Wookin' Pa Fun

In all the wrong places...Wookin' Pa Fun... (yep that's right, a direct take-off of the SNL skit "Wookin' Pa Nub" for all you fans out there ;-)

This past week we've been trying our hardest to look for fun things to do....most have been a bust but ironically in our "search for fun" we actually had it.....a lot of it....just pokin' fun at our adventures and making the best of each outing and some interesting folk we met on our journeys. Score!!

So, our first attempt, if I remember correctly could be entitled "The Circus....that wasn't." Trying to thrive on my small inkling of "fly by the seat of your pants" gene, I heard a catchy little commercial on the radio talking of a circus that was in town. Surprisingly enough, the last day it was in town was the ACTUAL day I heard the commercial!

I hurriedly texted John and asked if he was in for some last minute plans that evening. He and I were both game since we had very limited excursions to the circus in our impressionable years. So, Addison and I packed our bags (aka the diaper bag) and headed to pick John up from work at 5:00. We whisked away to a quaint little diner for dinner on a whim.

Side-note: We are fans of the "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" show on Food Network and we keep hoping to come across a treasure like he often visits on the show. However, mostly we just come away with an "experience". But it's all in good fun and good stories.

So here is where we dined:

Check out the sign "Best of Better Foods"....Lol.

Yes, it was indeed pink on the outside.
And the inside was adorned with arrowheads and deer heads.
I just wasn't gutsy enough to bust out the camera.

FOOD: Not bad....not great but not bad.
FOLKS: Very interesting. Most were senior citizens. Those who weren't, were missing at least some of their teeth.
FUN: Yes, most definitely. And raaaatttthhheerrr entertaining.

It didn't take long for Addison to charm the socks off of everyone in the restaurant. Especially a fairly large woman who sat behind us and was missing BOTH of her front teeth. John and I laughed when she ordered her mashed potatoes "dry" even though she'd "rather have the gravy" but then threw in a side order of french fries. Nothing like making those "healthy choices" eh? Two words that should never be paired in the same sentence: "Healthy" and "Diner".

Next, we embarked on our adventure to the big top. Excitement was in the air! After a long winding drive it turns out, our "big top" wasn't quite as big of a top as I had envisioned. In actuality, it was a rusty old barn in the middle of nowhere, with two cowboys suiting up for their performances and no hint of any circus animals in the vicinity.

We stayed long enough to score some "buy-one-get-one" tickets off of yet another toothless friend and then promptly drove away. It was quite a sight to see. I spent the rest of the evening dumbfounded by it all...wondering why in the world they called it a "Circus". All my little girl dreams of clowns and cotton candy that I envisioned earlier that day were crushed in a matter of minutes. Shocking....but entertaining.

_________________________________________________

A few days later: Our next attempt at fun was to the wonderful safari world which also happened to be in a small quaint town a few miles from us. ("Small Towns" <- see a pattern here? ;-) This one actually didn't prove too disappointing.....just a few minor bumps. One being a cute little toddler named Addison who has learned the fine art of whining....even amidst our attempts at having fun. And another being the rain that greeted us as we exited the facilities and bumped us out of the petting zoo. :(

The ticket lady actually commented on our fast driving skills through the park. She must have watched as John was cruising at about 45 mph through the park and taking every corner on two wheels all in an attempt to get a melting down toddler home and grant her parents some reprieve. However, our Nascar reenactment must have struck a sympathy chord with the kind ticket lady. She hooked us up with free admission to come back for the 2nd half of our trip. After all, the petting zoo is what I was most looking forward too! Kangaroos and monkeys folks!

Here's Addison meeting the "Addison sized baby deer".

Later that day we once again headed out on a diner dinner since our last experience was so entertaining. This one however, proved completely NOT. For anyone wanting a recommendation for a great place to eat - I DON'T recommend "Bud's Fried Chicken" in Bentonville. One word: Nasty. The people were somewhat entertaining. Mostly b/c I sat in awe and wondered why exactly they chose to eat here on their own free will. Horrible service, food from a box/mix, and way over priced. Not exactly the happy memory I was hoping for but you live and you learn right? And then you shout it to the rooftops and deter everyone you know from eating there.

So that about sums it up for our attempts at fun lately. Stay tuned for our upcoming outing to the Springdale Rodeo! Bound to bring in some great laughs and memories!