Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis (part 5)

City of Joseph, City Beautiful, City of Joseph....

NAUVOO

(I wish everyone knew that song--I love it)

One of my favorites days of the whole trip was in Nauvoo, Illinois. It's about 3 hours from my parent's house and is a super great day trip. I think everyone should go to Nauvoo.

Our first stop in town was to visit Uncle Glenn and Aunt Annette, Matt's aunt and uncle. They are currently serving a full time mission for our church in Nauvoo. We got to have a short visit with them in the morning and another one in the evening before we watched the pageant.

Then we went to have a picnic at the state park in town. I have many a memory of that state park. Ahhh....good times.

Here's Whit on Nanny's lap enjoying a chocolate covered pretzel from the Fudgery in town. You can't go to Nauvoo without going to the Fudge Factory. Delish!

Then Dad almost fell off the picnic bench! Oh no!

After our picnic we headed into Historic Nauvoo. We went on a wagon ride:

I can't pull the wagon! (name that movie)

I love these kiddos. They did a great job on a long day!

We walked and walked and walked and walked (do we sound like pioneer children or what?)

Annie was so hungry, she actually ate her stroller!

The kids loved Pioneer Pastimes, an area where they could dress up, play 'house' in some small log homes. There were pioneer games to play too. I think they would have stayed all day.

Andrew attempting a stilt walk with Papa

Pioneer Whitney doing a pull game with Papa.

Mary was hanging up the laundry. Putting on pioneer clothes brought out a new side of Mary. She pretended to do chores for almost an hour. What?! I think I'll purchase some pioneer dresses in hopes that we can kick chores into high gear at home

Another highlight was going to see the temple. The Saints built a temple in Nauvoo in the 1840s but it was destroyed by fire several years later. Then a new temple was built where the original temple once stood. It was dedicated in 2002. It is gorgeous and overlooks the whole city.

I love this picture. It was taken at the Joseph and Hyrum Smith Memorial, right across the street from the temple.

One day my flowers will look like this....probably July 2026....stay tuned.

An attempted family picture!

We had dinner with my parents, then they left to head back home. They took Whitney and Annie with them and Matt and I were able to stay with Mary and Andrew for the pageant that night. For an hour and a half before the pageant, a field is full of 1840s style activities. We pulled a handcart, we watched a puppet show, we did crafts, there was a brass band playing and lots of square dancing going on. Below are Matt and the kids in a potato sack race and the whole lot of us attempting to saw some wood pioneer style.

Go kids go!

It was tough but we stayed strong!

The pageant started at around 8:45pm. It is a show depicting the pioneers, Joseph Smith and the building of the temple...and it was AMAZING!!!! I laughed, I cried, I enjoyed it all. It was a great end to a great day!

One or two more blog posts and the trip will be complete. I need to hurry too b/c Grandma and Grandpa are currently here and we're making memories with them.