Nauvoo

Josh and I had a GREAT weekend this past week.  My sweet parents flew in and we all took a trip up to Nauvoo, IL.  In case you don't know, Nauvoo is a big historic site for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  We had such a fun time together.  My parents are just the best thing in the world!

Here we are on our drive up there.  Grandpa zonked out and Granny entertained.  We decided that we needed to take them along when we drive to GA.  They definitely got the hard job of keeping the kids occupied. 

The kids thought the monkey neck pillow was quite entertaining.

Here we are at a stop we made along the way.  Missouri is in such a drought.  The grass everywhere was super dead. 

Our first thing we got to go see were the oxen.  We went on a little oxen ride, and the kids were in heaven.  Anna told me that was her favorite part of the trip. 

There were so many interesting things we learned at this place.  It's just amazing how easy our lives are now compared to how hard it was back then. 

We could not pull Andrew away from this table if we wanted.  He loved playing with the play food and such.  That boy loves kitchen utensils!

Anna loved spinning this wheel.  They showed up how to make rope and Anna wanted in on the action. 

That night we went to this buffet that Nauvoo is supposedly famous for.  It was great!

Anna got to take home some rope that she spun and used it as a jump rope for the rest of the day.  She loves it!

This is Daddy and Anna on stage after the show, "Sunset by the Mississippi".  The show was great.  The whole time Andrew kept trying to run up on stage.  Oh boy!  How cute is this picture though?

Before the big pageant started, there was a fair where you could do things that the pioneers used to do for entertainment.  It was super fun.  The kids loved it.

Daddy pulling a handcart.  He ran up and down the field with the kids in the back.  Anna and Andrew were in heaven. 

Even Granny got in on it.  So fun!

It was a perfect weekend.  We loved every second of it and will never forget the good spirit we felt as we were there. 

Our First Camping Experience

A little over a month ago, Josh and I went on our first camp out together.  It was SO fun.  Our good friends, the Nelson's and Lopez's, set it all up and we just joined in.  It was a great night.  Luckily, we got to go before all of the heat hit.  Here are some pics of our experience.
(Above is Andrew enjoying his dinner that was cooked over the fire).
There were a ton of horses there.  These people from Texas come up every year to help herd stray cattle, and I guess they were all staying at this camp.  So, we got to go over and pet the horses and such.  They were even nice enough to let the kids sit on the horses. 

Andrew kept saying, "Horse!  Nay!!!!!"  It was so cute.

Check out that sweet face.

We fit a pack-n-play and a queen size blow up mattress in this four man tent.  It fit, but just barely.  Poor Josh blew up our huge mattress with nothing but his lungs because I forgot the blow dryer at home.  Not a good wife moment.  He was quite dizzy after blowing it up, but thank goodness we had it.  I like the luxuries of modern day camping. 

This is at breakfast in the morning.  I just love those guys.

Wow, here start the pics I took on my camera.  Look at the difference in quality.  We just have a little point and shoot.  My friend Danica is a professional photographer, (the best one I've ever met for that matter...no joke), and look at the difference!  Wow!  Maybe it's time to invest in a new DSLR.  Perhaps an income should come first though, huh?

Andrew was OBSESSED with this water fountain.  He played at it for like 30 minutes.  It's the kind with a pedal to make the water work. 

Very blurry, but here we are!

Andrew LOVES Ellie!  They are only a month apart in age.  So cute!

Who doesn't love playing with fire?

OK, this is the funniest thing.  Anna is SUCH a girl!  Here we are camping in flip flops!....and the whole time she was so worried that her feet were dirty.  She used wipe after wipe after wipe to keep her feet clean.  She would spend five minutes cleaning her feet, walk around for five minutes, and then repeat.  We tried to convince her that camping just gets us a little dirty and it's fine.  Nope.  She wouldn't hear any of it. 

It was a great trip.  As soon as we got there, Anna was begging to go to sleep so that she could go in the tent.  What's better than roasting marshmallows, enjoying nature, and being with friends and family?  Nothing.

Mall Toys

 Just a few pics I snapped at the mall the other day.  My kids LOVE to play on the "mall toys".  They could stay there all day.  It's fun to watch them.  Andrew is always knocking people out of the way so he can get down the slide.  So, there's always a little disciplining going on too but it's all good.