Fifteen hours in a Suburban with nine people could have been pretty horrible. But I am here to tell you- it can be done! And that it was totally doable! Very little whining, complaining, and almost no fighting. I was impressed. We did have to stop quite a bit thanks to my squished bladder. I was trying so hard to stay hydrated to keep from having contractions that would probably just freak me out, being so far away from home (not that they freak me out when I'm home because they mean nothing), so I just overdid it in the drinking area I think. It all worked out though. I took a few pictures in the car on my phone, but other than that... not much to show for it! I enjoyed listening to everyone play games. Nate made up a few new cool ones that the kids really loved. It was a nice little bonding time. We went west through Wyoming and Nebraska on this drive, trying to kill the boring part of the trip in one day. Some of the highlights: Jack throwing rocks during our lunch stop. We were behind this gas station and there happened to be a lot of rocks. He didn't skip a beat, walked right over to them and started throwing them. He was all dusty and dirty when it was time to go and I don't think he'd eaten much lunch, but it was fun to see him enjoying himself :). Not strapped into his carseat. Singing Eye of the Tiger together in the car :). Everyone. As loud as they could. It was intense :). Lots of fun. We stopped at a cute little pizza place in a city called Ogallala for dinner. That was fun. Pizza was great, even had cream cheese on it! Luke's favorite :). We arrived at our Hampton Inn and Suites, in Omaha, Nebraska at 1:30 am. We were so tired, we all went right to sleep! Go figure.
Friday, July 3, Day 2: We made an executive decision this second day to hold off on driving to Kansas City that day and instead, decided to wait for the Idaho Maynes' to catch up with us. This was a good decision. We were able to relax that day. We went down and had the delicious continental breakfast the hotel provided- probably the best I've ever had! Then went and spent a good couple hours at the pool! The kids loved this, and since the water was way too cold for me and Lullow, I ended up taking WAY TOO MANY pictures :). Lots of fun for everyone :).
Jack sat on the edge, throwing the rings for the big kids to dive for. Pretty fun :).
Once we had swam and showered, we headed on over to the Winter Quarters temple and Visitor's Center. This is where we met up with the Idaho Maynes'! Having been our first visitors center on the trip, the kids REALLY loved it. There was a lot for them to do interactively as well, so that was fun. Sis. Willis, our cute missionary took us through. She went out on a limb and let the kids get dressed up in their pioneer clothes BEFORE starting the tour rather than at the end. They got to pack a little block wagon with all the supplies, noticing that there wasn't much room for toys and such. I couldn't believe there were 12,000 saints in Nauvoo at the time that they were asked to leave. That just seems like so much! We were all overwhelmed with the struggles that occurred there in Winter Quarters. We enjoyed the memorial room that overlooked the cemetery next to the temple. There were 300 graves and over half were children under three! So sad. The kids liked trying out the handcart. Luke liked trying out a skirt. Goof ball.
Then the girls and I got to go to the Winter Quarters temple with Heather, Hannah, Jake and Miles to do baptisms. SO NEAT!!! It's a smaller temple so there were not enough workers there. I got to help with handing the kids their towels when they got out. There were only 10 youth there at the time and it took us 2 hours from start to finish :). Such a neat, peaceful, calm experience. I loved it. We got to listen to the temple president and his wife even in a little devotional before beginning. I love that. They talked about some of the symbolism in the temple. The connection between the square and circle. The stained glass has five different kinds of flowers depicted to represent the five states they traveled through to get to SL. Very cool. I was so glad Heather had made the appointment and had enough family names for Charity and Kelly to do too. What a blessing.
Kelly got this one. I'm kicking myself for not taking a better full shot of this temple! It was beautiful. And so neat with the cemetery right next to it.
While we were in the temple, Nate, Rob and all the littles went up to Council Bluffs to see the visitor's center there. Then got some ice cream :).
They got to play on an old organ while they were there.
We headed back to the hotel for some swimming and Jack was asleep, so I just stayed with him in our room. It was actually a nice relaxing hour or so where I got to just sit :). The kids all had a blast swimming with the ID Maynes'. Then came back and showered again. It was probably midnight before we all were asleep :).
Saturday, July 4, DAY 3:
Got up "early" (meaning 8:00 haha :) ), ate our delicious breakfast again (and said goodbye to our 2 day home/hotel in Omaha). Then we headed out for another day of driving. There were a few different sites to see on this drive, so that was nice.
This is the first state sign I got a picture of. So much for getting all the ones we passed. Oh well.
