Nauvoo

We recently returned from Nauvoo. I've been twice before, once when I was 6 and again when I was 12. When I was six we drove and we continued driving all the way to New York. I have great memories of that trip. We had a TV/VCR in our car and in 1986 that was a very big deal! My dad planned fun activities for us to do so we wouldn't get board. I blew my first bubble on that trip during our family bubble gum blowing contest. Blake was the champ. I also remember pulling off the side of the road and having a water gun fight. I remember that I got a small replica of the sun stone and that that was my favorite part. Other than that I really don't remember anything. When I was 12 we flew and saw our cousins in the City of Joseph pageant. My memories of that include my first plan ride, seeing my cousins in the play, feeling the spirit, getting a prairie diamond, and most memorable for me was the spirit I felt at Carthage. Here is some info on our latest trip to Nauvoo and how it felt to be the parent this time.

We rented a van with satilite radio and borrowed my brothers DVD player. They were nice fillers for the times that the kids got board. Grandma Hale came along for the ride to help with the kids. The reason for this trip was to attend the wedding of Derek (one of Steven's young men from our old ward).

DAY 1 Sunday
We left home around 10:30am. The kids were great! Max loved having the van. Just being in a different car made the trip very exciting for him. He didn't even ask to watch any movies. I finally put one on when I wanted him to take a rest. We stopped and ate at Wingers which was slow but a nice break from the car and a filling meal so we could drive the rest of the way without having to stop for dinner. After lunch we went on search of a park for the kids to get their wiggles out and we found a great one. This is Blairtown park in Rock Springs WY. They have odd hours but if you are driving through it's a great place to stop. Beyond the normal swings and slides there was a swimming area and a zip line. The rope was not very comfy on my keyster but it sure was fun, even when I fell off.

We Arrived in Sydney NE in the evening. Because we hadn't eaten since lunch we were hungery but not starving. Right across from our hotel was a local fast food restaurant called Runza, we decided to try it and it was YUMMY! The have a Runza sandwich which is a patty of spiced ground beef. I had a BLT Runza. I recommend trying it if anyone is every passing through Nebraska, there is nothing like it here, in fact I could go for one right now. It took a while to get the kids asleep but I enjoyed just laughing and playing with them in the hotel.

DAY 2 Monday
We drove to Omaha, NE. At this point the kids were still being great so we didn't really make any intentional stops. We did stopped in North Platte, NE for gas and discovered the Buffalo Bill Trading post. It has a great gift shop and also had a stuffed two headed calf.
Once we arrived at our hotel that evening my mom and I picked up McDonalds for her and the kids while Steven took the kids swimming. Then Steven and I went out to dinner for our Anniversary. Once again we wanted to try something local so we went to a Steakhouse called Cascio's. It was not great. The food was very expensive for a low quality of food. I'm pretty sure that most everything was taken out of a can and warmed up in a microwave and then served to us.

DAY 3 Tuesday
Thanks to Steven's brother we had been told to be sure to go the the Omaha Zoo and we are glad we did. We came home and said, "Hogal What?" Omaha Zoo is amazing. The first place we went was the Jungle, yep the Jungle. This building was kept very humid and had real plants growing, animals all around, several different levels and at the bottom there was a dirt trail you could walk on and see everything close up. Ducks would just walk right up to the kids. Outside we could view the bears, tigers and Gorillas from several different levels. There were a lot of Gorillas and you could get so close that the only thing separating you from them was a plate of glass. There was one that would just stare straight at us. This is not a recommendation, if you are ever in the Omaha area you MUST go to the zoo. I didn't even mention the aquarium, the desert dome (similar to the jungle), the butterfly house, the train...so many things!
Once we arrived at our Hotel in Keokuk, IA we ate pizza and went straight to bed, we had had a long fun day with lots of walking and driving.

DAY 4 Wednesday
We went into Nauvoo, saw the brickyard demonstration which was Max's favorite part, or so he says. He didn't pay much attention but was happy to get a brick to take home. Then we toured Lucy Mack Smiths home (not too kid friendly as you can tell my Max's expression),

went to the blacksmith shop for a demonstration and got Prairie Diamonds (Elese Loved her's),

and rode on a wagon pulled by oxen.
After that my mom and I went through a session at the Nauvoo Temple. We missed our session so we bought and ate fudge at the fudge factory while we waited for the next one. Mmmm...fudge. After that Steven went to film the much flooded Mississippi River. We were all so tired that we just ate dinner and took the kids swimming.

DAY 5 Thursday (this is getting long sorry, is anyone still reading?)
We started off the day in Carthage. Elese's screaming detracted from the spirit a bit but it was still very nice. This was June 26th the day before the 164th anniversary of the Martyrdom of Joseph Smith. It was strange to think that we were not only in the room where he was shot and killed but to think about how 164 years before that very day Joseph Smith was in this prison alive and well.

After Carthage we toured Skovil Bakery and they gave us cookies and the kids really enjoyed that. Then we found pioneer past times. I don't remember ever seeing this before but it was basically just an area dedicated to pioneer games. The kids enjoyed it over there and they had dress up clothes and babies so Elese was thrilled!
We ate lunch at Dottie's Family Dinning right in Nauvoo. As it turned out, despite the sign, it wasn't very family oriented. The drunk men sitting at the bar sure did love to curse! The cook forgot to make our food. The food was okay, Steven loved his steak sandwich. As we got up to pay and leave the waitress told us that the meal was on her because it took so long to get us our food and she knows how hard that is with kids. We left her a good tip. We also went on a horse and carriage ride that lasted about 40 min. It was enjoyable other than Elese's occasional fits. She did love the horses and would point at them and say, "woof, woof" I suppose I need to sing Old McDonald to her more often.

We hurried back to the hotel after that to get ready for the wedding dinner. The kids stayed with Grandma while we went to the dinner.

DAY 6 Friday WEDDING DAY
Most of this day was spent with wedding Stuff. Our Sweet Sweet Derek, who has spent a lot of time in our home through out the years, married a very sweet girl from Macomb, IL. When he told us about Jennie just after he had gotten home from his mission we told him that we would be at the wedding no matter what. Thank you President Bush for our stimulus check so we could keep our promise. :) Steven and I attended the sealing. Since Steven was a groomsman we stayed for pictures afterward, ran back to the hotel to get grandma and the kids, stopped in Nauvoo to see Joseph and Hyram's graves on the 164th anniversary of their deaths and headed to Macomb for the reception. The reception was beautiful as were Derek and Jennie. Derek is Max's biggest fan and has been a wonderful example to him by serving a mission and marrying an awesome girl in the temple. We were so happy that we could be there!
On the way back to our hotel we stopped and walked through a meadow. There were about 8 deer (it was too dark so I couldn't get a picture of them, grrr) and a lot of lightening bugs. The kids and I chased the bugs around while Steven tried to film them. I think that will be one of the things that Max will always remember.

DAY 7 Saturday
We drove about 8 hours and took the kids swimming in a very cold pool.

DAY 8 Sunday
We drove another 10 hours. We stopped at the trading post on the way home again. I had given Max $20 for the trip (all in one dollar bills) for him to spend on whatever he wanted. I told him to try and save some of it for a special souvenir. He was really quite frugal, the first thing he bought was a twenty cent air head. By this last day he still had $13 so he bought a stuffed dog which he has named, "Douglas Blacky Ace".

We had a great time. My recommendation to anyone traveling with kids is just to plan ahead. I brought glow sticks for night time driving, Frisbees and water guns for rest stops. I didn't actually use much of what I had because the kids were so good but it was nice to have them just in case.