. We have been planning this trip for a long time, but that didn't help us avoid some unexpected adventures along the way!Getting there was quite the trip! We picked up all the kids from their last day of school around 1:00 and made it on our flight to Denver just great! We bought a footlong subway sandwich in Lehi for each one of us and had half for lunch and half for dinner since there is no longer food on any flights. As we were waiting for our plane to leave from Denver to Chicago, we were informed that there was a malfunctioning part that they were trying to find a replacement for. One hour later (waiting inside the plane) we finally took off. When we got there, our bags took another whole hour to make it to baggage claim. Chris said the unions there are ridiculous and they were probably on their lunch break. Let me remind you that by this time it was midnight! We got to the car rental place only to stand behind a lady whose credit card wouldn’t work and it took the guy 45 minutes to even get to us. They were out of cars so they ended up upgrading our rental to a van which was good in the end since we were able to have Chris’ kids swap back and forth during all of our long drives. We were starving by then and so after getting directions as to where to get on the freeway to Iowa, we stopped and got cheeseburgers at Wendys. We then followed the car rental guy’s directions only to get lost in a very scary part of downtown Chicago. There we were at 1:30 in the morning driving who knows where when we notice a cop car behind us with his lights on. Yep, we were speeding even though we had no idea where we were or what the speed limit was. Brendan went on for a few blocks because we were on a busy highway and he was trying to find a safe place to pull over. Well, I guess that in Chicago you pull over no matter what immediately so the cop then called for back up because we were being difficult. We explained our LONG horrible day, but that didn’t stop him from giving us a $75.00 ticket. He was really nice about giving us directions though. So we finally get on our way and realized that the freeway (or should I say the toll-road) had a 45 mph speed limit! Are you kidding me!!! It did go as high as 55 mph in a few places, but since we had just gotten a ticket we didn’t dare go any faster! Chris’ house is 175 miles from Chicago! We finally made it to Chris and Cindy’s at 4:30 in the morning! As we plopped into bed, we heard birds chirping outside and could see the faintest hint of light coming through our windows.
Chris and Cindy were amazing to us. They brought up their old king size mattress and put it in Sierra’s room for us. All the girls slept together in Solei’s room, except we got the best little roommate and had Ella in with us in her crib. Jake and Jordan got the boys bunkbeds and the two little guys slept on the floor. They were great sports about it…except Taron got Jordan back by sneaking in his backpack and eating his entire pack of gum! We didn’t see any bad repercussions from it. Hopefully he’s ok. Their house is so beautiful. Just picture their Saratoga Springs house blown up and add a bedroom. Their neighborhood, I told Chris, is like driving into Osmond Lane! The houses are big and the yards are to die for. They have a rule of no fences allowed and it just makes all the yards seem huge! Plus they must have some kind of unwritten rule about keeping up their yards because EVERY SINGLE house had perfect lawns and beautifully landscaped yards! I’m so mad I didn’t get a picture of it. Cindy, you need to take one and send it to everyone so they know what I mean. I didn’t think our neighborhood was that bad, but now that I have Iowa in my head, our neighborhood yards make me cringe! The area is so great. They have every single kind of store, restaurant, and theater within a few blocks from their house. Once you get out of there though, it’s nothing but cornfields for hours in each direction.
We were blessed with nothing but perfect weather and non stop fun once we got there. Cindy’s email told you all about our trip to Dubuque, the museum, and the funny incident at the drive-inn.
Chris and Cindy were amazing to us. They brought up their old king size mattress and put it in Sierra’s room for us. All the girls slept together in Solei’s room, except we got the best little roommate and had Ella in with us in her crib. Jake and Jordan got the boys bunkbeds and the two little guys slept on the floor. They were great sports about it…except Taron got Jordan back by sneaking in his backpack and eating his entire pack of gum! We didn’t see any bad repercussions from it. Hopefully he’s ok. Their house is so beautiful. Just picture their Saratoga Springs house blown up and add a bedroom. Their neighborhood, I told Chris, is like driving into Osmond Lane! The houses are big and the yards are to die for. They have a rule of no fences allowed and it just makes all the yards seem huge! Plus they must have some kind of unwritten rule about keeping up their yards because EVERY SINGLE house had perfect lawns and beautifully landscaped yards! I’m so mad I didn’t get a picture of it. Cindy, you need to take one and send it to everyone so they know what I mean. I didn’t think our neighborhood was that bad, but now that I have Iowa in my head, our neighborhood yards make me cringe! The area is so great. They have every single kind of store, restaurant, and theater within a few blocks from their house. Once you get out of there though, it’s nothing but cornfields for hours in each direction.
