Stop #2... Nauvoo

Stew and the kids have never been to Nauvoo, so we had to make a stop there. It was wonderful. A little less "spiritual" as I had envisioned it. But what do you expect with this group and we were out numbered by kids. :) But we had a great time. The kids loved the cultural center where they got to make candles, ropes, bake bread, make a rug, wool, and a favorite, pretend to be a pioneer with real pioneer stuff. All the girls (except Shailey, the pre-teen) got pioneer bonnets. They were in heaven. True pioneers now. They loved playing tag in the field that over looked the Mississippi River. I think they've seen Little House on the Prairie too much. ha ha Greyson was content in his own world playing his new harmonica. Stew's favorite place was the gun shop. Such a boy thing. ha ha My favorite part was when we got to see a piece of family history. Stew's family was a part of Nauvoo. We went to the geneology center and they were able to pull up a map with the location they lived. The first few pictures are at the south west corner of their land. So just behind us would have been their home. It is now privately owned, so we couldn't go any farther. But it was such a cool experience to tell the kids... that's where your ancestors lived! We all felt a huge connection there. We spent 2 days in Nauvoo and on the way back home to Bloomington, we went through Carthage to see the jail. Very peaceful experience. Such a wonderful trip! Stew was once again a trooper with all the "wives". ha ha