Family Visitors, 4th of July, and Nauvoo!

Happy Independence Day! We had a fantastic time last week with Nick's family here to visit. Alec had to warm up to people for a few minutes, but by the next day he was running around "Grandpa! Pen? Pen?" , "NICHELLE! WATCH?" and life was good. The day they arrived we had a beautiful outdoor kabob dinner to celebrate their arrival. That night we also had the pleasure of introducing them to fireflies! I LOVE LOVE fireflies... to me they are the embodiment of summer time. We couldn't have ordered better weather for their stay here in Des Moines. (Sadly I didn't take any pictures that day!)

The next day we got up and headed out to Raccoon River Park to take a walk around the trail. We saw a really big turtle walk across the path in the woods. As soon as it saw us it refused to turn it's back on us and hissed at us until we a safe distance away. I never knew turtles could hiss! We didn't get very far on the trail before we ran into the seriously washed out areas (thanks to our recent flooding here in Des Moines). I'm sad that my favorite trail is washed away and hope that it's back up in working order this fall. Until then I'll have to stick to the streets for my running. After having a blast playing at the playground with Alec (definitely his favorite part of the day) we went up to sneak Nick away for lunch. We ate at this Mexican chain restaurant out here that is similar to Cafe Rio, but is missing the smothering sauce on their burritos. Still very yummy and very filling!

Shortly after Nick got home we were off to the city pool for Family Night! I love that they have a family night here in the middle of the week. By the evening it was getting pretty cold so we didn't put Lyssa in the water much. Alec, on the other hand, was having a wet experience. :-) It was chilly though, so we spent most of the time with Nick or myself holding him in the warm lazy river. I've never had Alec snuggle with me for so long, but after we got out of the water I was the warmest thing he could find! He was very sweet and I didn't mind holding him at all. He was warming me up too!

Thursday morning we took things pretty chill and let the kids take naps at home. Once Nick got home though we were off to the Mall to shop until you drop! I actually spent most of my time in the play area. We had a blast! There weren't too many kids there, but still enough for Alec to watch and learn from, and occasionally interact with. I had a great time playing "photographer" with him as he tried new things. Alec is particularly fond of climbing on the animals and "surfing" on the turtle's back. That kid so needs to see "Finding Nemo".

Then that evening we walked down the street to the city's 4th of July parade (on the 3rd of July... perhaps a little random?) and had a blasts! We cheered for floats and goggled about the many sweet classic cars. Alec's favorite part was the firetrucks. My favorite part was the gobs and gobs of candy people kept throwing me because I would cheer for them. Lyssa's favorite part was being held by her daddy or grandma the entire time. I could do an entire post with just the pictures from that one event. So many cute photos!

Friday morning we got up early, ate RED WHITE and BLUE CREEPS (raspberries, blueberries, and homemade whipped cream) and packed for Nauvoo. Then we were off! About half way there we stopped for lunch at Burger King. Now I've never been a big fan of any fast food burger joint, but I just have to give a happy shout out to "The King". They are the only fast food restaurant that has a Kid's Meal that Alec will actually eat! Mac and Cheese, Apple fries (apples cut like french fries) milk, and a toy to keep the boy happy for the next hour and a half in the car. Sweet!

We arrived in Nauvoo and stayed in the Nauvoo Inn and Suites in (what I believe to be) the exact same Suite I stayed in when I came to Nauvoo for Youth Conference back in 2000. Crazy, huh? Alec was totally wired and kept running back and forth exploring every room in the suite over and over again. Talk about over stimulation! He was a typical 18 month old kid while we were there, and got frustrated when he couldn't get down and touch all the "artifacts". He never wanted to sit still for more than a second, and being asked to be quiet was kind of a joke in his book. He did like the gingerbread cookie from the Bakery and had a great time playing in the Women's Statue Garden behind the Nauvoo Visitors Center. He decided to carry on his mothers tradition of being completely irreverent around outdoor statues, and had to climb up and give it a try. As you can see, I didn't stop him either. :-)

Nick, Nichelle, and I did drive over to Keokuk, Iowa to see the fireworks, and ended up running 8-10 blocks up hill to see the finale. They were beautiful and I felt quite patriotic in my red, white and blue. I felt so grateful for my freedom, grateful for this wonderful country, grateful for to the Chinese for inventing beautiful fireworks, and grateful for Lael and Stuart offering to stay with the sleeping babies in the hotel room. (Again, no pictures... sad).

The next morning Nick and I had the amazing opportunity to go through the Nauvoo Temple for a session together. This is a very rare occasion since we live a few hours away from the temple and it's hard to leave babies (much less a nursing baby) for three hours with other people. Nick's parents graciously agreed to watch them for us. Thank you! Thank you! The Nauvoo Temple is a beautiful temple. The last time I was in Nauvoo they weren't even publicly talking about rebuilding that sacred building. It was quite the site to behold, even from the outside! It looks so beautiful and majestic sitting up on the hill overlooking the Mississippi River. I loved being there with Nick, looking at all the beautiful workmanship that went into that temple, and thinking of the many sacrifices that were made so that temple could be built not once, but twice. Amazing...

All in all it was a great trip, but I must admit that going site seeing with small children isn't very effective. I'm glad I've been there before and live close enough to possibly go again when the kids are older so I can get more out of it. It was wonderful getting to spend time with Nichelle and Stuart and Lael and it was great to see my kids so happy, having so much fun with their grandparents. Thank you for coming, Grandma and Grandpa!

The drive home was kind of long and hard because the kids were over exhausted (after missing all naps for the past two days) and they were very sad to leave grandma and grandpa. I think what should have taken three hours took five, but thats okay. We stopped about half way home and let the kids get out and stretch a bit. Lyssa rolled all over the place and loved trying to stuff as much grass in her mouth as possible before I would stop her. Alec was a little spaced out, but got some good running, climbing, and rocking throwing done thanks to the big river right next to the park.

And now some Alec highlights....

When you walk into the visitors center in Nauvoo directly at the back is a Christus Statue. Alec walked right up to it, and said "Grandma. Jesus!" He kept wanting to stay over by the statue and look at it. It was so precious and made me feel great! We don't have much "churchy" artwork up around our house, but apparently my many conversations with Alec about Jesus (using Ensign pictures) have paid off! Woohoo! I have in fact taught him something!

While attempting to watch one of the many Nauvoo missionary performing groups, Alec got really into the dancing and singing. When a song and dance would end Alec would get mad and yell "No! Dance! Dance!" Then when a scene would end and they would turn the lights off he would get mad and yell "No! Lights On!" After about 15 minutes of my kid heckling the performers, we finally decided to take him back to the hotel. Funny kid.