Nauvoo Trip (plus Indiana and Iowa!)

We had an amazing trip to the Midwest the end of July, first part of August.  Sadly Lee and Clark couldn't be with us because of marching band camp.  We had a three-part trip.  Or maybe a four-part trip.

First stop, Indiana!  We visited Stephanie and family for a couple of days.  We love hanging out at her house and exploring her area. The kids love Alexa.






We went to a dairy farm that had an ice cream place and some fun grounds to explore.




One night Stephanie and Andy went to the temple and Shanna got James ready for bed all on her own.  SO cute!


My tire had a slow leak in it so one stop during the trip was at Costco for a repair. A few kids came along with me and had fun exploring.




Steph has an awesome community pool.  Guests are only $1 each!






We had a parents night out one evening to DeBrand Chocolates.  Delicious!




Meanwhile back on the ranch....Clark attended marching band camp.  Lee stayed behind also to work (because of Clark).


There is a cool indoor playplace also near Steph's which is free.  Nice on a hot, muggy summer day.


Our last morning there we went to the Cake Bake shop.  It is so gorgeous inside!  We bought one piece of cake to share among the five of us.  One piece is $12!












After visiting a nature center, splash pad and eating the yummy piece of cake, we headed to Nauvoo for our second stop.  Someone had fun with pretzels on the way...


We arrived that evening, set up camp, had dinner and headed to the pageant site. Before we set up camp I dropped off some food at Deb's condo they were staying at.  It was fun seeing the meeting place where they had meetings with the pageant cast, and seeing her condo. Deb and her family were in the pageant, hence our trip to Nauvoo to see them!


And of course it was fun seeing the Bunkers before the pageant at the County Fair.  They manned the sack race activity.  So many fun things there like handcart pulling, dancing, chess and checkers, doll making, wood cutting, stilt walking, etc.  You could collect beads for each completed activity and then turn the beads in for a bigger, more special bead.










We saw our friend Kera Fox.  She used to live in my sister Lena's ward in Mississippi.












The next day we enjoyed doing things around Nauvoo with Lois, Deb, Steph, Sam and my parents.




















We enjoyed going to the county fair again!




The kids did a baptism session in Nauvoo and we parents did a sealing session.  The older fellow in the photo with a tie and then his hand on his wife standing below him, he is the Nauvoo temple president.  And his wife is President Nelson's wife. He came in and helped with the sealing session.  I also chatted with President Nelson's daughter and met some of President Nelson's grandkids who were also in the pageant (and there to see their parents).


We spent a second day doing things around Nauvoo.  This was my favorite trip ever to Nauvoo.
One thing we did, which we hadn't really done before, was seeing the small performances around town.  So good!







County Fair that night! 






Thomas setting up a scene.  We loved seeing him wave to us. Also, there is a concession stand that opens once the pageant starts.  It's not well known. I think it's mainly just for the cast but the guy will sell anything to anyone.  Everything is $0.25!






Sunday after church we took a few pictures in front of the temple.














After lunch we visited Carthage.


The bullet hole was made from the bullet shot that struck Joseph Smith and killed him.






The upper window is where he fell from.




After Carthage we took off to Cedar Falls for a few days. Our third stop! Always fun things to do there like bowling!










The Falls is one of my kids' favorite places.




















The fourth and final stop was another time around in Indiana.


The kids had fun exploring a creek area.




Hanging out outside...


And s'mores!




We had a good trip home, mini bananas included.