Nauvoo

Growing up in the midwest, our family took a lot of trips to Nauvoo. Friends of my parents would stop by since Iowa City is located just off of I-80. At the time, there just wasn't a heck of a lot going on in Iowa City so we'd often take trips to Nauvoo. It's always been a quaint experience, but the charm factor went through the roof once the temple was rebuilt. Now and again people exclaim, "Oh WOW" when Brent and I tell them that's where we were married. To be sure, we weren't going for a destination wedding- that was simply my home temple. 

Now when I take my own girls, I'm glad they can connect with the classic stops I did when I was a child. I decided to shake things up a bit and hit the Fudge Shop first. That ended up being a brilliant move. There were no lines, the workers were happy to let us have samples and then I had a lovely bag of chocolate covered cinnamon bears to nosh on all day. They became perfectly melty in the hot car- YUM!

We also stopped by a couple of gift shops and I picked up these lovely postcards for friends back home. Again, it turned out to be a brilliant move because there weren't big crowds just yet and the girls weren't overtired yet so they behaved themselves.

We stopped by the Visitor's Center to pick up a map and plot out our day. The Women's Garden was rather wet so we didn't spend too long out there but I had to get a pic of the girls playing Ring Around the Rosie next to the In the Family Circle statue.

As I started to head back towards the Visitor's Center, the girls lingered. This garden is a gem that not everyone appreciates.

Maybe it was the heat or maybe it was the humidity, but the girls were fighting A LOT. We stayed in the car and I made them hug it out before going to the next attraction. We ended up spending a fair chunk of time in the car... The girls were really on one this time. After we'd picked up our "prairie diamond" rings and we were in the middle of our tour at the Tin Smith Shop, Brigitta tried to shove her ring up her nose. When I chastised her for it, the senior gentleman sitting next to me almost fell off his seat laughing.

Things had dried off enough for the girls to once again enjoy their very favorite spot- Pioneer Pastimes!

I struck up a conversation with a senior sister about the lack of food options in Nauvoo. She said that because it's such a small town, all of the restaurant owners band together to ensure the local government doesn't allow outside vendors because it would cut into their revenues. On the one hand, that's fair- these people were here first. But on the other, oh how amazing it would be to have a variety of food trucks near the park!

The Family Living Center is always fun but the girls really love the rope making. I love this pic of Liesel.

 It wasn't too busy so Sydney got to try her hand at it even though the wheel was as big as she is- ha!

I have such a special place in my heart for sisters. I love seeing my girls interact with them!

We were sad to discover that the adorable gingerbread boys and girls have been replaced with simple, round cookies. Even so, a fight ensued between Brigitta and Sydney over who's was bigger so as soon as we got back to the car, I chucked them both out the window. Again, I refused to go anywhere until they hugged and made up. While we were waiting (a long, long, LONG time) for this reconciliation, I noticed this audacious bird who had spotted the discarded cookies. He'd already snatched one of the cookies and watching him make his return became our world there for a minute.

I'm not sure if the girls thought they still had a chance at eating that cookie there in the gravel or what, but as you can hear Sydney bemoan, "This is the worstest day EVER!" The struggle to maintain my sanity on this trip was real and I have to admit I watched that video over and over because it made me laugh so hard.

We ended our trip at the Sarah Granger House where the Relief Society was founded. The younger two were still emotionally traumatized from the cookie thing and I was beyond irritated with all of them for all the fighting. The two sweet sister missionaries could readily tell everyone was out of sorts and I think we kind of threw off their gentle vibe. I'm sure they were judging me the way I would have judged a harried mother when I was young. Even so, the view of the temple from the front window was just lovely.

Thoughts of doing pageant next year floated into my thoughts on the drive home...