Nauvoo

Nauvoo is one of our family's favorite places. When we initally planned our trip across the country, we thought we would take a more northern route and skip Nauvoo this time. But the kids all insisted that we go. We went to Nauvoo 5 years ago for a family reunion and spent several wonderful days. Afterwards, the kids couldn't decide if they liked Nauvoo or Disneyland better.

This time, we only had about 24 hours to spend in Nauvoo. We got there Saturday late afternoon and attended the pageant that evening. Before the pageant, they had a whole bunch of activities for everyone to participate in.

We didn't even do half of them, but some that we enjoyed were pulling sticks,

walking on stilts (David was WAY better than the rest of us),

using this cool saw,

and pulling handcarts.

The pageant was wonderful and Sarah was dying the whole time to be in it. She kept telling us over and over that she just wanted to be on stage!

On Sunday, we went to church and then visited more of the historical sites. Some of our favorites were the blacksmith shop, where we watched a horseshoe being made,

and then got these cool prairie diamond rings.

We also visited the brickyard, the bakery and the family living center where we learned about candle making, coopering, and actually made a rope.

We walked down to the end of Parley Street and thought about the pioneers leaving their wonderful city and crossing the frozen Mississippi river. Then the kids had fun throwing rocks in the river.

We also made a stop at the temple

and then drove over to Carthage.

There was so much more to do, but we had a great time and once again fell in love with Nauvoo.