St. Louis

After Nauvoo we drove back to St. Louis (that is the closest airport to Nauvoo). We stayed a few days in St. Louis to enjoy some of the great things they have there. On our first day we went to The Magic House. This is a children's museum we had been to before when my sister Christin lived in St. Louis. It was a blast.

They had a new Alice in Wonderland exhibit that the girls wanted to start with. Here is Lexi playing the caterpillars back.
The girls looking through the key holes.
This was a fun toy to play with. You put a ball or handkerchief in the tube and the air would make it go through the tubes and then shoot them out.
They had a huge exhibit on the American government. You could stand behind the podium and pretend you were giving a Presidential address. Here is President Peyton Ferrell.
President Hailey Ferrell in the oval office at the President's desk.
President Alexis Ferrell.
The also had a court room where you could pretend to be a lawyer, a witness, or the judge. Here is judge Peyton.
Judge Hailey.
Judge Alexis.
This is the point where my camera battery died and I didn't have another one or the charger so I have no more pictures from our trip to St. Louis. I was so sad. We went to Six Flags the next day and had such a great time. Peyton loved all of the rides and said that this was her favorite theme park (which is saying something since she has been obsessed with Disneyland for a long time). We had a great vacation and loved spending so much time together. I can't wait for our next trip this summer.

Nauvoo-The last post

While we were in Nauvoo they were having a BBQ contest at the park by the temple. We decided to go and enjoy the BBQ and other booths they had. There was a miniature horse there and the girls really wanted to pet it and take it for a ride.

On another day we had our own BBQ at a park. The girls loved swinging together and just playing on the equipment. This is Peyton's favorite way to swing with Lexi.

Another great thing about Nauvoo is all of the fun entertainment. The Nauvoo Brass Band rides around and plays music and they also perform in a lot of the plays.
We all enjoyed dancing to the music together.
The plays that the senior missionaries and the performing missionaries put on are so awesome. They are all so talented and the girls loved watching them. You really have to see them for yourself to know what you are missing out on.

We went to a dress rehearsal for one of the plays and the band was playing and invited our girls to come on stage and dance with them. Hailey was embarrassed so she just kind of hid in the corner.
On the morning we were leaving it was so dark and there were warnings of flooding and lots of rain. We had not taken any pictures of our family in front of the temple so we went and this is the best we could get before it started pouring rain. Just goes to show us not to wait until the end to take an important picture.
Nauvoo is one of our families favorite places to go and the girls are already asking when we can go again. We had such a great time and we can't wait to go back. Thanks AnnaMarie and Tyler for vacationing with us.

Nauvoo-Pioneer Pastimes

The girls favorite thing in Nauvoo had to be Pioneer Pastimes. It is a place that we went every day because they loved it so much. They had fun games the pioneers played, clothes the pioneers would wear, and 2 playhouses with stuff for the kids to play with inside. Here is one of the buildings. I wish I could have one of these in my backyard.

Here are my beautiful girls dressed up in their pioneer clothes.
Lexi didn't want to get all dressed up but wore this hat for a few minutes so I could get a quick picture.
Here is Hailey in the school writing on her chalkboard.
Another pioneer outfit for Peyton.
Lexi loved playing with all of the dishes in the kitchen. She really enjoyed playing with Jane and Katie at the table.

Hailey also loved to cook in the kitchen. Doesn't she look so cute.
Lexi also loved playing with the baby dolls they had there. They had beds for the babies and clothes to dress them in. They also had a place you could pretend to wash their clothes and hang them to dry.
Outside of the houses they had horses and sheep the kids could sit on and pretend to ride.

One of Ryan's favorite things were the stilts. He was a natural and Peyton and I were not. Here he is trying to teach Peyton how to do it.
And I only lasted a second before I fell off of them.
Another fun game was the teddy bear pull. You had to pull on the strings to make the teddy bear go up to the top of the roof. Peyton gave it a try.
Lexi even gave it a try.
Then it was Hailey's turn to try.
Ryan and Tyler loved this place because they could be super competitive with each other. Here they are racing the bears. It looks like Tyler won this race.
Next was this. I have no idea what this was called but they raced each other to see who could finish first.
Of course they had to race each other on the stilts. It was quite hilarious.
And of course it wouldn't be a true pioneer competition without the stick pull. Look at the concentration and effort on their faces.
I think you know who won this one. They were laughing so hard it was great.
There were so many other things to do there that I haven't covered. It was so much fun but you will just have to go there and see for yourself.

Nauvoo: The Family Living Center

The Family Living Center in Nauvoo was so much fun. They teach you how the pioneers made rope, barrels, bread, candles, pottery, and many other things. One of our favorite demonstrations was rope making. Here we are watching Ryan help make the rope.

Inside the center they had this cute table with plates, cups, fake food, dolls, blankets and many more things that Hailey just loved playing with. Every time we went there you would find Hailey and Katie playing at this table. So cute.
Here Ryan is spinning the rope. He did a great job and we even have the rope to prove it.

Carthage Jail

While in Nauvoo we took a 30 minute road trip to Carthage, Illinois to visit Carthage Jail. This is the jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot and killed. I had been here twice before and each time it was such a spiritual experience listening to the recording of their last few moments here on earth. Here are the kids before we took the tour.

I was hoping that if Ryan put Lexi on his shoulders with a treat she would listen and not try to touch anything. Well that didn't work out very well so I left and went outside with her because I had already been in there twice before.
Here are the girls looking at the jail cell that they would have spent most of their time in. It was a very dark room with only 2 slits in the wall to bring air in. I can't even imagine it.
Here the girls are in front of the window Joseph jumped out of after being shot.
And here is an actual bullet hole from that day because this is the original door that was there.
Here we all are in front of the jail. If you have never had the opportunity to come and visit Carthage and Nauvoo I highly recommend it. You will not be disappointed.