize this place was that casual."  We represented rural Arkansas well.  


The hotel had a lovely European style breakfast buffet with smoked salmon and complimentary cappuccinos.  Eva loved it.  She's definitely a high society girl.

It's amazing that after just two nights away, we were so thankful to go back home. We're even thankful for our weekly commute into town.  Mornings are so lovely when the fog rolls through the valleys.


Living in the country is the way to go.