We decided to fly out for various reasons and use up some of Travis' miles. Because he had miles on two different airlines, we had to split up and fly separately. I had Jaxon and Ginger on Delta and Travis took Violet on American. It was the kids' first time flying. :) They thought it was great!
The first evening we just relaxed and caught up a bit. Violet had lots of fun playing with cousins in the sprinklers. Jaxon got a little dehydrated and after his long day, went to bed early.
The second morning we headed for Lake Michigan for a day at the beach. The water felt great on such a hot day and the kids were having a ball swimming and building sand castles all afternoon.
The second morning we headed for Lake Michigan for a day at the beach. The water felt great on such a hot day and the kids were having a ball swimming and building sand castles all afternoon.
The next day we drove into Chicago and did some sight seeing.
We took a riverboat tour of the city that also went out onto the lake where we could see the beautiful Chicago skyline.
After the tour, Grammy and Pappy treated everyone to a show, Aladdin.
I had tried to prep Jaxon ahead of time because I figured he wouldn't be able to understand everything and he hadn't seen Aladdin before. So I borrowed Aladdin from my sister a week before and we watched it for our monthly family pizza/movie night.
It went great, and an additional thanks to JaNae and Natalie for driving the littlest ones home and watching them!
The next day we left for Nauvoo (which is a four hour drive from the Chicago area). Once there we enjoyed the sights and activities around us.
We went to a little play and at the end the main character got off the stage and ran to Jaxon and quickly asked if he wanted to join her on stage. Of course any normal kid would jump at the chance but Jaxon had no idea what was going on. It all happened quickly but I encouraged him to go with her and he reluctantly did. Once on stage she asked him to pinkie promise something and held out her pinky to him. Jaxon was so confused and just stared at her. He told me later he was just confused the whole time because he couldn't understand everything she was saying (he was probably really thrown off by the whole "pinkie promise", ha ha...poor guy.)
Meanwhile to the rest of the audience, he looked like the world's biggest party pooper. I was thinking, Out of all the kids in the audience, why'd she have to pick him? Poor girl, she was probably thinking the same thing at this point. She finally just took his pinkie in hers and they all broke out in song around him. Anyway, that will be a fun story to tell him in 10 years...
We camped that night at the Nauvoo campground and the kids chased and caught fireflies for a good while. That night we woke up to some CRAZY thunder and lightning storm. The wind was so strong it brought down a couple trees. I actually thought we might be in some tornado danger. I was planning in my mind our emergency escape route (grab kids, run towards bathrooms...)while Travis was admiring the non-stop lightning that flashed above our heads.
Violet and Ginger surprisingly slept through it (actually, that was one of Ginger's best nights of sleep yet!), but it did wake Jaxon but he seemed unconcerned about our seemingly impending doom. We are so grateful our tent held up well that night. Actually, now that I remember, it was really warm that night before going to bed, so Travis asked if I wanted him to take off the rainfly. I almost said yes. Almost. This close. But then I wondered if it would rain and said not to worry about it, mostly because I didn't want to get up in the middle of the night half asleep and try to put a rainfly on the tent. So glad we kept it on. So glad.
The next morning, most of the adults went to do a session in the Nauvoo temple while JaNae and I stayed behind to watch the kids. After lunch we went to Carthage Jail (30 min away). Travis and I had a good talk with the kids on the way there to prep them for what they were about to see/do. Unfortunately Violet slept through half of the tour, poor thing. But Jaxon was very interested in seeing the rooms and hearing what happened.
Afterward we took some pictures, had a small devotional, and went back to Nauvoo.
We enjoyed going from home to home, Travis and I really enjoyed the brick yard and the tin shop. The kids loved playing at the outdoor activity center with all the pioneer games.
That evening we had a nice meal and listened to Grammy and Pappy tell us stories and then presented everyone with fidget spinners and their mission book that they put together. That will be so special to our family, especially since Travis was such a big part of it.
We drove back to Naperville, spent the night at Brady and JaNae's, and flew home the next day. Ginger slept the whole flight home. So nice!
It was such a fun vacation, and it was nice because we probably won't be back in that area again for several years (until our kids are old enough to understand/appreciate more about Church History). We are so grateful to Brady and JaNae for putting on a fantastic family reunion. We can't wait for the next one, wherever that'll be. Whoever's in charge of that one better start brainstorm-...oh wait...
 |
| A far more accurate depiction |
 |
| On the boat |
After the tour, Grammy and Pappy treated everyone to a show, Aladdin.
I had tried to prep Jaxon ahead of time because I figured he wouldn't be able to understand everything and he hadn't seen Aladdin before. So I borrowed Aladdin from my sister a week before and we watched it for our monthly family pizza/movie night.
 |
| Fancy schmancy... |
The next day we left for Nauvoo (which is a four hour drive from the Chicago area). Once there we enjoyed the sights and activities around us.
 |
| Cousins making rope |
Meanwhile to the rest of the audience, he looked like the world's biggest party pooper. I was thinking, Out of all the kids in the audience, why'd she have to pick him? Poor girl, she was probably thinking the same thing at this point. She finally just took his pinkie in hers and they all broke out in song around him. Anyway, that will be a fun story to tell him in 10 years...
We camped that night at the Nauvoo campground and the kids chased and caught fireflies for a good while. That night we woke up to some CRAZY thunder and lightning storm. The wind was so strong it brought down a couple trees. I actually thought we might be in some tornado danger. I was planning in my mind our emergency escape route (grab kids, run towards bathrooms...)while Travis was admiring the non-stop lightning that flashed above our heads.
 |
| Fallen tree in our campsite |
 |
| What a trooper |
Afterward we took some pictures, had a small devotional, and went back to Nauvoo.
We enjoyed going from home to home, Travis and I really enjoyed the brick yard and the tin shop. The kids loved playing at the outdoor activity center with all the pioneer games.
Ginger was such a good sport during the whole trip. It was very hot all week, and I'm so glad none of us got dehydrated (other than Jaxon that first day).
That evening we had a nice meal and listened to Grammy and Pappy tell us stories and then presented everyone with fidget spinners and their mission book that they put together. That will be so special to our family, especially since Travis was such a big part of it.
We drove back to Naperville, spent the night at Brady and JaNae's, and flew home the next day. Ginger slept the whole flight home. So nice!
It was such a fun vacation, and it was nice because we probably won't be back in that area again for several years (until our kids are old enough to understand/appreciate more about Church History). We are so grateful to Brady and JaNae for putting on a fantastic family reunion. We can't wait for the next one, wherever that'll be. Whoever's in charge of that one better start brainstorm-...oh wait...
No comments:
Post a Comment