June with the Johnson's: Part 5

June with the Johnson's: Part 5 - Illinois

We Kress' and Grandma J traveled for 19 hours on Monday the 24th. It was a really REALLY long day. Tuesday we spent the day in Nauvoo. When we moved to the Midwest, it was my one goal that we'd take the kids there. As our time here grows short, this was most likely my last opportunity. Unfortunately the boys were so tired and it was really hot, so the whole experience left something to be desired, but I'm glad we at least made the attempt. 

We started the day with a stroll through the Women's Garden then a walk 3/4 of the way to the temple. We took a wagon ride around old Nauvoo, which I'm glad of since we didn't get to actually go to many houses. There are a number of areas that are either new since I last visited, or that I've never made it to. The boys particularly enjoyed the Family Living Center, where they learned to make rope and played at a pioneer kitchen.

Hyrum could have stayed here all day. He loves playing with pretend food.

The most amusing thing to me though was that we were in historic Nauvoo, with all kinds of interesting old things, and the boys were over the moon excited about the drinking fountains. 

fountain #1

 fountain #2 

fountain #3

fountain #4

By about 4:30 everyone was sweaty and cranky and beyond ready for a nap, so we drove about 30 minutes to the nearest Denny's where we fed the boys chocolate milk and pancakes (which they'd been asking for all day) and then headed back to the hotel. 

The next day we drove the last 5 hours and factoring in rest stops and potty breaks, arrived home just after 6pm. On our two week trip we traveled 3,234 miles through 10 states. The van ran great, the kids did reasonably well, and we are very grateful to Grandma and Grandpa J for making it all possible.