Our first stop was Liberty Jail. This was way different than I had imagined, but ended up being one of the most memorable parts of our trip. We sat and listened to a 15 minute shpeal from the elderly missionary, and then he walked us into the room that contained the actual jail. I was so surprised to find out it had been almost all original. Sure looked like an awful place to have stayed for so long, but somehow we managed to come out of that room feeling like it was one of the most sacred places Joseph Smith could have been. So weird how the Spirit can do that. He had received so many IMPORTANT revelations while staying there and asking certain questions of the Lord. I find it cool that our Church has turned that place into a beautiful, sacred experience rather than focusing on the hate or anger that could occur when you think about how he was detained unrightfully. I love that.
We ate lunch in the parking lot at the jail while we waited for the Idaho Maynes'. They had stopped at Haun's Mill site. I was really loving the lack of food preparation necessary for this whole trip at this point. Making pb&j sandwiches just makes me happy :).
From there we went to see the Kansas City Temple. This temple was so beautiful and so simple. I loved walking around it together. I love that there were few distractions. It's in such a peaceful quiet area. I let some of the kids take turns with the camera so we got some pretty creative shots of this one :). It was only like 80 degrees but it felt SO HOT!! The humidity was an interesting thing to adjust to. Felt pointless to take a shower.
The Idaho Maynes' never made it to this temple with us, they missed the exit. But we met up with them again in Independence. There was a really cool Visitor's Center there as well. Right across the street from the COC temple. Which we had planned on visiting, but then opted out at the last minute. I kind of wanted to feel the contrast of the Kansas city temple compared to that one. Oh well. The kids really loved this visitor's center as well. We had another cute sister missionary who took us around. There were several "walking videos" where you go from room to room learning different things. Downstairs was more about the pioneers. We went through a cabin and found out that there were usually 10 families in one small cabin. I hope they weren't all big families like ours! Crowded! Very cool though. I enjoyed the spirit. There was a fun room for the kids to play in and they did. Apparently I only got 2 pictures with my camera. I will need to upload pics from my phone.
The upstairs had a cool family video. I loved that one. I think the kids could really feel the Spirit during that one. I loved that the missionaries kept giving us challenges along the way. I believe the challenge we got here was to pray to know what we could do to make our family stronger. Very cool.
So we looked around for some BBQ after that. Didn't really find what we were looking for, the one we had been looking forward to was closed. So we ditched the Idaho Maynes' and went to the park for fireworks with the Campbells. This was a really neat experience. A few of the kids even expressed an interest in the people watching :). It was not our usual crowd for fireworks. Lots of families, but just a different feel. It was really cool. Dan and his family had saved us a spot next to them on the grass. It was a lot of fun to sit and talk with he and his wife and watch he and Nate pick up where they left off. So cool that they're still friends. We ate some smoked hamburgers/sausage/pulled pork, from one of the concessions stands for dinner. It was fun to watch the kids just run around. Timing themselves running up and down the little hill, spinning a wheel to win yo-yo's, balls, and pens :). Ya gotta love a free spinner. They had several kids playing with them by the time the fireworks started. Erika said she made a "best friend" there :). So that was cute. I was proud of them for being so friendly and welcoming of everyone around. I loved watching Bradley with the cute little black baby that came up to him and was hanging on him while he was playing. I think he even gave him a ball :). Just a nice pleasant evening. I guess all the pictures I got before were with my phone... not the camera.
We loved the fireworks show! It lasted a good half hour! There were some cool shapes and letters and things that seemed different from home. So that was exciting. After the fireworks we made our way back to the car and then to our next hotel.
We got to our hotel pretty late, it was a really nice one, two room, partial kitchen. I kept wishing we'd had something we needed to cook :). Not really, but you get it. We hurried and showered- church bright and early in the morning- and then went to bed.
Sunday, July 5, Day 4: I was so proud of us getting ready and to church on time. 9:00 church is not easy when you're vacationing! It was nice of Dan and Kisha to invite us to their ward though. It was fun to be there with them. The kids have mixed feelings about visiting a different ward. Noah was not happy with his primary class, Erika LOVED hers and got to make a cute little "Best Friend" sign. Course her teacher called her the wrong name the entire time. Luke had some noisy boys in his class. I think overall it was a good experience for everyone :). I enjoyed it. And it was our first Sunday with Sacrament meeting first (in a long time). I wondered how the Shadowbrook ward was handling their first time :).
Jack (when he showed us his empty picture): Me no dolor?... (stressed face)
I guess he didn't get to color his picture there :). Funny little boy.
After church, we changed clothes, packed up the car (that hotel was short-lived), and headed off to the Campbell's house for lunch. They were such great hosts. It was a very fun time there. Of course my camera was being difficult so I didn't get pictures, but I do have some on my phone. I really enjoyed their company. It was sad to say goodbye to Lincoln, he was so sad! I'm glad he felt like Bradley and the boys were such good friends. I hope he makes new friends soon.
We started on our long drive to Keokuk. We wanted some pictures of Kansas City because we kind of fell in love with the place. Not the humidity though. It was really hot on Sunday.
