It was a nine hour drive there, but on the way we crashed overnight at Hannah's pad at Aggieland. Her roommates were already gone for spring break so we spread out air mattresses, cots, pallets, and a pack N play to squeeze all nine of us into her little apartment. The second days drive was only 6.5 hours and it went by pretty quickly catching up with Hannah. Roman is an excellent car rider as long as we can all listen to Baby Signing Time CDs on repeat for ever. He doesn't sleep much or well, but he's happy and strapped in(translation = not getting into trouble.)
The first full day of vacation, we drove a couple hours away to check out a Benedictine Abbey in Subiaco. We went to Mass, met some parishioners (one from Texas!) and spoke with a monk for a while. We snapped a couple pictures and popped into the gift shop for homemade hot sauce that the monks make and sell. We headed back after a picnic lunch in order to catch a reservation at Delucas for three pizza doughs with no table. At this restaurant, they only take reservations for the dough, not the tables, so we had to get there earlier than our reservation and wait an hour or more for a table to eat the pizza at. It was so very worth it. It was amazing. Our waiter was energetic and fun, and a little eccentric. The owner came to our table and brought us free lasagna rolls and garlic bread as an apology for our wait. The lasagna rolls were the absolute best.
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| Subiaco Abbey |
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| Waiting for the table... |
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| He was a trooper despite two days of no naps, but he had to stay in the baby carrier. No highchair would've worked. So I ate with him tucked in here nice and comfy. |
Day two was the botanical gardens (see below for more info). We went to Bathhouse Brewery and had another huge wait for a table. The restaurants are all very small there and apparently can't handle the visiting population. Again the food was great, though not to top Delucas.
Day three the girls and I went to the oldest, continuous running bathhouse in Hot Springs called the Buckstaff Bathhouse. We arrived at 7:30am. The line was already growing and the place didn't open the doors until 8am. Hannah held down the fort while Genna and I got coffees. In the end the line was just long enough for us to walk to get coffees, bring them back and drink them before it was time to check in and fill out release forms. However, that was only the beginning of our wait. Once upstairs you are changed and put in another waiting room for several hours. One by one we were eventually led into the back and experienced the old style baths minus the cold needle shower at the end. (They no longer offer it since COVID, but I didn't find out why.) Included was a mineral water tub soak, a hot towel wrap (plus a cold one for your face), a sitz bath, and a steam shower in a metal box with a hole for your head.
Day four was the final day and the day many had been waiting for...the pontoon rental! It was an overcast and chilly day. The oldest 5 kids loved it, but Roman and Bob were off and on. Bob just got upset a couple of times about silly things, but overall enjoyed it. Roman did not like going fast and was screaming during those parts. He did like listening to music and being able to walk around with me holding onto his life jacket handle. He also liked getting to "drive." It was a four hour trip and we had no major disasters, so I guess it was a success. Technically. Though it didn't feel like it for me most of the time since I was on Roman duty the majority of it.
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| I let go of him for 1.5 seconds to snap this picture and everyone gasped. |
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| One of Bob's pouting periods |
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| Roman and I got in some good walks with bird watching and learning a few of the native trees and bushes with the help of Google Image. |
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| Off the back porch/deck of our AirBnB: Ducks, geese, turtles and all kinds of birds. I love just walking out my back door and seeing all kinds of wildlife. |
Isaac needed to do some school work and Roman needed a good nap after many missed ones since he barely sleeps in the car. So I stayed home with them on Day 2, and the rest of the crew went to the botanical gardens in the area. This was the highlight for a couple of the kids which surprised me.