We were blessed with nothing but perfect weather and non stop fun once we got there. Cindy’s email told you all about our trip to Dubuque, the museum, and the funny incident at the drive-inn.
“Brendan and Leslie are here now with their family, we have been having a blast. They got here late late Wednesday night (or more like early early Thursday morning). On Thursday, the first day we had with Brendan and Leslie’s family, we went
to Dubuque to the Mississippi River museum. They had some huge catfish (I thought they were sharks at first glance) and a riverboat you could walk through (with really steep stairs). The kids had fun in a movie theater that sprayed mist and flashed lightning when the storms came. We had slept in a little late so we didn’t have a ton of time at the museum but it was fun for everyone. After that we went out to eat at Pancheros, sort of like Cafe Rio but not as good. We thought we would stop at the drive-in theater on the way home, Pirates of the Caribbean was supposed to be playing and even though Brendan and Leslie
had seen it, they said it was good enough to watch again. When we got to the gate we were about to pay, but the cashier told us it was some credit union membership appreciation night and that we didn’t have to pay, even though we explained that we weren’t members. When we got in, there were free hot dogs, face painting, balloon animals, and a bounce house for the kids, so we felt like we had really gotten a great deal. Finally the previews started, and one seemed to go on a little too long and we realized it wasn’t a preview, but the movie Charlottes Web. I went to the concession stand to ask what happened to “Pirates” and they said it was the Credit Union’s night so they get to pick the movie... so (with two teenage boys who were not about to sit for two hours through a little kids movie), we decided to pack up and get home since we needed to get up early for Nauvoo anyways.
Friday, after stopping at Carthage for the tour of the jail, we went to Nauvoo. Brendan and Leslie took the boys to do baptisms in the temple while we went to “pioneer pastimes” with the younger ones. The girls dressed up in all the pioneer garb (I wish I had my camera) and Taron spent most of his
time in the log cabin drawing on the slates. Then we went on the tours through some of the homes and shops. We tried to get on a carriage ride but were too late. That evening we went to the “Sunset on the Mississippi” which was pretty much the grand finale to the day, it is such a fun show. My mom and I had gone the year before with the kids but I missed the very
end so I never understood what my kids were talking about when they were quoting the skit. I saw it this time and finally know what was so funny. “Whatcha doin?” “Makin’ eggs” “Can I have some?” “Why sure........” You really had to be there I guess. :)
The weather was perfect, a little overcast but not raining. Chris got a call on his phone that a tornado had hit Muscatine (about 20 minutes from our house) and destroyed a lot of houses and the storm had gone through our area also. We were a little bummed that we had missed all the excitement but glad that it hadn’t done any damage to our home while we were gone. On
the way home we drove through Muscatine and saw a car lot that had a bunch of new cars damaged and even one on top of another. There were some signs that were fallen or bent over also.
On Saturday we went to the air show for four hours to see the Thunderbirds. Taron got to sit in a real helicopter. I think most of the kids got a little bored of the whole thing though because it gets pretty old after a while. They did like the truck that races the airplane and spits fire out the back.