Making one real stop in Adam-Ondi-Ahman. This was such a neat experience! I'm so glad we saved it for Sunday and that we were able to be right behind some people who seemed to know the place really well. We got a lot of extra information from them. We went on the little trail walk and just basked in the Spirit of the place. It's incredible to think about what occurred there and as well, what will. I loved being there with our whole family together.
This place was beautiful, but I think even more beautiful was the Spirit that was there.
This is "The Prophet's Preaching Rock". He would stand there and preach to the saints gathered all around that valley weather permitting.
That was a cool experience. We loved the drive from here to Keokuk. We were on mostly back roads, not freeway. We couldn't get enough of the green hills! Nate was like a giddy school boy driving up and down and up and down... it was cute how much he liked it. Didn't occur to me that when Erika wasn't feeling well that it could have been car sickness, but she had also been staring at my phone for several hours, so who knows. Either way, we came out okay with nothing to clean up. It really was neat country to drive through. I let Noah hold the camera to take pictures to his little heart's content, thinking we'd get a few cool ones, here are a couple samples...
Most of the pictures were of the clouds :). But it was probably our favorite drive of the trip.
We got to Keokuk pretty late at night. It was not my favorite hotel. Kinda gross actually, and a bummer that it was the one we were staying at for three nights. Smelled just like Nana's house though, so that was kind of funny :). Our room window opened out to the pool area which happened to only go as shallow as 4 feet so we never even got to go in it. I still can't get over how funny it is that the room goes out to the pool. I'm glad we got back so late at night that we didn't have to listen to the pool noise for too long. It was an interesting hotel experience :).
Monday, July 6, Day 5: That morning we ate the weak continental breakfast (I had to break open the Reese's Puffs we'd brought since the smell of the lobby was too overwhelming to mix with food consumption for me). Then got out by 8:45 to meet up with everyone at Carthage Jail.
Here we are crossing the Mississippi one of the many times we did- that river is just incredible! I was so fascinated by it.
second state sign.
Bug covered windshield! You should have seen our car when we got to Kansas City!! OH! And I totally left out the part about the lightning bugs getting smashed on our windshield at night! They would leave their little glowing juice on there and you could see it for a minute or so after- kinda funny! We got a kick out of it!
We met up with Grandma and Grandpa finally, and the Idaho Maynes'. Carthage Jail was another one of our favorite parts of the trip. Everyone was so interested in all that we learned there. Very cool.
We had to wait for everyone else to show up for a few minutes, so we got to just take the place in for a bit.
I love watching Jack run! So cute!
So we went in and watched a cool video about Joseph Smith and just before he left for Carthage. I hate to think of what was going through Emma's or one of their five kids' minds when they said goodbye to him. Knowing that he wasn't real sure he'd come back.
I can't believe that this building was mostly original as well. It blows my mind really that we have things that have lasted that long and can now enjoy the special Spirit that can only be felt while standing where the prophet stood. We learned about the stars on the sides of the building. We learned that this was not your typical jail, it was more like a probation house, he was waiting for a Justice of the Peace, Abraham Lincoln (Can you believe that!), to come and determine his innocence or guilt. Hard to believe he was shot before he even had a chance to be convicted of anything (if there had been anything which there wasn't). The family that lived in this house while it was a jail had seven kids. I wish we'd seen the attic where they stayed.
The downstairs looked just like a home. Here's the "washing machine" :). I think it's cool to consider the fact that Joseph Smith and his 3 friends/apostles were there with him, in that house, taking their meals with the Stegmans.... just really cool to think about.
That's the window Joseph fell out of when he was shot.
While we were in that sacred room, we listened to a recording of a re-enactment of all that occurred during the Prophet's last minutes on earth. It was so interesting. I think it is so cool that Hyrum, Willard, and John Taylor were all there with him. I don't think they needed to be. They were being supportive. I love that Hyrum was the big brother that he was to Joseph. So supportive. Even to their last minute. He was the first one shot, trying to hold the door closed. They all fought so hard to protect Joseph. Risking their own lives. It was interesting to hear about Willard Richards and John Taylor. After John was shot in the hip, in order to hide him from any mob members who might return, Willard hid him in the dungeon room (too dark for pictures), under the straw mattress. I didn't know about that. How would that be to be Willard and not receive one shot at that time.
Here's the window from the outside. I guess they had wanted to shoot him again once the mob came out to make sure he was completely dead, but they heard voices calling out that "THE MORMONS ARE COMING!" When in actuality, they were not. In fact, everyone was in shock. They didn't retaliate at all. I don't even think they know who it was that shot the Prophet. They were just so hurt.
The Spirit in that building was incredible. I loved hearing the story about the little girl who had come through the tour and when she found out that the floors were the original floors and that the Prophet Joseph Smith had walked on those very floors, and asked if she should take her shoes off out of respect. So sweet. It really is just so sacred. As close to the temple as you can get in my opinion.
