I love you Nauvoo

So we finally made it back to Nauvoo. I think it has been 3 years. I looooooove Nauvoo. We made it a quick trip, but it was still pretty fun. After the 1 1/2 car ride, we headed to pioneer pastimes to let the kids get their wiggles out. Apparently, pioneer children enjoyed riding on sheep. Interesting...

Pioneer children also enjoyed cooking,

cleaning,
teddy bear races,

and according to Faye, sticking their tongues out.

We went to the Relief Society garden. Mabel stood next to one of the statues.

On our wagon ride through the outskirts of town, all three of our kids fell asleep. Nice.

We also purchased some pioneer bonnets. Here are the kids trying them out on the ride home.

It was too short of a visit. We only drove by the temple and didn't make it to any of the houses. But at least we made it. Maybe in three more years our kids will appreciate it more and we can spend some more time. Nauvoo is probably my most favorite place ever. Ahhhhh (sigh).

4th of July

We were privileged with two 4th of Julys. At the Moran reunion we did tattoos, glow sticks, and lots of sparklers.

Here is Faye enjoying the festivities with aunt Heather

With 7 children running around crazy with sparklers, we were pretty lucky with only one casualty. Cousin Chloe burned her little finger on a sparkler, but she didn't need to go to the hospital, so darn it, I think we did pretty well.

4th of July with the Teed's included a parade and fireworks. No, this isn't a picture of Randy and I...it's actually Ricky and Samantha with Grandma Teed in there.

Mabel with cousin Caleb.

A valuable lesson was learned this year. If your fireworks say CAUTION: Flying flaming balls,

it in fact means that balls of flame will fly through the air. One of our fireworks started out a spraying fountain and we thought that was it...until it exploded and the balls of flame started flying everywhere. WHOOPS! We were actually very lucky no one got hurt.

Charlie with cousin Caleb

I'm booooored!

You have now entered the super fun zone. There is no boredom allowed. We took a trip to the John Deere Pavilion in Moline. If you think the best part is that it's free...you haven't been inside! We thought Mabel would have the most fun in our family. WRONG. Charlie was in Heaven. Lots of giant machinery that you can climb on and push buttons=FUN. In the evening we went to Happy Joes jungle bungle where the kids played on the jungle and the adults played games and ate, taco pizza. (drool)

Tuesday was half price day at the zoo. We rode the train and saw most of the animals before the children demanded that we go to McDonald's for lunch.

Now, if you decide to stay home, there is still plenty of fun to be had.

Trampoline jumping

binky stealing

pool swimming

karaoke singing

and playground playing.

Good times were had by all.

Vacation from H...

...eaven. No, seriously it was actually a wonderful family reunion! This was Faye for 6 of the 12 hours of the car ride back to the Midwest. And this was also Faye for 6 of the 12 hours on the car ride back home. Isn't she an angel?

Happy cousins.
Happy family.

The cousins all got along really well. The adults...we actually got along too. It was a successful gathering with lots of taco pizza and soda. The weather cooperated and we got in a hot badminton tournament and lots of outdoor activities, woohoo!

Memorial Day of Memories

So as far as our family vacations go...ahem, they don't seem to go...very well, EVER. Finally we have had our most wonderful vacation that we have been waiting a long time for. We went to Gatlinburg Tennessee for Memorial Day weekend and it was perfect for our little family. (When I say "little" family I mean young, because our kids are young. Our family is getting to be a decent size, I wouldn't categorize us as a little family, probably average now. Anyway, back to the blog.) We rented a log cabin in the mountains and hit the touristy town in the day. Way fun.

Here are the kids on the way to town on the first morning. This would be after going to bed late and waking up at 5:30am in a strange place so they couldn't fall back asleep. Ready for our fun filled day.
Randy and Faye, chillin' watching cartoons.

Here is a cool little fancy strip mall place with fancy architecture and pretty fountains.

Here is Faye working it in her stylish swimsuit.($5 at the Children's Place!)

So we went to a super awesome amusement park where Mabel and even Charlie were able to ride on most of the rides. Our favorite ride was a slide. You ride a chairlift to the top of the mountain and then slide down it, but you can go way fast and it's super fun! Unfortunately, no pics of the slide. Whoops!

Faye enjoying the morning as we stood in line waiting to go to the amusement park. She was oohed and aaahed by everyone who laid eyes on her!

Charlie is all tuckered out at the end of the day.

Here we are finishing our vacation at Ripley's Aquarium.

Charlie was scared of most of the fish at the aquarium. Of course, he was also scared of the children's play area, hmmmm?!

Here is Mabel in a tunnel that took her right next to the penguins. Just chillin'! Get it, chillin'? Penguins live in cold climates?!

So, that was the end of our most successful vacation. We even made it through the dreaded gift shop exit at the aquarium without purchasing anything. Phew! Now on to our next adventure. This weekend we are heading back to the Midwest for a Moran family reunion. Surely there will be laughing, crying, and lots of sugar and soda. Yes!!!

Petting Zoo

We visited a petting zoo a few weeks ago. We were able to pet and feed almost all of the animals at this zoo.
The goats seemed to be under the impression that WE were for lunch munching on the stroller, our shoes, and clothes. They tried to steal Charlie's binky, but we stashed it away in the nick of time.

Super hot!!! My husband and the weather. Mabel only whined the last 10-15 minutes that she was tired, hot, and hungry. Woohoo! We considered it a success.