Today we went to church with everyone, Ella made Chris’s phone go off in the middle of sunday school and Sandi Naylor (she was teaching) said something about Ella knowing how to push our buttons and it only gets worse from here. Later, Brendan and Leslie made dinner for everyone, a yummy roast with all the fixin’s (I threw in some spinach salad cause I had been craving that). "
Nauvoo was amazing. I wish we would have taken more pictures. The cute missionary that took us through Carthage jail bore such a beautiful testimony at the end. Allison quietly told me that she couldn’t explain it exactly, but that she had felt the spirit really touch her. I guess I didn’t realize that all the missionary couples and young missionaries that serve in Nauvoo are mainly hosts at the temple, visitor’s center, and in all the little period homes/shops. The highlight for us was doing baptisms for the dead with Jordan and Jake. We were so blessed because they told us that a YM/YW group of 85 had just finished doing 850 names and a lady was schedule to come in 20 minutes to do 100 names. We were the only ones in there during that time. After we were done, one of the workers took us out a different way and showed the boys the spiral staircase that goes up 5 floors. He told them to look up and picture their journey to eternity and that they were taking their first steps toward the top by being there that day. It was so awesome. The “Sunset at the Mississippi” show at the end of the day was spectacular. All the missionaries did songs, dances, and skits. Everyone had a great day.
Cindy told you about the air show the next day. It was a bit long, but some parts were really fun. Allison was touched when the Thunderbirds flew in for the first time in the missing man formation to honor the fallen pilots. I did laundry that day and noticed a burnt smell coming from the washing machine. I told Chris and he said that he had turned the hot water heater on as hot as possible so that we would have plenty for all of us. I’m telling you they thought of everything to make us comfortable. Anyway, he went to check downstairs and noticed water was leaking from one of the pipes and that there were parts of the wood that looked scorched all along the water pipes! Yikes! After careful inspection by both Chris and Brendan they discovered that the leaking water was coming from the bathroom floor from when Sierra had forgotten to put the shower curtain inside the tub and had flooded the bathroom floor. The scorch marks were from the plumbers welding the pipes together, but the burnt washing machine smell was definitely from the overly hot water. They said they’ve had it forever and want a new one, but it never dies. Well, thank goodness (I guess) nothing happened to it. Let me just say that our garments have never been whiter though!!
Church was great and pretty quiet since there weren’t 100 nursery aged kids and 50 babies like we are used to around here. It was a little bit of a drive and I just count my blessings that we are able to walk to church if we want to. It was in a weird location because there were about 8 churches all in one block area of all different faiths. We enjoyed a home cooked meal which always tastes better when you’ve been eating out a lot. Caden was funny when we sat down at the table and he said, “Wow, is this Thanksgiving or something!” He even asked us to pass the “turkey” later on.
Brendan and Chris got up early on Monday morning and went golfing together. I’m glad they had that time to spend together. The rest of us slept in and then Cindy took us to the Children’s Museum gift shop so that Jake and Allison could get a Webkin. It’s a stuffed animal that comes with a code that allows you to play a game on-line with other Webkin owners. Her girls had a few already and we figured it would be fun for them to stay in touch and play together across the miles. Jake named his Caden and Caden named his new Webkin Jake. Those two became quite the little buddies on this trip! We went swimming at the YMCA later that day and had a blast. I got the cutest pictures of Taron and Ella at the pool. They closed it to the public for an hour soon after we got there so we all got out and the boys went to play basketball and the girls (yes, Solei, Sierra, and Allison) joined in at an Aerobics class full of women. It was hilarious. Then they all went swimming again when the pool opened back up. Cindy and I had left dinner in the oven which was great since we were starving when we got back. We had planned to go boating but the weather near the lake said it would be windy and possible thunderstorms, but we ended up having a great day.
Tuesday we all got up early to go to Adventureland which is an amusement park comparable to Lagoon and 2 ½ hours away. Chris came up with a great idea. Since everyone had someone to hang out with…except for Jordan… he called up his boss’ daughter (Courtney Richards) who just happens to be 16 and set her up with Jordan. His first blind date. We picked her up around 8am and it took about 3 to 5 minutes of our making small talk until they got comfortable with each other and didn’t stop talking the whole way. You all know Jordan, so that shouldn’t surprise you. She is originally from Draper and just moved out there when Chris did so they had a lot in common. It was so great to have here along for Jordan. They were on their own pretty much all day except they joined us for a few shows and we’d bump into them once in a while. She has the cutest personality and was a perfect match for Jordan. We all had a blast…except for when Sierra’s finger got pinched on one of the rides and it was bleeding really bad. The weather was perfect.