After Carthage we made our way up to Nauvoo!!! The long awaited portion of our trip!
We started at the Visitor's Center to get tickets. There weren't many left. We did manage to get some for the wagon ride and "The Promise" a family musical. We had to do a little finagling with our schedules, but we were able to make good use of our time there. We looked around the information center.
Then headed out for some tailgate lunch- again, I love not cooking. Then went on our wagon ride. I got to sit by Noah and Jack... we had a blast :). It was nice to get a tour of the town, and kind of get an idea of what was there to see. Ended up being a very productive ride. Luke dozed off a few times as well as Nate, it was slow :), but very productive :).
This was our first temple citing. Looked so beautiful and magnificent up there on the top of the hill. Overlooking their little heaven. So cool.
This was a cool little surprise. We passed by this cabin that supposedly belonged to Patty Sessions. The last name looked familiar so I took a picture, but it wasn't until the next day that we discovered we are actually very related to her!! She is my 5th great grandmother! And get this, she was a midwife! Delivered 4,000+ babies in her life. She was amazing. I got in touch with my Dad and he sent me a link to her journals. I read a little bit about her, can't wait to really dig into them. She sounds awesome. Go figure :). I love that we have someone so closely related who's life is featured there in Nauvoo. Made me feel special. We got to sign the Patty Sessions book in the "Drug and variety store" the next day.
Here's the Browning home/Gunsmith house. We ended up going there after the wagon ride- very cool. It's so amazing what kinds of developments the Lord inspired. Browning was WAY ahead of his time in the design of his weapons. Pretty cool.
Brigham Young Home. We saw this the second day. Very cool. This is where we saw the bunny and that made the kids' day :)
He had this cool cellar.
I think I got an even better one of this on my phone. Just captures so well this trip for me. It was just heavenly.
We rode down the trail of Hope (which we never did get a close look at... next time) down to the bank of the Mississippi. Saw some turtles, learned about the "lake" from the dam, and why the red and green buoys. We loved seeing the lilly pads.
Jack waved at everyone who walked or drove by... so adorable.
So I didn't get any more pictures on my camera that day.
After the wagon ride we stood around debating whether we could sit through a musical or not. I felt bad because I think we were the reason we stayed to watch it. Our family LOVES those kinds of things, but unfortunately, it's not the Idaho Maynes' favorite thing to do. We ditched Grandma and Grandpa and went to the show, "The Promise". I loved it!! It's so fun to watch the performing missionaries! They are amazing! The kids loved it. Even Bradley said he liked it! Wow! I thought it was a great way to know what their lives in Nauvoo were like. I can't help but think that Nauvoo was like a little time-out from the serious trials the Saints had been through before and what they were about to go through. Just a little crack in the clouds, to let a little light in and give them what they needed to continue on with His plan. That's not to say they didn't work hard there! I can't believe all that they did there! And how much work it was. They had some pretty nice things. Things that they invented and created all by themselves! But I really cannot imagine the heartbreak when they were asked to leave it all behind.
We walked around the town and went through all the buildings that we could that evening. We saw how they made bricks, and each family got one. We were waiting for the British Pageant to start, s we decided to kill some time down by the river- that was a lot of fun.
We went up to the city for the Fudge Factory. That was yummy! I need an air freshener that smells like that place :). It was delicious. Then across the street to the Gift Shop to scout out the souvenirs. The Souvenir shop was a big plus to all the kids. I love watching them look around at everything. That night only a few of them settled on something. Jack got a cute top spinning thing that he had sat down on the floor and played with for a good ten minutes. So adorable. Noah picked out a racoon skin hat. He loved it :). It was so cute.decided that his broken penny was souvenir enough! He was very proud of that thing :). Such a cool kid. Luke While we were in there we found out that the British Pageant had been cancelled because of the rain. That was a bummer, but honestly, the rain looked awesome. I must say, I kind of enjoyed it.
There wasn't much else to do but dinner at that point, so we stopped at Wendy's near the hotel. I was freezing most of the time we were there. It was yummy though. Everyone went down to the lobby to play games and stuff once we were to the hotel. I stayed back with some that were too tired. It was nice to have some play time with them. And then it was time for bed.
Tuesday, July 7, Day 6: Got up, ate our gross continental breakfast... haha... sorry, it was just SO WEAK compared to our first two hotels. Reese's Puffs are better. Then off to Nauvoo for another day in the life of those amazing pioneers. This day we made sure to go to the Blacksmith first! The kids had all wanted a prairie diamond! We all got our rings and then made our way through several more cabins. Emma Smith's house was cool. She had THE STEEPEST stairs in Nauvoo. We got to go to the "Pioneer Pasttimes" where everyone just played and played for at least an hour! It was so much fun! I took lots of pictures.
