Vacation Day 7: Church and AQ Chicken House

This morning we got up and went to church at St. Bernard’s (pronounced Saint Burrr-nerds). The boys did a really good job being quiet (though they moved a lot)! It was nice. The parishioner behind us told us at the end of Mass that our boys were very well behaved and that we were doing a good job. That was really nice to hear. http://www.stbernardbellavista.org/

St. Bernard of Clairveaux, Bella Vista, AR

After Mass, we had donuts in the Parish Hall. There was a lot to choose from – Aiden picked a brownie and a ginger cookie. They even had chocolate milk for the kids. Vavo said they have that every Sunday. We got to meet some of Vavo and Vavu’s friends that we’ve heard about, so that was nice to put faces to names. Everyone was really friendly and we felt very welcomed.

After we got home, Vavu made eggs and biscuits and gravy for breakfast (yum)! We were so stuffed after that, we were all lazing around on the couches!

Maria had been antsy to get out on her own and go shopping and get some STARBUCKS, so Vavu and Vavo let her borrow the car in the afternoon to drive to the “nice” Wal-Mart in Lowell. Maria’s not very fond of Wal-Mart in general, but don’t tell anyone in Arkansas! The “home base” for Wal-Mart is in Bentonville, AR, about 20 minutes from Vavo and Vavu’s house. There’s a Wal-Mart museum here, a Wal-Mart visitor’s center, and the Walton name is everywhere and they own so many business here – even the bank! The Wal-Mart was actually very nice (ahem for a Wal-Mart *cough, cough* ahem....). Maria felt happy to be out on her own for a bit – a little independence. And she finally got her Starbucks....ahhhhh. A Venti Orange Mocha Frappucino. Oh, the joy.

Maria came home with a couple new toys for the kids, and a new Spiderman suit for Aiden (on clearance leftover from Halloween), so he can wear it at Universal Studios. She also bought him a kid’s Spiderman Digital Camera so he can take pictures on our trips. So look forward to some pictures by Aiden soon!

We watched some more home movies and recorded them to digital format during naps. We are into 1964 now, and almost halfway through transferring the movies. It’s so weird to see everyone in those classic cars, but it’s their everyday vehicles!

In the evening, we went out to a local favorite – AQ’s Chicken House. It was so nice, because we went “late” for around here (7pm). So we practically had the whole restaurant to ourselves. And from what we hear, it’s usually quite crowded. They make homestyle fried chicken, which is what they are famous for. It was excellent, with excellent service (as usual around here). They have pictures of President Clinton hanging on the walls everywhere during his various visits to the restaurant (he’s from Arkansas). On the way out, we signed the guestbook – it was huge!

The photo of President Clinton at AQ's Chicken House

Guest Register at AQ's

------------------------------------------
The best part of day 7 was the dinner at AQ’s and of course the Starbucks!!!
The worst part of day 7 was not being able to buy lots of stuff at WalMart cuz we’re trying to save our $$$ for DisneyWorld.
What we learned on day 7 was not all WalMarts are bad.
The weather on day 7 was really nice, sunny and mild.