We packed up and left early on Wednesday morning. We wanted to see Chicago during the day since the kids would probably not go there again. The following is an excerpt of what we wrote to Chris and Cindy explaining the last day of our trip. "We spent a crazy day in Chicago. The weather was a little chilly and sprinkly, but not too bad. We ate at the Grand Lux Café and LOVED it! The desserts were especially fantastic! After that, we went to Navy Pier which was a $19.00 parking rip off and then we did a Family Fun House maze that ended up being a $42.00 rip off and it lasted about 5 minutes!!!! We couldn’t believe how dumb that was. We got some great pictures of the skyscrapers and got a nice hotel with a yummy sports grill restaurant that was perfect for a late dinner. The only bummer was that there weren’t any hotels in the area with an indoor pool.
We made our flight just fine this morning, but were delayed taking off because of heavy winds in Denver. We knew we had missed our connecting flight about half way through. But once we landed at 12:12 p.m. we checked the departure screen and our connection had also been delayed and was boarding and scheduled to leave at 12:16 p.m. Brendan couldn’t run with his knee so I took off down to the gate (about 200 yards away) and asked if we were too late to make it on the flight. They said that they were just about to close the doors so I yelled to Brendan and the kids who were coming as fast as possible down the hall. They held the doors for us and the plane took off about 2 minutes after we sat down!!! Unfortunately, our checked on bag was not as quick, but it was delivered to our house that night just as we were getting ready for bed.
We spent a great weekend together until Jake left on Saturday for Arizona to visit with Cameron. Jordan left on Monday at 5:45 a.m. to go to football camp until Saturday and Allison left at 7:15 a.m. for a week at Clear Creek camp. We are all alone and can I say that’s it’s not fun!! We miss them terribly especially at dinnertime when it’s just me and Brendan at our dinner table. We are sure that they are all having a great time though and can’t wait until we get all back together. We don’t have any plans for our empty nester week since Brendan has a lot of catching up to do at work and I have 4 bow orders to keep me super busy and tied down. We’ll celebrate next Monday when we are together again and maybe have dinner at Café Rio!"
to Dubuque to the Mississippi River museum. They had some huge catfish (I thought they were sharks at first glance) and a riverboat you could walk through (with really steep stairs). The kids had fun in a movie theater that sprayed mist and flashed lightning when the storms came. We had slept in a little late so we didn’t have a ton of time at the museum but it was fun for everyone. After that we went out to eat at Pancheros, sort of like Cafe Rio but not as good. We thought we would stop at the drive-in theater on the way home, Pirates of the Caribbean was supposed to be playing and even though Brendan and Leslie
had seen it, they said it was good enough to watch again. When we got to the gate we were about to pay, but the cashier told us it was some credit union membership appreciation night and that we didn’t have to pay, even though we explained that we weren’t members. When we got in, there were free hot dogs, face painting, balloon animals, and a bounce house for the kids, so we felt like we had really gotten a great deal. Finally the previews started, and one seemed to go on a little too long and we realized it wasn’t a preview, but the movie Charlottes Web. I went to the concession stand to ask what happened to “Pirates” and they said it was the Credit Union’s night so they get to pick the movie... so (with two teenage boys who were not about to sit for two hours through a little kids movie), we decided to pack up and get home since we needed to get up early for Nauvoo anyways.
Friday, after stopping at Carthage for the tour of the jail, we went to Nauvoo. Brendan and Leslie took the boys to do baptisms in the temple while we went to “pioneer pastimes” with the younger ones. The girls dressed up in all the pioneer garb (I wish I had my camera) and Taron spent most of his
time in the log cabin drawing on the slates. Then we went on the tours through some of the homes and shops. We tried to get on a carriage ride but were too late. That evening we went to the “Sunset on the Mississippi” which was pretty much the grand finale to the day, it is such a fun show. My mom and I had gone the year before with the kids but I missed the very
end so I never understood what my kids were talking about when they were quoting the skit. I saw it this time and finally know what was so funny. “Whatcha doin?” “Makin’ eggs” “Can I have some?” “Why sure........” You really had to be there I guess. :)
The weather was perfect, a little overcast but not raining. Chris got a call on his phone that a tornado had hit Muscatine (about 20 minutes from our house) and destroyed a lot of houses and the storm had gone through our area also. We were a little bummed that we had missed all the excitement but glad that it hadn’t done any damage to our home while we were gone. On
the way home we drove through Muscatine and saw a car lot that had a bunch of new cars damaged and even one on top of another. There were some signs that were fallen or bent over also.
