Okey dokey, so photos will have to wait a day or two. I'm not able to upload from my in-law's computer and can't seem to find a wifi connection in the area...but I'll get it taken care of soon. While we wait on those here's the long version of our trip this past week...
Let's see, when we last left off we were enjoying the comforts of the Findlay Ohio Marriott. Good stuff. We got up and moving Monday morning and drove to Springfield Illinois where my mother-in-law grew up. I had never been there and it had been a couple of decades for Dan but we had a blast! We stayed with his Aunt Nancy and loved every minute of it. It was really freaky to meet his Aunt Nan...I truly believe someone cloned my mother-in-law. They look alike, sound alike, have the same speech patterns, word choices, and mannerisms. The children were a bit confused as well! She rolled out the red carpet for us and we had a great family dinner where we met many of Dan's relatives. We saw Aunt Nan, Aunt Sallie, Aunt Susie, Aunt Vickie, cousins Tom, Mike, Karen (with husband Ed and son Mitch), and Greg (with wife Chris and daughter Fran). Aren't you impressed that I remembered all those names. It won't last! We did have a great time though. The kids loved the big backyard and all the animals that come up for snacks...Aaron is still talking about feeding the bunnies.
We had planned to get up and moving Tuesday morning so we could make it to Nauvoo, IL by lunch time...but the nail in our tire took us on a different path. Dan dropped the kids and me off at the Abraham Lincoln museum and found a service station to take care of the tire. We hadn't really planned to do much of the Lincoln stuff while we were there but I'm glad we did. Great museum...if you have a chance to see it you really should go...very family friendly. Not so much fun for poor Dan but we are just so thankful that the flat tire occurred in Springfield where we had something to do and a service station nearby rather than in the middle of Wyoming!
Okay, after we fixed the flat we hurried on over to Nauvoo and had a nice afternoon/evening there looking around the city. We went to the Carthage jail and then enjoyed the old time country fair at dinner time. Kyle played stick ball the whole time, Tyler loved the stick pull, Katherine had fun with crafts, and Aaron just loved it all! After the fair we stayed for the pageant. Very different from Palmyra but a great experience. We're glad we did it.
The next morning we let the kids take some time for a morning swim...they were thrilled that this hotel had an indoor pool rather than an outdoor one. Simple pleasures ;-) We got a bit of a late start because of the swim but everyone was happy and ready for a L.O.N.G. drive. We drove all the way through Iowa and a good chunk of Nebraska. More corn than you could imagine. Corn, corn, corn, corn, corn. It was actually not a bad drive and we had a fun day in the car...nothing really newsworthy just some good visiting and playing games. We were very happy to get to the hotel and stretch our legs. The hotel was actually the highlight of the day for Kyle. We had to get two rooms because they didn't have suites at this one. One of the rooms happened to be wheelchair accessible. We had showered the kids in the morning after they swam so I didn't think they would want another one but oh, no...Kyle was loving the idea of a shower with a seat in it! He could not get over the bathroom...I think he would have slept in there if we let him. He also really enjoyed the peephole that was on his level. I'm pretty sure he left there wishing he could be in a wheelchair just for the cool hotel rooms.
Thursday brought more Nebraska and the entire state of Wyoming. Really glad we didn't have car trouble in Wyoming...we went hours without seeing people. Really, really, really long drive day. Not as much fun in the car...multiple movies! The highlight of the drive was stopping at Little America at the border and getting 50 cent ice cream cones, so glad we're done with that state! We got to Wayne and Judy's house at dinner time and were able to have a nice meal and visit with Gram and Grampa before bed. The kids all love Grandpa's motorized scooter and just can't get enough of it. I will definitely post some photos of that...Kyle just zooms on up the street like a pro. Good times. What is it with the kid and wheelchairs? Yesterday we mostly just hung out and enjoyed not driving anywhere. Dan spent a lot of the day working on homework so he can finish this class before we hit the lake next week. I did laundry and got our suitcases organized again. The kids ran around not touching each other :-) and we just had a relaxing day. Today brings some cousins and the pool...good prep for a week on the lake, right?
That pretty much sums up our week...we can't believe we're down to just the last two weeks of our adventure! I hope all is well...we'll load some pics soon. Have a great day!
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