On our way home from the wedding, we took a wide detour home and visited Hot Springs, AR, with my parents and Matt and Kim's family. We figured that the vacation extension would make our long drive a little more worthwhile.
One of the first things we did in Hot Springs was to visit the Mid America Science Museum. It wasn't the largest museum, but the place had some really unique exhibits.
One big highlight was this large TV screen & camera that videoed your movements for roughly 15-20 seconds and then played it back to you backwards and then in super speed time. The kids all pulled out some crazy dance moves (notice a few of them sticking their rear ends at the screen!) and found it just hilarious to watch themselves!
All the exhibits were very hands-on, and many involved working together.
These spinning sand tables had controls (see the tall black tubes) which the kids could use to adjust the speed of the sand table as they made their designs. Very cool!
The boys all spent a LONG time at this "loopy lasso," which only worked if one person was hand-cranking the machine.
The three 6-year-olds spent the LONGEST time (and then returned here again at the end) at this "underground" mining tunnel exhibit. It was basically like a large playplace, only in the dark. I went through one time with Adley and kept getting lost trying to find my way out. The experienced boys had to guide me back out!
Jason discovered a little toddler play zone area for Adley that she really enjoyed.
We attended a special presentation mid-morning in what was called the Tesla Theater. Inside the theater was a conical Tesla Coil, which according to the Guiness Book of World Records is the most powerful one on earth, sending out 1.5 million volts of electricity. This thing was impressive... and loud!!
Cody was even called up on stage to help with one of the presenter's demonstrations.
This large water fountain was also a big hit with all the boys. You could send ping-pong balls down various ramps so that they would enter the fountain and go shooting up into the air. There was even some spots on the second level where you could send the ping-pong balls down some ramps from above.
What a fun morning at the museum! We had talked about visiting a mini-golf course or doing something else outside that evening, but the weather had been rainy and chilly all day. Instead, we reserved the hotel's theater room and watched the movie Small Foot. It felt like we had our own private showing in a real theater.
The next day we went into downtown Hot Springs to tour Bath House Row. This is a series of 8 buildings, all built within the years 1892-1923 to be used as natural bath houses or spas. A couple of these buildings are still working bath houses, but most of them are just historical buildings or museums now. The main museum that we wanted to visit was unfortunately closed due to a stinkin' government shutdown. Realistically, though, the kids likely wouldn't have lasted long in there anyway, so we probably didn't miss too much. Seeing the historic buildings was cool from the outside at least!
At the end of bath house row, we found these public water fountains where we could actually feel the water. It was quite warm! The average water temperature is supposedly 143 degrees F.
We even filled up a couple of water bottles with the hot springs water so we could all taste it. Some local residents were also filling up multiple jugs. They said they use the water all the time for their coffee and regular drinking water.
None of the adults in our family were too impressed with the water's taste, but the kids gave it good reviews!
Our last activity in Hot Springs was going on a hike. The weather was fairly chilly and even a little misty at times, so it wasn't the most ideal hiking weather. Nevertheless, the kids enjoyed climbing, exploring and finding various rocks.
Whew, we made it!
Our time in Hot Springs was a little dampened by the rainy weather and the government shutdown, so we'd love to explore the area again sometime in the future. Overall, though, we still enjoyed all the sites that we saw and time together as a family.
