Jared's training in Springfield was from 8-5:00 on both July 5th and 6th. We only had the one rental car, which my name was not on, so besides dropping Jared off, going to Wendy's a block and a half away from the hotel for lunch (it was really hot, otherwise we would have walked), and picking Jared up, we pretty much stayed at the hotel. There was a pool and TV. We put Rachel in the bathroom for her morning nap and then watched the TV very quietly. Then when she woke up, we went swimming until lunch. Then it was time for afternoon naps and only a little bit of play time before going to pick Jared up. The girls and I had a good time.
I would have had more fun, however, if I hadn't gotten bug bites in the hotel. I woke up the first morning with three bites, two of which were on my fingers. Then I napped in the afternoon with the girls and got three more. I told the front desk, and they said they would search our room for bugs. Nothing was found. I should have asked for another room, but I didn't.
We went to Walmart to get hydrocortisone cream. Allie sat on the Mickey mouse toy and loved it.
The second night's rest was miserable and wasn't really a rest at all. I hardly slept. Between my itchy, aching bites and the fear of new bites, I couldn't sleep. Just before going to bed, I realized that the two bites on my fingers were turning purple in the center. An hour later, the purple had already grown. I was a little nervous. I knew I needed to go to urgent care the next morning. So after dropping off Jared, we ventured to fine an urgent care, where I received prescriptions for an allergic reaction to my 8 bites in total (I had received two the second night) and an antibiotic for my two bites that had gotten infected.
The two bites that got infected.
Another view. It is hard to tell, but my hand was super swollen. I couldn't see the tendons at all.
One of my bites was on my eye lid. (This was the morning after not getting much sleep. Not the prettiest.)
When Jared had told people at his training that his family was here, several told him we should go to Bass Pro Shops. We didn't get it. Why would Bass Pro Shops be such an attraction for kids? Then a man at Wendy's told me that we should go there, too, and explained that they have fish in aquariums and other fun things for kids to see. So, we decided to check it out. We were so glad that we did. It really was a fun place that the kids loved. And, it was air conditioned!
Sitting with Grandpa Bear on the way in. Allie really loved him.
We chuckled about the words over the entry.
There was a crocodile (or alligator?) there. He sat so still that he looked fake. There are stuffed animals all over the place, too, so we weren't sure whether he was alive or not. But seeing a sign that said not to throw coins in the water because it would disturb the crocodile tipped us off that he was alive.
Allie found a raccoon!
Both girls enjoyed looking in the various aquariums.
She was a little nervous to look away from the bear.
We had to take a minute to let the girls ride the ATVs. They thought they were cool.
I love Rachel's face in this one. "Please let me get away with getting on!"
Gars
This turtle was huge, though the picture doesn't capture his size well.
Both girls enjoyed looking at the little turtles.
And a huge bear!
"Woof, Woof" sounds came from Rachel when she saw this wolf.
Another aquarium
Another picture of a gar
When we went back to the crocodile, he had moved - definitely alive.
Allie really didn't want to leave, so we used Grandpa Bear as motivation to go outside.
We then went to dinner at a very yummy restaurant and had little cheesecake shooters for Rachel's birthday. It was late, so we didn't get to do much for her other than the dessert. We did a little more the next day at home.
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