Nauvoo, Illinois

We spent two days in Nauvoo, and wished we could spend longer. You forget that everything takes twice as long with kids. Stephen and I got to go to the temple separately which was great. It would have been nice to go together, but we can't quite afford a nanny yet! J/K! We went to the red brick store and some other places. We didn't have time to take the tour of the mansion house. We did get to see the pageant though which was awesome! Before the pageant, in the nearby field they have all sorts of pioneer activities that everybody can participate in. The kids loved it! Austin loved playing stickball. Everyone took a turn on the stilts. Stephen was the best at it! As you sat in the audience of the pageant, the Temple was directly behind it on the hill. It was pitch black outside and at the end of the show, they lit up the Temple. It was so beautiful! I can only imagine how the pioneers must feel having a Temple back in Nauvoo! I'm kicking myself that I didn't get a picture of our family by the Temple. We also stopped at Carthage Jail. Luckily, I have already done the tour there, because I had to leave the tour halfway through because Ben was being so restless! The rest of the kids were fascinated by the story there. It really opened up many discussions about church history and Joseph Smith with them. I hope I can take my kids back when they are all older. It was a great experience.