Nauvoo

Lucy and Garrett were off school Friday so we had a nice long 4 day weekend to look forward to.  The weather was going to cool down for most of it and it was perfect to be outside.  It made us excited for some cooler fall weather to start showing up. We tried to think of something fun to go do with everyone.  We felt up for an adventure so we decided to load up our bikes and go to Nauvoo for the day.  We are about 2 1/2 hours from Nauvoo so it was a drive but not to bad. We packed a picnic lunch and got everything loaded in the car.  We got to Nauvoo around noon and stopped at the visitor center to use the bathroom.  We also refilled our water bottles and looked around briefly.  It was cute as I was at the drinking fountain with Garrett he turned to me and just looked so excited.  He had a big smile on his face and said to me " I can tell I'm really going to like it here!"   I was happy to hear him say that.  I have many memories of visiting Nauvoo as a child and always felt the spirit there.  I was excited to be there with our family there now.  We walked around the women's garden just outside the visitor center and looked at the statues. 

 

We then went to the Nauvoo park to have lunch and let the kids run around for a little while.  We got the bikes all unloaded and headed to start seeing some sites.  We first stopped at the printing place, both Lucy and Garrett found most of the sites interesting to learn about.  We knew Nolan would be a struggle since it was now nap time and he in general is a busy 2 year old.  He did well for the most part as we toured the John Taylor home.  I decided to just take Lucy and Garrett into the post office.     

 

 

 We then rode down Parley street, the tail of hope as they now call it.  It heads right down to the river.  As you go down the street you can look back and see the Nauvoo temple.  This is the path the saints took as they left Nauvoo and headed west.  The kids enjoyed seeing the mighty Mississippi river and looking inside the pioneer wagon they had there on display. 

We stopped at the blacksmiths for a prairie diamond and to learn how they made the wagon wheels.  One of JJ's seminary students told him that morning that her grandparents were serving mission in Nauvoo.  We kept our eye open for them and he happened to be the one presenting at the blacksmiths shop.  JJ chatted with him about how his granddaughter was in his seminary class.  Lucy was the lucky one to come home with the little horseshoe they made for us there.  We all picked out a prairie diamond ring.    

 

Since Lucy got the horseshoe we said Garrett could have the souvenir brick from the brickyard.  He was pretty excited about that.  JJ took the kids in there to listen to how they made bricks there in Nauvoo.  Nolan was very wrestles at that point and just wanted to run around.  

 

We also stopped at the school house and then decided to ride our bikes to maybe catch a wagon ride.  By time we got there they had ended for the day.  It was still nice to ride around and enjoy looking at things.  We stopped and walked around the temple for a little while.  I love all temples and think they are so pretty.  We pointed out the symbols on the temple to the kids.  Maybe someday JJ and I can actually attend a session at the Nauvoo temple.   

 

 

Our last stop was to visit the Smith family burial site.  We didn't stay long just walked back to take a quick look.  We then headed back to the park and got everything loaded back up in the van. 

We were surprised that we were able to see a fair amount of Nauvoo in the short while we were there.  It wasn't busy this time of year which was nice.  We couldn't have asked for a better day to spend biking around.  It has been 4 years since we were there last.  Hopefully in the next few years as Nolan gets older we can make it back up to see the pageant.  I know that as the older kids continue to grow up they learn so much from experiences like this.  We stopped in Keokuk for some dinner before headed home.  We are glad we went, we had a fun day together.  I am so thankful for a fun family to spend time with.    

Newly Wed Game

For our youth activity this week we had a standards night.  The young men and young women were combined with the young men in charge.  They planned a fun activity using the newly wed game to go over some standards.  The questions went along with a standard in the "For the strength of the youth" pamphlet.  For example what is your spouses favorite band, going along with the good entertainment standard.  They would go over the standard while we were writing down our answers.  We had fun participating.  Some of the questions were really hard to answer.  JJ and I also don't really have "favorite" anything.  We like lots of things so it was hard to try to think what the other was thinking.  We ended up getting second place!  We had root beer floats for a treat, it was a fun evening.  

