North Dekota

On our last day we went the 3.5 hours to North Dekota and returned another 3.5 hours. We went to see the Roger Maris exhibit. It is in a mall and free. It has all his artifacts and a long video about his life. The kids were a big baseballed out so we did not stay too long after all that travel. We than went to play Laser tag which was won by Abba and than to the batting cages.  We came back in time for mincha/marriv, swimming and packing

Postville and Minnesota

We started off early at minyan and took our time for breakfast. We entered the Agri Star Shichita plant at 11am for a tour. It was very interesting. We saw how animals are Shechted, melicha is done, hotdogs, brisket etc are made. 

We drove for almost 4 hrs to Minneapolis and went to the mall of america. Eli went on a ride and the boys bought games and books. We went out to eat at prime deli and finished the day with davening and swimming 

Tagging Butterflies and Making Blue Cheese

We left the Rockoff family after Shacharit and drove 4 hours to Iowa. We first went to tag monarch butterflies. We caught a few butterflies but no monarchs. Good thing the guy who led the event brought his own. Afterwards we drove 3.5 hours to Maytag farms and learned all about how to make cheese especially blue cheese. Too bad it is not kosher. We drove another 3 hours to postville and are now ready for shechita plant tomorrow.

Harley- Davidson- Hallmark- Swimming and off to the Royals game

We started the day at Minyan in the school. We davened right next to the co-ed minyan which was in the next room but we can hear it through the walls. The kids got a kick out of hearing them daven in English. We went from there to the Harley-Davidson tour. Eli and Ephy were not allowed on. It is a very strict tour. I think the kids just liked sitting on the motorcycles.  I would not truly recommend it for kids. We went from there to Hallmark. They got to color and draw their own cards or puzzles and than we went to the hallmark museum. Not so great for my age kids, much better for younger ones.
Finally we came back to the Rockoff home for swimming and are soon going to be heading off for the Royal game.

St Louis and Kc

We  woke up early today and went to minyan with Rich. Debra went shopping and got breakfast. We went to the lemonade stand and than to the city museum. It was a great museum. Lots of slide and climbing including a 10 story slide which the kids made me do twice once really hurting my knees. We all conquered the 10 ft American Ninja wall, played pinball and say on crazy chairs. It is great fun. We took s long drive to KC and went to the negro leagues hall of fame. It is ok not that it is poorly done but there is not a lot of stuff there. We finally ate by the Rockoffs a great meal, davened and the boys went swimming in the Rockoff pool. 

Shabbos was really nice. We ate at the shul which is very kiruv oriented and I spoke at SS.

Motzei Shabbos
The best Custerd ever- the lines outside this place are unreal. With the Woolf family- Mindy Rich, Corey and Even

The Arch

Friday was a big drive day to St. Louis to spend Shabbos with the Woolf family. We drove stright from Little Rock and got to Arch. Ephy's ears were hurting so he did not go up and neither did Debra. The rest of us went into that egg like car and went to the top of the Arch. It is not scary but the car is not meant for tall people. The movie of the creation of the Arch was boring.

Arkansas Inland Maritime Museum

Thursday ended with our trip on to the USS Razorback. We were the only ones on the tour and the kids has a blast. They asked a million questions to the poor tour guide (he was really eating it up) and they loved it. It was a really full day

Little Rock Old State House

The old state house had all branches of government. Now it is just a museum which you can see how things ran. It also highlighted people from Arkansas in film and bikes. Not sure of the connection between the two. 

Clinton museum

Very nicely done, a real publicity showcase for Clinton. All good is said no bad. It was interesting to see all the things surrounding his presidency. It was the best of the presidential museum that I saw. They also had a dinosaur exhibit, no reason just an exhibit.

Little Rock High School- Where the Civil Rights Movement Took OFF

This is the famous Mobile Station in the pictures across the street from the school. The pictures from the school are on Debra camera and need to be added later

How we slept last night

We got in late last night after minyan at Chabad again here in Little Rock. We found a motel 6 right next to Chabad. Some of us were more comfortable than others

Ice Cream at Baskin Robbins

BB King museum

We went to Mississippi to the BB King Musem. He died this year so it is timely. The kids liked it. None of if are into blues but it was informative

Dinner at Deli very good

Minyan at Chabad of course New Orleans