The Fair City of Nauvoo

We headed to Nauvoo on Wednesday morning. Remembering the children's shenanigans on our trip to Kansas City prompted me to bring a greater variety of entertainments for the car trip. We introduced Grandma Hessing to Bollywood with "Bride and Prejudice." That movie cracks me up. (Even funnier, Luke has been humming "No life, without wife" around the house.) It was a pleasant drive and we made it to our hotel with plenty of time to catch dinner at the Nauvoo Inn before the fair and pageant. (Boy was that meal over priced.)

They have the most charming pioneer fair before the pageant. families dressed in pioneer garb taught us how to dance, play stickball and stick pull, pull a hadcart, make a cloth doll, put on a puppet show, roll a hoop, and walk on stilts (sort of). It was so much fun. The pageant was great, of course. The not so great part...having a pageant worker sneak up behind us just as the performance was starting to ask if we'd seen a skunk wander by. I think we would have smelled it first, right? Whatever it was, it brushed against Reilly's leg as it went past. (Shudder.)

 Ken and I pull the kids in a handcart.

 Ken and I take a break while the kids pull us in a handcart.

 In front of the Nauvoo Temple.

 Watching a pioneer puppet show.

 Making a cloth doll.

 More handcart fun.

One of many unsuccessful attempts at stilt-walking.

Thursday we began our day by visiting Carthage Jail before heading back to Nauvoo to tour the Old Nauvoo sites. We also took in a play at the Nauvoo visitor's center, "High Hopes and River Boats," during which I had to confiscate Luke's "prairie diamond" after he lost it beneath his seat no less than four times. That began the performance by quoting Brigham Young as saying, "Crying children, like good intentions, should be carried out immediately." (I'm not sure about that Brigham Young...) Thankfully he said nothing about clanging jewelry or brothers that cause a ruckus when they yell, "Luke, you can just have my ring!" It was a very fun play put on by young people serving mini missions to Nauvoo. We had some Nauvoo fudge. We also caught a variety show in the evening called "Sunset on the Mississippi." All the senior missionary couples serving in Nauvoo, the Nauvoo band, and the "mini" missionaries put on the show. The kids got to make hats before the show and march in a parade up onto the stage for the National Anthem.

What we didn't do was take a wagon tour of Old Nauvoo on Thursday. We promised the kids we would, but didn't realize you have to be waiting in line at the visitor's center around 7:00 am to have a chance of snagging some of the day's tickets. Since we promised, Ken and his Dad woke early the next ,orning to get us some tickets and a ride before we headed back to Lincoln. They managed to get tickets for the 10:30 am wagon tour, so we had time to see some more Nauvoo sites before our tour. We toured the gunsmith shop and had a cookie at the Scoville Bakery before it was out turn to ride in the wagons.

We had so much fun in Nauvoo. The kids have already asked if we could go back next year. (Good news for Kadie and Reilly I guess, the youth in our Ward are heading to Nauvoo next summer!)