This was Jack's favorite thing. He and Erika got to play house. Jack came in and put on this little oven mitt, and he was gone! pretending to be the dad... cooking... it was SO CUTE!! I kept interrupting to take pictures.
This is when I made him stop for a picture even though he needed to hurry off to check on what I can only assume was his Spinach Puffs :).
The Brass Band came and round up all the kids for a cute little "parade" around the games. My kids LOVED it!
I don't know why I didn't get a picture, but Luke became the master of the wheel spinning game. The one where you roll the wheel and try to keep it up with the stick. He was so good at it! He went all over that field with the ring and just amazed us all. It was cool because I had totally pictured him enjoying that game when we first drove by that spot. I wish I'd gotten a picture!
Erika loved playing dress up.
Then we went up to where the pageant was going to be to rope off our seats and have lunch.
We made our way to the Drug Store- Patty Sessions cabin next door too- the Bakery for a cookie, mmmm, and then to the Family Living Center. We saw how they made yarn, bread, and rugs, wish we'd been able to see how they made rope and the other stuff in there... didn't make it though. It was time for Nate and the girls to go to the temple for baptisms! Heather and the littles and I wandered around the city a little, got some frozen custard, played at the park, and then walked around the temple, while we waited for the guys and big kids.
If only we'd gotten some better shots of the whole family....
After that we went BACK to the souvenir shops for anyone who hadn't had a chance to get something the day before. Charity painstakingly chose a key chain with a picture of the temple- beautiful. Kelly picked out an old fashioned journal she'd had her heart set on the day before. Bradley found a cool compass. Luke finally settled on a pocket knife... interesting... Noah had wanted to exchange his hat, I think the excitement of looking at souvenirs again got to him, but we talked him out of it. And Erika picked out a cute little CTR necklace. I found a cool stained glass of the inverted star for our kitchen window, and a cute "I can do hard things" to put on my shelves in the living room if I ever do, in fact, get around to that! I love the quote though. Needs to be in my house.
After the gift shops we grabbed some Casey's Pizza and headed out to Nate's parents' place. For some reason Grandma Ruthie really wanted us to see the place they were staying in. It was an adorable little house. Cute colors and stuff. Right on the bank of the Mississippi... very cool. SO we played and ate there for a while. Pictures on my phone.
Then it was time for the pageant. The Pageant was SO well done!! We loved being sucked in to the Nauvoo lifestyle and feel of what it must have been like. Cute conversion story, and great songs. I think it was a major highlight of the trip. We talked with some of the actors after. Charity loved the British accent of the one lady who told us we need to sign up to be in the pageant as a family next year :).
We spent our last night in our crappy hotel (is it okay if I call it that now?).
Wednesday, July 8, Day 7: Got up and out early. Headed off to MItchell, South Dakota. We made one little stop in a tiny town called Swedesburg. This was going to be a cool little stop going through a little museum and hopefully buying some yummy swedish chocolate, but unfortunately one of the days it is not open is Wednesday!! RATS!! We did get some cool pictures of the swedish decor outside. I loved the horse! Or whatever it's called.
The rest of the drive was long. I let Noah take some pics again...
I took these:
We went through nine states on this trip! Holy Moly. I only got pictures of three of their signs. lame.
These guys were being adorable, had to snap a few pics of them goofing off.
Bradley was feeding Jack Luke's finger :). HA!
Noah doing his boondoggle :)
When we got to our hotel we found out that the long awaited, much anticipated, and bribed with pool that we were expecting to have there, was not a swimming pool after all, it was a WHIRL pool. Duh. Luckily we found this out before checking in. Nate pulled some strings and then some more strings and found us a hotel that not only had a pool, but a waterslide and splash park as well!!! We are the luckiest family ever- Nate's just the coolest. The Idaho Maynes' were stuck at the pool-less hotel, but we invited them to come swim at ours. We all had a great time! 2 1/2 hours of fun!! Unfortunately, poor Noah slipped and fell on his mouth going up the stairs to the waterslide. Totally lost a chunk of his gums, exposing his brand new, not even hardly showing, permanent tooth, and the baby tooth next to it. It looked SO PAINFUL!!! He was feeling a little dizzy and needed to wait for the bleeding to stop, so I sat there with him for a while. Most of the time there was spent watching Jack go up and the stairs and down the little splash park slide. He sure warmed up to this pool! I was so glad. He was having the time of his life. Even worked up to not needing to be "catch!" at the bottom. I LOVED his little thumbs up that he started doing at the end each time. It was SO adorable. This is the pool I should have had my camera at!! No pictures. I did have Brad take a picture of the empty pool, just so we could remember it. The big kids had a blast on the waterslide the whole time. It was fun hearing Kelly screaming every time she went down. Erika had a blast with them as well. Nate was Jack's buddy and took him on the water slide as well. That was adorable. They probably went on it 49 times! Time for bed.
