Spring Break 2013 - Day 4: Goodbye's, Imo's, Walmart, Weapons And Fishing

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

On Wednesday morning Steve's brother Mike and his family had to leave to go back home to Kentucky. It was sad to see them go, but we are thankful we were able to spend some time with them.  We all sat around talking and saying our goodbyes until they finally had to leave.

I guess Zac and Asher have their own way of saying goodbye.  PS: This is Sierra's Color Guard gun that is not real, is plastic and weighs almost nothing.

Addy got hung upside down a few times

Zac was sad to have to say goodbye to Asia and he tried to keep her.

One thing at the top of everyone's list for things that must be done while in Missouri was eat at Imo's.  We went Wednesday to the lunch buffet.

Zac ate so much pizza, he had to lie down in a booth to help his digestion along

A vacation just wouldn't be a vacation without a trip to Walmart.  So after we left Imo's, we headed over to Walmart so we could check another thing off our Missouri Bucket List.  I was a little nervous about returning to this Walmart.  I fully believe I contracted a virus that lead to bronchitis last time I was at the Troy MO Walmart, where I spent hours sitting on the floor of the pharmacy section.  I didn't even go near that section of the store this time.

Not long after we got back to Steve and Heather's house, their kids got out of school.  Sierra showed us some of her color guard moves.  She can throw that thing pretty darn high!

A few people slept off their buffet

I bought bubbles at Walmart.  I bought the cheap ones.  You wouldn't think cheap would make that much difference in bubbles, but apparently it does.  I can't believe how hard it was to produce a single bubble.  But   despite the painstaking effort it took, the kids enjoyed it.

 Aubrey and Mandi worked on a puzzle

Uncle Steve taught the girls how to use a lasso

 Aubrey played with the rabbits

Steve bought Emily an air soft pistol at Walmart so she tried that out

Zac bought a slingshot in Nauvoo and he gave that a "shot"

Zac brought his throwing knives on the trip and Tyler was using those.

The Steve and Heather had the idea to take the kids to the city pond to fish.  Our kids have never really been fishing, except for Zac, and they were so excited.  They had so much fun.

Emily gettin' her redneck on, jack.

Aubrey was the first one of our kids to catch a fish.  Heather tried to tell her it was tradition to kiss your first catch of the day, but Aubrey refused.  She didn't want to touch the fish at all.

Addy had no problem at all holding her fish.

Emily tried to get us all to believe that she caught this big fish.  She really just picked it up from a rock.  GROSS!

Feeding the ducks

Emily's actual fish that she caught

All Zac has left to do to earn his fishing merit badge is to catch a fish, clean it, cook it and eat it.  It was getting late and we were afraid he wasn't going to catch one.  But just before it was time to go, he did!

Uncle Steve helped him clean it and prep it and Aunt Heather helped him cook it.  

He did the eating all by himself.

The Drive

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Spring Break 2013 - Day 3: Nauvoo Temple And Carthage Jail

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

On Tuesday morning we woke up and checked out of the house we were staying at.  Then we took the teenagers to the Nauvoo Temple to do baptisms.  It was such a neat experience and probably one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  We did family names that Steve's dad and step-mom brought.  It was so neat to be in the Temple with grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents and cousins.  Before we went in to do the baptisms the temple workers told us that the Nauvoo temple was the first temple to have baptisms for the dead performed in it and that they were done in the original baptistery which stood in the same place as the new one.  And that many of the early church leaders including Joseph Smith did baptisms there.

After we left the Temple, we drove to Carthage.  But first we stopped for lunch at Hardees, AKA Carl's Jr.  (Carl's Jr. is better)(Although my kids were delighted when they asked for fry sauce and they actually had it!  Because usually Carl's Jr. is always out of it when we go.  Except the girl behind the counter said, "What is that, the ketchup and mayo stuff?"  And then I think she mixed it up for them because they brought it out to us in bowls.   I guess they get a lot of Utahans out that way asking for that ketchup and mayo stuff)

After we ate we went to visit Carthage Jail, 

the place of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith.

This is the room where the prisoners were held.  You can see the bullet hole in the door that killed Hyrum.  The window at the end of the room is the one Joseph fell out of after he was shot.

I had to include this picture.  Reagan is running one direction and Emily another. 

It looks like Reagan is miniaturized and Emily is carrying her.

After leaving Carthage, we returned to Nauvoo.  

We went to see the Smith home and also see where Joseph, Hyrum and Emma Smith are buried.

This is the marker for Hyrum, Joseph and Emma's graves

Joseph's Parents

Mike and Reagan

Next we headed over to the park where we built a fire to roast marshmallows.  

We ate a picnic dinner and the kids played while we were waiting for a play to start.

Zac showing grandpa how to heat up the pizza leftover from last night.

That evening we went to see a play called Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo.  

After the play Emily and the kids were explaining Emily's little mistake to one of the actors.  The day before when we went on the carriage and wagon rides, they had quilts we could take and use.  So when we walked into the play and Emily saw a box of quilts by the back door, she thought those were for our use as well.  She picked one up, wrapped it around her, and sat down to watch the play.  We had so many people with us that I didn't walk in with her and she was sitting all the way on the other end of our row from me, so I had no idea this took place.  During one part of the play a group of ladies came in from the back carrying quilts and went up on the stage to "sew" their quilts.  That is when Emily noticed that one lady did not have a quilt in her hand but was "sewing" air.  One lady leaned over and asked her, "Where's your quilt?"  To which she replied with a shrug and said, "I don't know, it wasn't there."

After the play, it was time to say good-bye to Nauvoo and head back to Missouri   But before we left we drove over to the temple.  It was so beautiful all lit up at night.  It was so neat the whole time we were in Nauvoo, it didn't matter where we were, we could always see the Temple up on the hill.