Red Headed Mother: Mother's Day, Three Days Out

I am so excited to start this blog journey. I've always wanted to do this so I thought, let's just do it! I went through a million ideas of what to write about but I love all of my silly little adventures in life so chose to be pretty broad. It will be packed with traveling with toddler experience advice, decorating, organizing, projects and mommy/kiddo fun. Here we go...........

So this was my third Mother's Day as Sam's mom and I swear, they just keep getting cooler and cooler. My boys (Here's a quick snapshot of them baking a pie. It's kind of an old one but there'll be so, so many more :)) surprised me with an overnight trip to Eureka Springs.

I LOVE Eureka Springs! This is where Jeff asked me to marry him. Where Sam slept in his pack-and-play during his first full night away from home. And where I instantly think of, when I just want to get away!

The Blarney Stone Patio

We spent Saturday shopping, eating and relaxing. We had lunch at The Blarney Stone Irish Pub which is great in the daytime because it's pretty empty at lunch. Only because of it's location farther up on Main St., NOT because of the quality of the food! Inside, there are couches and a window that overlooks the bluff that the restaurant is built into so the littles will be able to make some noise and look up at the hillside. Outside there's a gorgeous patio. Also great for littles because they CAN'T get away!

I found a great sun catcher, some beautiful citrine and amethyst, a groovy zombie wind thingie, and Sam got a pirate flag. His stroller was immediately made exponentially cooler! In this picture, we're right in front of one of my favorite shops, IrisAtTheBasinPark. LOTS (breakable) to look at here so keep the kiddos close. Better yet, let them play in the Basin Spring Park with Daddy.

They can get ice cream, or homemade peanut butter cups, or a drink right across the street.

Basin Spring Park-Eureka Springs

Umbrella Stroller

Eureka Springs is not a stroller town in general so I would recommend packing the smaller $25 cheapie! This is ours, we love it. Get it HERE!

And plan to leave it outside at lots of shops, they're small. It's much easier to carry the littles through these stores anyway so you can control "I want to touch everything" hands.

New Delhi Patio

Mid afternoon, Sam needed a break so we stopped in to the New Delhi Café for a drink. It's a really cool little spot with lots of patio space, giant Taj Mahal beers for mom and dad, and a spring dripping out of the patio wall which coupled with the fact that we were eating outside and there were flowers and plants everywhere, was fascinating to my curious 2 1/2 year old! We didn't eat this time because it was too close to dinner but when you visit, be sure that whatever you order has their coriander chutney on it. SOOOO Good.

After lots of walking and playing, we settled into Casa Colina for dinner. I would ONLY recommend eating here if your kiddos are over 6-7 years old. The food is spectacular but the all patio , high on a hill restaurant design made the staff very nervous no matter what I did, or how or where I sat Sam. We were told 4 or 5 times to move him around. If you do go, get the Flamada!

We stayed at the Grand Central Hotel and Spa. They are very accommodating and totally child friendly.

Grand Central Hotel-Eureka Springs

We stayed in room 205, which I highly recommend if you have kiddos because there's a separate bedroom for talking...and drinking wine.....after the little ones are asleep. I meant to take pictures but just forgot in the sleepy haze of the next morning. Unfortunately, Sam's allergies were a giant pain for him and he woke up coughing his little head off. Mommy sat up with him a good chunk of the night which wasn't ideal but the cuddles were yummy.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at the Mud Street Cafe. You seriously need to check this place out if you travel to Eureka Springs.

The Greek omelette is too die for, the Mud Street dark roast was a much needed and very delicious caffeine jolt, AND it was Mother's Day so Sam and I "shared" a treat. You moms know why the shared is flanked by quote marks.