Thursday, July 9, Day 8: We tried to get up early, ate a DELICIOUS breakfast (yay for good continental breakfasts!), stopped at Walmart for some more lunch stuff and of course some BOONDOGGLE!! I haven't even mentioned the Boondoggle obsession that occurred on this trip! They were ALL into by the end! It turned out to be a great time killer during those really long stretches. But we were almost out of colors those last few days, so Nate surprised the kids with three new packages for the drive home :). It was off to Mt. Rushmore!
Rapid City was a pretty cute little town, just before you get up to the mountain. Bradley took some pictures of the nest they found and the sign shop :)
This ended up being a really cool thing on our trip. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it. I felt nerdy telling people we were going to see it :). It really was cool though! I am still not settled on how they were able to get such a great likeness while carving so upclose! What a huge project that had to have been!! Very fascinating. Makes me wish we still had presidents that were worth carving into the side of a mountain.
We tried to do the little walk around the base of the mountain, but it wasn't happening, so we went and got some ice cream instead :). Thanks Uncle Rob!
I let Noah have the camera again... this kid is abstract that's for sure.
Then we said our goodbyes to the Idaho Maynes', and set off for Alcova! This was another long part of the drive. The kids stayed entertained with their boondoggle.
Then we pulled up to the cute little cabin that was about to be our home for the night- LOVED IT!! This was one of the nicest places we stayed. Had a full kitchen and even a grill! Nate grilled up the rest of our hot dogs, that was yummy. Then we all stayed up late watching The Fugitive (don't judge). Kelly loved it. I think she's the only one that lasted the whole movie. Charity didn't have any nightmares, fortunately. Most of the boys had made their way to the bed and Erika and Jack were cozied up together on the futon. It was a great night's sleep without Jack! wahoo!
Friday, July 10, Last Day: We got off to a pretty slow start. Nobody was anxious to leave that cute cabin. Cold cereal for breakfast. First stop: Martin's Cove. I am so glad that we didn't skip this!! It turned out to be such a great time. We walked through the visitors center and learned all about the Martin and Willie Handcart companies whose biggest fans we just happen to be, thanks to the movie Seventeen Miracles. My kids have seen that so many times, they recognized all the names, all the events and stories. It was really fun. Like taking a walk through the movie. We watched a cool movie from the journals of Heber McBride (kept wondering if they were related to the McBrides in Eagle Mountain ward). He was a 13 year old boy who ended up being the man of the house so to speak, for his family. He and his 12 (?) year old sister did everything for their family because the parents were so ill. The dad eventually "got lost" (Jack latched on to that) and then was found dead at the camp. And the mom was still pretty sick. I can't believe a 13 year old could do that. So cool!! It was very inspiring. The Spirit was very strong. My favorite part was when Jack wrapped his arms around my neck, snuggled up close to my face and said, "Me wuv you mommy" AWWWWWW!!!!! First time. So sweet. Then he did it a few more times. Melted my heart.
Then we tried out the handcarts on a little walk around some hay bales (we weren't feeling up for the five mile trek at this point :) ), but they were having so much fun with it, Nate and I decided we need to go back so that they can experience it and NOT think it's the funnest thing ever :). Then we walked through a few more cabins of cool artifacts. They gave the kids each a little necklace with a stamped little piece of wood. They all thought that was great. I laughed when Erika chose blue (almost all of them did) and Jack chose pink :). My manly Jack isn't afraid of a little girl color.
What a cool place that was! I can't wait to learn more about the treks they do there and hopefully convince our ward that we want to go do a trek there :).
So the rest of the drive was uneventful. Not much to look at. But we surprised the kids, pulling into Kaysville about two hours before "scheduled" :). They were pleasantly surprised :).
And that was our trip! Reading back through this, I feel like I missed out on the Spirit of the whole thing. I think I'm going to ask the kids for some input and add everyone's favorites, and most memorables after showing them the pictures again. Hopefully that helps :).
FAVORITES/HIGHLIGHTS/THOUGHTS:
Kelly: On the ride it was really fun how we were playing all the games, the story game, and me and Noah made a game where you make your own village. And I liked the game that Dad told us that you have to come up with two words that start with the same letter.
All the breakfasts at the hotels were really good and I didn't want to try the biscuits and gravy and once I did it was so good. I wish we could have it....
I liked at the pageant how you could like feel how they felt and experience what they were going through in the pageant.
I also liked the muscial, it was really funny and exciting.
I liked the Winters Quarters visitor museum how the missionary was really nice to us.
I learned there that they could each only take 17 lbs and I beat Brad at the stick pull that was fun.
