Arkansas

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Arkansas was a state we were waiting for because it meant we got to see Gaga & Papa!!! We were so excited to get here and meet up with them! Digging for diamonds was the activity we had planned for our short visit and was one we were all excited for :) The drive to meet them was a long one for us, although it wasn't the mileage. It was the crazy, one lane road with a 25mph speed limit and switchbacks galore for 200 MILES that was the cause of our LOOOOOONG day! Fortunately we discovered there were two fun stops along the way...The National Fish Hatchery and The Walmart Museum (who knew this existed?!?!?!) I half expected to find myself on the wall of fame for big spenders (if such a thing existed) between my Walmart and Sam's Club shopping :)

The Walmart Museum turned out to be a really fun place to spend an hour. The history of Mr. Walton was fascinating, all of his original items were really neat, the original 5-10 he started was full of treasures and the original ice cream parlor was the hit in this family! Dirt cheap, delicious ice cream overflowing our cones!

Once we hit Texarkana (Yes...we literally can't get away from Texas...clearly a tribute to how much we love our home state!!), we met up with Gaga & Papa! The kids were thrilled that they had brought their dogs along for the quick trip!!! Not having ours along has been so hard for us, but we know they are in such wonderful places, being loved on so much while they wait for us to get back :) The next morning was the fun we had been waiting for...diamond digging at Crater of Diamonds State Park. The only place where you can keep whatever you find at no charge. We rented our tools and set off. Gaga & I made base camp on a hill out of the mud, while Papa & Craig took the boys into the freshly rained on, mucky hills to find treasure.  Well, sadly 4 hours later we can say we have no more diamonds than the ones my Mom & I came in wearing :) Although someone did find a 1 carat diamond while we were there. We had some seriously muddy boys but lots of smiles and a great memory with Gaga & Papa! This was definitely a quick stop, but one of the BEST ones!