Dan & Clare & girls Visit!

Dan &Clare and the girls came to visit on July 14-18! It was so fun to see Mesia and Anna again...oh and Dan & Clare too, of course! :)

Anna wasn't sure whether or not she liked Nauvoo......

until she had something to eat!!.....

and saw the horses! That brought on some smiles!

They both loved the wagon ride through Old Nauvoo...

But Anna did not want to be in the parade at Sunset by the Mississippi  that night!

Mesia, on the other hand LOVED IT...and

even wanted to DANCE and be part of the production!!

They all enjoyed the activities at Frontier Country Fair

Well, ALMOST everyone.  Anna was a little concerned with the puppet show!

But they LOVED Pageant...especially when the children were on stage.  Mesia said she wanted to be in the Pageant next year!!

Seeing the TRAIL OF HOPE

During Pageant month, the core cast perform short vignettes called "Historic Nauvoo Remembered". They are all wonderful, and Dan and Clare got to see most of them. We went with them to the Trail of Hope vignette, and it was awesome. All along the trail members of the cast were positioned and portraying various people who lived in Old Nauvoo. Some even sang. It was very touching.

The Oxen Ride

Mesia remembered the oxen ride from last summer and really wanted to go on that again.  She even remembered their names - Duke and Don!  They were still here in Nauvoo, but the pair they were using this day for the rides were Hank and Homer, and they were even bigger...but very very slow!  I think Hank had a sore leg or something:(

Anna was being BRAVE!

Mesia LOVED THEM!

Ready for the ride.  I think Anna did NOT like the way the oxen smelled!!  I really didn't either :)

Blacksmith Shop & River

Just like the early pioneers...we went to the blacksmith shop to learn all about the wagons etc.
and then to the river. I'm glad we didn't have to cross over on barges though. And I am glad it was not 30 below like it was that day in February 1846!! Every time I walk down Parley's Street, I wonder how they had the faith and the stamina to do what they did!

Mesia, taking pictures in the blacksmith shop. This is one of the YPM's doing the demonstration.

At the River...but not ready to cross :)

Balloons Over the Mississippi

On Saturday, we went to Ft. Madison to see the BALLOONS OVER THE MISSISSIPPI. This is a yearly event, and last year I tried to see it, but it was too cold and windy and they couldn't launch the balloons. It was an amazing site to see. There were about 12 hot air balloons that participated and they had a contest to see which one landed closest to a target on the ground. The only way they can guide them is by going up and down. It was amazing to see how close most of them came to the target.

They were beautiful and even bigger than I thought they would be!   I would love to ride in one someday!

Mesia loved playing in the bouncing toys that they had.  This was right as she was going in.

It turned out to be a fun evening.

The Birthday Party

That night after we got home, the girls got ready for bed and then we had a birthday party for both of them!

It was late, but they both were excited for the party.

Anna will be turning 2...

and Mesia will be 4! They are growing up so fast.

They both got pioneer bonnets from Grandma & Grandpa...to remind them of their trip to Nauvoo! We will miss these two little angels!
But, we will be home soon!

Misc. items

We won the "Yard of the Month" sign for our garden :) This is just a sign one of the missionaries made. I kept it for a few days and then passed it on to another deserving yard

These beautiful Queen Anne flowers are all over here this time of year. There is a women in Bentonsport who uses these to put designs on her pottery. We are going to see a demonstration of her work in a couple of weeks for our Friday p-day activity

A cute tree with one of the many Mississippi barges in the background. I saw this on one of my bike rides.

Just ONE of the containers that are fastened together in these barges. There are usually 15 of these hooked together ( 3 across and 5 or more long)  and hold as much as 675 semi trucks!! 

We saw these up close and personal in the locks at Keokuk.  It was quite a sight.

The tug boat that pushes these huge barges.  I don't know HOW they do it !!!

Rick, watching two of these big barges - one going up and one going down the river.  Check out the cool geese flying by also and the moon!

One of the critters that has been eating my garden!  I caught him one morning and snapped this picture, but there is no way we can stop all the animals from eating and enjoying my vegetables!

I loved this picture of pioneer clothes drying in the morning sun.  I saw this on one of my morning walks in the park. This family is obviously camping here while they are participating in the Pageant, because these are NOT the kind of clothes you see on regular campers :)

A favorite spot and a gorgeous evening!  We love Nauvoo!!