I loved going to the temple at Winter Quarters. You could feel the spirit really strongly and it was really fun going with Jacob and Miles and Hannah.
I liked going to pizza on the first night, cuz it was like the best pizza I ever had. Except Little Caesar's, don't put that.
I loved going to carthage because you could really feel the spirit there and what happened there was Joseph Smith and Hyrum died. And how you could see the actual holes in the original door.
My favorite part was when they had the voice recording and the song they played.
I loved walking around Nauvoo, it was like a little village, it was so cool.
I liked going to all the places, because they would tell you how the pioneers would live.
I liked going to the bakery because those gingerbread cookies were really yummy. The blacksmith was really cool. And making bricks was really cool because the missionary was really funny and interactive and we got to have our own brick.
We got to see the house with the steepest stairs in Nauvoo. They were really steep and I almost fell on them.
I really like all the artifacts they have, real floors, real walls, real everything, it just makes everything more interesting.
I liked going on the carriage ride because me and Rachel were talking a lot. It was cool seeing all the different views of the river and the temple and the village.
I liked going to the family living center because we got to have that real yummy bread and they showed us how to make it. I liked it when they showed us how to make the wool. I loved all the interacting stuff like how they would let you help out.
One of my most favorite parts was when we got to go on the water slide with the Idaho Maynes' because we got to keep flipping over on the tube when me and Charity went with Jake.
I liked when they told us how once of the reasons it took 40 years to build the SL temple was because the oxen could only walk 2 miles per hour and they could only carry one brick at a time. That's why it took so long.
I loved going to Adam-Ondi-Ahman. It was a really cool experience. You could feel the Spirit. Experiencing the place where they say Christ is going to come again.
The fireworks were really fun. It was fun going with the Campbell family. My favorite fireworks were the ones that would be a big explosion and then they would like sparkle or flash after.
Lunch at the Campbells was really fun playing with Owen and he really liked me and wouldn't let anyone else swing on the swings with him except me and I liked doing piggybacks and stuff.
I liked staying in our last hotel that was like a little cabin because I got to stay up and watch Fugitive, which is now my favorite show.
I liked going to Mt. Rushmore because me and Jake and Erika were racing the whole time and goofing around.
The ice cream that Rob bought us was so delicious.
I made boondoggles the whole time and gave them all away to the Idaho Maynes' when we left.
I liked driving around because we got to play games and goof around a lot in the car.
And I liked going to getting pizza and going up to Grandma and Grandpa's place and playing tag with the Idaho Maynes'.
I liked going souvenir shopping and getting my amazing journal. And yeah! that's it.
Bradley: I liked going to Liberty and I liked how they had the original stuff on them, like the original floors. And I liked reading all the signs in front of it and reading what they wrote.
I liked driving to Adam-Ondi-Ahman and seeing where they said the Savior will come in the second coming.
I liked going swimming with everyone. And going swimming with the Idaho Maynes' there.
And the breakfast.
And I liked seeing all the videos at Independence and going to Carthage Jail and seeing all the holes in the original door.
I liked walking around the three temples. The Nauvoo temple, the Kansas City temple and the Winter Quarters temple.
I liked going to Kanesville and seeing all the stuff there. The washing machine things and the stuff that they used.
I liked going around the little town in Nauvoo and seeing all the original houses and floors. I just liked seeing all the original stuff.
I liked going on the carriage ride. I liked going to the pageant and how well I felt the Holy Ghost.
I liked going in the parade.
I learned that Joseph Smith and Hyrum were the only ones that died, instead of Joseph Smith, Hyrum and John Taylor.
I learned that their bullets were really big.
I learned that Joseph Smith was hit four times.
I learned how the blacksmith were and the Wheelrights were.
And I learned that when Joseph Smith and Hyrum and them were in Carthage Jail, there were people on the second night saying that they were going to kill them, so the jailer let them sleep up in his room. And I didn't know that the jailer was gone and the jailer's wife and kids had to run out of the house when the mob came to kill Joseph Smith and Hyrum.
I liked learning how all the people lived in Nauvoo. And how they built their houses and what they used for food and stuff like that.
I liked going swimming in the giant water slide and tipping over on the tubes with the Idaho Maynes'. I liked driving back home from the last hotel/cabin thing and learning how to do boondoggle and learning how to do corkscrews and doubles.
I liked finding a giant lilly pad at Mississippi river.
I liked just crossing all the rivers and lakes.
I think that's it.