With the pool closing after Labor Day Nolan and I tried to soak up some pool time this week.  When all the kids are at school it is nice to be practically the only ones there.  He likes to have me go down the slide with him over and over.  He also likes to jump into the pool to me.  He usually does a little gallop and dance before running and jumping to me.  He also loved floating on his back with my hands supporting him still.  Hopefully he will continue to be comfortable in the water.  We have fun playing in the water together.  It makes me sad to think summer is coming to an end.   

We have really lucked out with our neighbors, they are all great.  We have been lucky to become good friends with them over the past few years we have lived here.  Sadly one of the families is moving away.  They bought a beautiful house down the road with a few acres of land.  We are so happy for them but will miss them a lot.  Their boys are the same age as Garrett and Nolan.  We love playing with them outside.  Saturday evening we got together in the cul-de-sac for a BBQ potluck dinner.  It was fun hanging out with everyone.  The kids ate a few bites and then took off running and playing together.  As the evening went on a big storm rolled in.  Just as it was getting dark it started to rain hard and we all grabbed our things and called it a night.  It was a fun evening, we need to get together more often with everyone.  In a way I guess we do by just playing together outside. 

Nolan and I headed back for story time again at the library.  He enjoyed sitting on my lap while listening to the stories.  They do a color match game at the end and he really enjoys that.  They read books about sunflowers.  He had fun helping me glue his sunflower together for our craft.

 The kids are loving the new swing set.  I love watching them swing and play together on it.  Nolan is so cute swinging laying on his stomach.  One afternoon I looked out the window and saw Garrett was pushing Nolan on the swing.  Nolan was laying on his stomach but was going really high.  I had to yell down to Garrett to not push him so high.  

 Our neighbors were cleaning out their pantry and gave us this Jello dessert kit.  Their little boy can no longer have dairy and has a lot of dietary restrictions.  Lucy made it for us to enjoy after dinner one night.  She really enjoys helping in the kitchen and a simple thing like this was fun for her.  

 Lucy made an all about me poster to take to school.  When they are the start student of the week their poster will be displayed in the class.  She worked hard filling out all the sections.  She worked with JJ on it one night while I had something.  When I can home he was excited to show me who Lucy wrote down for her hero.  She is so sweet and it made me feel good to hear those nice things she wrote about me.  

 

 Garrett lost a tooth at school, he was so excited to come home and tell me about it.  He pulled it out all by himself! I think that might be the first tooth he has actually pulled out.  Usually I end up yanking them out.  He loved the little treasure chest the nurse gave him to put his tooth in.

 Garrett started Taekwondo this week at a local athletic center.  We talked with him about a lot of different things we could sign him up for.  He was really excited about trying Taekwondo.  He loved his first class and had such a big smile on his face.  I wished I could have stayed to watch but Nolan was to loud.  Lucy watched the class while I walked around outside with Nolan.  It is only a short program since we wanted to see if he likes it.   

 Nolan was our little shopping helper as we ran errands Friday morning.  As we were walking out to the car he found a place to sit.  He was pretty happy about it.  He always wants to walk when we shop but we always make him sit in the cart.  We will usually let him try walking for a little bit but he runs away so he ends up in the cart.  He is a handful and such a busy little boy!  Shopping is always an adventure with him.    

 

Lucy Age 10

What is your favorite food? pizza and shrimp

What is your favorite thing to do as a family? have movie nights 

What are you looking forward to this year? playing basketball and having a birthday party

What is your favorite outfit? bright colored athletic leggings and blue athletic shirt

What is your favorite toy or thing to play? play with baby dolls

Favorite fruit? watermelon

Favorite TV show?  Fuller House, The Voice, Girl Meets World and Heartland

Favorite game to play?  Cars

Favorite animal? Shark 

Favorite song? Cheap Thrills by Sia

Favorite Book? Diary of the Wimpy kids books

Favorite thing to do outside? Ride bike and shoot hoops

Favorite cereal? Doesn't like cereal but likes egg whites for breakfast

Favorite Holiday?  Christmas

Favorite thing to take to bed with you? White Blanket 

What do you want to be when you grow up? Zoologist

 

I took Lucy in for her well child visit this week.  She is growing right on track and is nice and healthy.  She had fun talking to the doctor about the kind of music she likes.  Our doctor has some teenage girls and so she was in the loop with popular music. 

