Our trip to Nauvoo

This past week, we decided at somewhat of the last minute, to go to Nauvoo. I wasn't sure how Tank would be feeling after her surgery, but she made a miraculously quick recovery, so off we went. We left Wednesday morning as early as we could get out the door.
And whoa-la! 4 1/2 hours later, we were in small town Nauvoo. In case the fields and fields of corn weren't enough to prove that this is a different sort of place, the lawnmower at the gas station made its point. LOL!


Our first stop was the LDS visitors center. We walked through the amazing statue gardens and showed the kids where we used to practice our dances in the field behind the place. I was pleasantly surprised at how interested the kids were in "our" history in Nauvoo as well as the church history.

One of the things I think the kids enjoyed the most was a carraige ride around Nauvoo. They pointed out all the homes, we went by the river, and really got a good feel for the city as a whole. I learned on this ride, that I am severely allergic to horses. Luckily I had benadryl along, but it was a bit scary there for a while.
Sweetie took this beatiful shot with the temple in the background. :)

After our tour, a swim, and a yummy dinner, we went to a show called Sunset on the Mississippi. I didn't take any photos, but it was pretty entertaining. It had the feeling of camp skits... mostly cheesy stuff, but still thorougly entertaining with some amazing talent mixed in. We pushed the kids limits by staying after the show for a performance by BYU's Vocal Point (a very talented acapella group). The kids were seriously tired, but I think they enjoyed it as much as we did.

On Thursday we started out by going to Carthage jail. Any mention of John Taylor or Willard Richards got the attention of my kids pretty thoroughly. They let everyone know that they were related.

After Carthage we visited the Community of Christ owned portions of Nauvoo. We went on their tour and I was thoroughly impressed. The tour guide really emphasized what we had in common with them. In addition, he let us go behind some of the gates to see interesting things like a hidden ladder in a closet that Joseph may have used to hide from unfriendly mobs. The kids thought that was REALLY cool. Every house should have some hidden passages. :)
Twister had a hard time on the trip just because we didn't take time out for his naps. I think this picture captures how he "really" felt. LOL!
Here we are at the brick yard collecting our traditional Nauvoo brick. Goose REALLY wanted to keep it for himself, but I think he is resigned to sharing now.
Another favorite thing was a play spot called pioneer past-times. They had clothes for the kids to dress up in and all sorts of games and toys that were traditional in pioneer times.

Inside one of the little play cabins they had for the kids there. Tank was busy cooking for her baby. :)


Benson and I tried out the stilts... they are much harder than they look just for the record. :) You can ignore the picture of Benson, he makes it look easy. Apparantly he became a pro at stilts one year at scout camp.


So, we had a great time. Really, my only complaint would be that it was such a quick trip. I would have loved to have spent more time reminiscing and visiting Benson and my old favorite places. We met and fell in love in Nauvoo. It will always be a very special place for us. It was really great to share some of that with our kids.