Jack: I'm going to speak for Jack- his favorite parts all included rocks :). We started a little rock collection bag halfway through it all because they were taking over his spot in the car. He LOVES rocks. He did so well the whole trip! In the car even! I think there were only a few times that he cried and was unconsolable and that usually involved a wet or poopy diaper. He was such a good boy in Nauvoo. Sat and listened (or let us listen at least) to the missionaries, and even slept through the musical that I think he would have otherwise lost interest in. He enjoyed the horses and the wagon ride. He really was just SO GOOD!! The second day of Nauvoo you could tell he was reaching his end, but seriously, for a two year old... we could not have asked more! He loved the rivers. He enjoyed looking out the window at cows and trucks. He was a good sleeper every night, even slept in his own bed a couple times :). He really loved the swimming pool with the slides. He really got into that. He was extremely unimpressed with Mt. Rushmore. Nothing about it could interest him until we went on the little walk and found some rocks. I think we've stolen rocks from every National Park we've been to. Please don't tell on us. Poor Erika got in trouble for picking a little wild flower while we were there.
Luke: I liked going to Mt. Rushmore. It was cool to see it up close. Hardly any people from Utah get to do that.
And I liked going to the jail that Joseph Smith and Hyrum and I forgot their names.
I loved going to the temples.
And I loved pulling the wagons at that visitors centers. And I liked like all of the visitor centers.
I like everything, technically. I liked going to ice cream while everyone went to the temple. And getting frozen custard and going to the playground.
I didn't know that just two people died (in Carthage), I thought that they all died.
I loved finding that penny in the Mississippi river. I didn't know that the Mississippi river was that huge, I though tit was this tiny river. Compared to a lake, it's like twice the size of a lake.
I liked the little water slide at this little swimming pool. There was this little pirate ship and there were these tubes to go down in the slide. Me, Brad and Miles went on a tube that's only supposed to have two people and we had the tube up-side-down and we were going backwards. And it tips over easily when it's just up-side-down, and it scared us like crazy because it was going so fast and it was so dark.
I loved how I learned six new types of boondoggles on that one trip.
Erika: My favorite things that we did the first thing was going to that play place that had all that fun stuff, and the parade (Pioneer Pasttimes).
And then swimming with Kelly and everybody else on the slide.
And then I liked the temples that we went to.
And then I liked going to that place that Joseph Smith was in, the jail. Because I learned a lot.
I liked that we went swimming a lot.
And then I liked seeing the cool stuff when we drived and stuff.
I wanted to add the wagon pulling and I liked everything that was in that place that we went wagon pulling, like the necklace that we got and the video and the stuff that they taught us.
Oh and I forgot the ice cream, I liked the ice cream we got :).
Charity: I liked going to Carthage Jail and learning about Joseph Smith and seeing the door with the bullet holes in it.
I really liked going to the temple and getting to see the inside of different temples before.
I really really liked Mt. Rushmore, that was really cool to see because I've always wanted to see Mt. Rushmore.
I really, really, REALLY liked the water slide at the hotel and that me and Kelly and Jake kept flipping over in the tube.
I loved the Pageant. The Pageant was really cool and it was fun to be able to watch what they might have gone through and be able to learn more about them and being able to talk to some of the actors afterwards and seeing what they thought about it.
I liked not having to plug my ears at the fireworks show that we did.
I loved doing the stilts at the Pioneer Past times place in old Nauvoo.
I just really liked the whole trip. It was the best trip we've ever been on. I remember the whole thing.
I though tit was really really cool that we got to be in the place that the Savior's going to come and the really pretty grass and how lush everything was and the pretty flowers. And I thought it was cool that we got to see the rock that the Prophet taught from.
I learned that Joseph Smith knew that they were not coming back and that they knew they were going to die at Carthage, that they had enough courage to go somewhere that they were going to die, and that they were able to sacrifice their lives for their God and their temple, and they had to have a lot of faith that their families would be okay.
Me: not cooking meals :), no laundry (much to my surprise, we didn't need to do laundry the entire time like I'd expected. I'll admit I wore clothes twice when I normally wouldn't have... but we were CONSTANTLY sweating so I really didn't see the benefit of CLEAN clothes). Watching my kids find interest in things that I never thought they could. I had several people express to me that they thought my kids were too young for Nauvoo and I'm just so not convinced. They may not have understood EVERYTHING or even taken EVERYTHING in, but there's no doubt in my mind that they got some pretty cool things out of this trip. Spiritually enlightening. Felt like EFY used to :). Simple, easy going vacation. I was so sad to get back to life.
Driving through ten states that I've never been through before was pretty memorable. I thought being in Independence on Independence Day was pretty cool :). I enjoyed spending so much time together as a family in the car and not, just being together. I loved that I had very little expectation for this trip and came away feeling so uplifted.
Realizing that my trials are miniscule compared to what the pioneers went through. I still can't believe how relaxing this trip was. I could have done one more day in Nauvoo to see the oxen, the carriage ride, and a few of the shows, but really, no complaints! Leaves me wanting I guess :). Now we'll be sure to go back someday.
Still waiting on Noah and Nate- I'll get those later I guess.