 

I feel like Lucy is growing up so much lately.  Her interests are becoming more mature.  As much as I think she is growing up so fast there are times that I am reminded that she is still a little girl.  She loves to play house with her baby doll.  She loves to play make believe and Legos.  She loves basketball and has fun talking to JJ about different players and teams.  I am glad they can share that together because I am not really that into sports. She continues to be helpful around the house and I need to remember that she is probably capable of more difficult chores then I give her. We sure love Lucy and it is fun to watch her grow up.  We love having her in our family.

to-do list done!

This weekend we were busy! JJ was so nice and got lots of thing done around the house.  We wanted to replace the hose holder on the side of the house.  It was broken and bent so the hose touched the ground and was killing the grass.  We picked out a fence post and a new iron holder to attach to it.  JJ dug the hole and filled it with cement.  It is nice and sturdy and will keep the hose off the ground.  He also fixed the lock we put in to keep Nolan from escaping the house.  Re-attached a bathroom cabinet door that mysteriously fell off.  None of the kids will admit to knowing anything about it.  We got the lawn mowed and trimmed and several other little things that I needed help doing.  I have been selling lots of things on the sell and swap page here.  We sold our big safety gate that separated Lego land, sold a set of couches, sold the little playhouse and some toys.  We also bought a new couch for the front living room.  I can't wait for it to come this weekend.  Some friends are moving and giving us a new set of couches for our basement.  I am looking forward to rearranging things down there.  I am sure I will find plenty more to sell and organize along the way.  

Festival of the Little Hills

Friday evening we headed to St. Charles main street for the festival of the little hills.  We went last year for the first time and had a fun time walking around with friends.  We decided to head back again this year.  We meet up with the Elmore's, Ben and Vale.  The festival has lots of vendors lined the streets with handmade crafts and items to buy.  We have fun looking at things and letting the kids pick out a treat.  We found a fun store and I bought a few things for the house.  We couldn't end our night without some funnel cake and fried Oreos.  We enjoy heading to main street with our friends.  It was fun to share memories of our past trips there together.     

 

Paw Patrol Toddler Time

We had some friends invite us to Skyzone for a toddler time activity.  It was a Paw Patrol activity and Nolan was so excited to see the puppies.  I was a little worried about just sending Nolan out to jump by himself so I bought some socks so I could join him.  I wasn't allowed to jump but at least I could be out there with him.  Nolan did just fine and was so excited to jump and run all over the place.  We also made a little Paw Patrol craft.  It was a badge that we decorated with stickers.  We had a blast and we were happy to be invited.  It was fun to spend time with our friends.  We will have to look for more toddler time activities and go again.

Now that school has started up I want to do more things with Nolan.  I wanted to get back to going to story time.  We went Monday morning straight from the gym and it worked out really well.  They have it every Monday so hopefully we can make it a regular thing.  They talked about the zoo and read books about animals.  Nolan did pretty well sitting the whole time but it will take some practice and getting use to again for him.  We glued a letter "Z" on a paper and made a zebra.  I totally did it wrong and glued his "Z" on backwards.  He didn't know any different so it didn't really matter.

 Seminary started again on Monday.  JJ is teaching the Juniors and has a really big class.  He has tried to keep his early morning schedule all summer but it is still tough getting up that early.  We sat down to watch some Olympics together Monday night and JJ didn't make it long.  He is fine if he is up and moving but the minute he sits down he falls asleep.

 Every time JJ sits down to eat Nolan tries to climb into his lap to eat with him.  He doesn't do it with me, just JJ.  Probably because JJ usually allows it and will give him bites of what he is eating.  Lately JJ has really started to stop doing it.  We kind of laugh that half way through dinner Nolan climbs up on the table and tries to climb down into JJ's lap.     

 Lucy checked out a magazine from the school library all about the Olympics.  She has been spending lots of time reading about the athletes and telling us about all the events going on during that day.  Its fun that the kids are excited about watching the Olympics.