Nauvoo

We went down to Nauvoo a couple of weeks ago for a quick weekend getaway. Overall, we had a great time. Once we got down there we realized that we would probably need to go again to see everything, so we just tried to have fun without stressing out about squeezing everything in. The best time was probably before the pageant started that first night. They had a bunch of activities for the kids. Prepare for picture overload...

Mike and Samantha spanked Carter in the stick pull (is that even what that is called?)
Me and Carter learned that we were never meant to cut down trees manually. Look at me put my back into it.

Carter took part in a sack race.
So he needed a little help at the end. Give the kid a break - did you see the size of his competitors?

He got a base hit in "stick ball". Carter and Samantha both tried out the stilts.

And lest you think that me and Samantha were sitting around bored while Carter was having all the fun, don't you worry. We found the sno-cone stand. Which I think everyone was grateful for.

There was a little parade when it was time for the pageant to start. The bagpipes were cool. I was impressed with how young some of the players were. It just doesn't seem like a thing many kids would want to do.

The pageant was nice. It would have been better if Samantha had sit still during any part of it, but she's 2, so what can you expect?

The other thing that we really liked was the family living center. We learned some of the things that they did back then.

We made a rope, which Carter insisted on using to lasso anyone and everything until we took it away. We watched a candle making demonstration. Candle, candy, whatever... (she ate the candle) We also sat through a bread making demonstration. The kids were disappointed that it wasn't the bead making that we originally thought it was, but that went away pretty quick as the nice lady let them stuff their faces with homemade bread.

The next day we went on the wagon ride through town. Dick and Mick were the horses pulling the wagon. We went to Carthage, which was the highlight of the trip for Carter. I will never understand the boy's fascination with guns and shooting, but he had to see where Joseph Smith was shot. It was very interesting. Due to poor planning on our part, we didn't get to go into the temple. I wish that we would have, but we will have to next time. We did walk the grounds and got some pictures. To my credit, I never claimed to have photogenic children. This one just makes me laugh. After the temple, we called it good and headed home. I am really glad that we went and I am looking forward to going back sometime (when it's not so hot)!