Ice? We don't need no stinkin' ice

We may or may not get ice today, tonight, and tomorrow. Lovely.

Dear City of Little Rock,

I have a bone to pick with you. The husband and I drove around over the weekend and we saw a lot of low hanging branches and lines tangling in wires in Hillcrest and the area near Stifft Station.
Several years ago we were living in an apartment. Unfortunately this apartment was on a hill. Well more like a mountain area. Anyway, when the major ice storm of 2000 came through we got the brunt of it. The trees knocked out lines all up and down the area. We were trapped on this very icy hill with no power or heat for days. After the ice went away we waited even longer for power due to the downed lines. With 2 young children (a 3 yr old and a very young baby born in Oct., this was December). Not fun. I am not even mentioning the fiasco the night of the storm.

Ok, I lied. I will. Picture this. Christmas night. We had just drove back from visiting with the inlaws. There wasn't ice at their house and we just hit the storm somewhere around Cantrell Rd. The husband drove up to our apartment just after the ice really started accumulating. Being a man, he didn't listen to me when I told him not to go back down the steepest part of the hill to look for a better parking spot. He pulled into the 2nd lot behind our patio. The apartments were set up like tiers and each had a front and back lot.

Anyway, so he pulls into the second lot. Just then the vehicle started to slide sideways and slid to a stop near the concrete embankment leading down to the second row of buildings.
We ended up having to bail out of the (still creakily sliding) van. The ground was too slippery to walk on so we had to put make our way uphill across the sloping lot by scooting on our behinds alternating with stepping on a handmade knitted baby blanket that thankfully stuck to the ice quite well.
Oh and guy in one of the townhouses, I appreciate your concern when you asked if we were ok but sliding across the lot on my behind (in a flimsy skirt and heels!) probably means there was an issue.

Travel Deals

My husband and I like to take weekend trips. We especially enjoyed staying at Wildwood, a bed and breakfast inn in Hot Springs, AR. The hosts were very accommodating and helped me plan a very special surprise birthday vacation for my husband. Another b&b that looks fun is Prospect Place. Do you like to travel? Well now I am offering you, my readers, a special discount offer good on travel through BedandBreakfast.com. Buy for yourself or give as a gift.

Save 10% on The Getaway Gift Card from BedandBreakfast.com
(Click on link above)

Make a gift card purchase of $150 or more

Complete order by midnight December 15

Enter reward code: TRAVELGIFT10 at checkout (reward code is case sensitive) This is a special code!

Hot Springs Part 1

My hubby, the kids, and I went to Hot Springs, AR over the summer.

A Little History

Hot Springs is an old spa city and one of the first national parks. The first bath house was built by John C. Hale in 1854. It has quite a colorful history having been a favorite of several gangsters and presidents in the late 1800's to mid 1900's.
Some of these were Frank and Jesse James, Al Capone and other mobsters from Chicago and NY, Harry Truman, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Babe Ruth. Owney Madden the proprietor of the Cotton Club in Harlem retired here, Billy Bob Thornton frequented Oaklawn (the race track), and Hot Springs is also the boyhood home of former president Bill Clinton.

The Scout Trip
This time we didn't hit any of the spas. I had gone there with my Girl Scout troop in the spring and we camped at a girl scout camp, took a yoga and Zumba class, and toured the Bathhouse Row Visitor's Center located in the Fordyce Bathhouse. Our troop took a tour and watched a movie.
One of the things the vistor's center and movie touches on is the role of African Americans in the bathing industry. Our troop was primarily AA and this little known part of history was of interest to some of them.

Another place we visited on our Girl Scout trip was the Nurture Day Spa and Yoga Studio. Our girls took Zumba, a fitness program inspired by Latin dance, and wound down (several girls even fell asleep during the relaxation part!) with a Yoga class. The instructors were very welcoming and I think the girls had a lot of fun. I did the Zumba class and was able to sneak a facial in as well ;)



The girls had a "spa" day at the campground. Here are Monkey and Frog w/their face masques. I won't post any pics of the rest, most are middle schoolers this year and may be traumatized. Disclaimer: Monkey is too but I am allowed to traumatize her!

Rotation

Ok there are some tornado rotations going on. Likely in the area my mom and the kids are. I am hoping they are going to go into the campsite bathrooms. I still can't get her on the phone.

Traveling

Apparently my procrastination seeps over to my journal also. I was never good at keeping a diary. I started one several times in my preteen and teen years only to put it down one day and never pick it up again.

We have started a new tradition in our family. The husband and I like to travel a bit, mostly locally because gas prices are obscene. Well I have been using a notebook that I won in a contest (along w/ a ton of other things) as a travel notebook so the kids can read about where we went. They usually are with grandparents during our trips. Unless they are going with me (recent Chicago trip). We just had a family vacation though. To Hot Springs, AR. We stayed at a KOA and "roughed it" in a tent. Ok, ok, I admit the KOA had a pool, a store, a game room, kid activities,etc.

Unfortunately we didn't get a spa trip in but we did go to the amusement/water park, out to eat a lot (yay restaurant.com! cheap eats!), did lots of swimming, played mini golf, looked around downtown, etc. etc.