On Saturday we went to the air show for four hours to see the Thunderbirds. Taron got to sit in a real helicopter. I think most of the kids got a little bored of the whole thing though because it gets pretty old after a while. They did like the truck that races the airplane and spits fire out the back.
Today we went to church with everyone, Ella made Chris’s phone go off in the middle of sunday school and Sandi Naylor (she was teaching) said something about Ella knowing how to push our buttons and it only gets worse from here. Later, Brendan and Leslie made dinner for everyone, a yummy roast with all the fixin’s (I threw in some spinach salad cause I had been craving that). "
Nauvoo was amazing. I wish we would have taken more pictures. The cute missionary that took us through Carthage jail bore such a beautiful testimony at the end. Allison quietly told me that she couldn’t explain it exactly, but that she had felt the spirit really touch her. I guess I didn’t realize that all the missionary couples and young missionaries that serve in Nauvoo are mainly hosts at the temple, visitor’s center, and in all the little period homes/shops. The highlight for us was doing baptisms for the dead with Jordan and Jake. We were so blessed because they told us that a YM/YW group of 85 had just finished doing 850 names and a lady was schedule to come in 20 minutes to do 100 names. We were the only ones in there during that time. After we were done, one of the workers took us out a different way and showed the boys the spiral staircase that goes up 5 floors. He told them to look up and picture their journey to eternity and that they were taking their first steps toward the top by being there that day. It was so awesome. The “Sunset at the Mississippi” show at the end of the day was spectacular. All the missionaries did songs, dances, and skits. Everyone had a great day.
Cindy told you about the air show the next day. It was a bit long, but some parts were really fun. Allison was touched when the Thunderbirds flew in for the first time in the missing man formation to honor the fallen pilots. I did laundry that day and noticed a burnt smell coming from the washing machine. I told Chris and he said that he had turned the hot water heater on as hot as possible so that we would have plenty for all of us. I’m telling you they thought of everything to make us comfortable. Anyway, he went to check downstairs and noticed water was leaking from one of the pipes and that there were parts of the wood that looked scorched all along the water pipes! Yikes! After careful inspection by both Chris and Brendan they discovered that the leaking water was coming from the bathroom floor from when Sierra had forgotten to put the shower curtain inside the tub and had flooded the bathroom floor. The scorch marks were from the plumbers welding the pipes together, but the burnt washing machine smell was definitely from the overly hot water. They said they’ve had it forever and want a new one, but it never dies. Well, thank goodness (I guess) nothing happened to it. Let me just say that our garments have never been whiter though!!
Church was great and pretty quiet since there weren’t 100 nursery aged kids and 50 babies like we are used to around here. It was a little bit of a drive and I just count my blessings that we are able to walk to church if we want to. It was in a weird location because there were about 8 churches all in one block area of all different faiths. We enjoyed a home cooked meal which always tastes better when you’ve been eating out a lot. Caden was funny when we sat down at the table and he said, “Wow, is this Thanksgiving or something!” He even asked us to pass the “turkey” later on.
Brendan and Chris got up early on Monday morning and went golfing together. I’m glad they had that time to spend together. The rest of us slept in and then Cindy took us to the Children’s Museum gift shop so that Jake and Allison could get a Webkin. It’s a stuffed animal that comes with a code that allows you to play a game on-line with other Webkin owners. Her girls had a few already and we figured it would be fun for them to stay in touch and play together across the miles. Jake named his Caden and Caden named his new Webkin Jake. Those two became quite the little buddies on this trip! We went swimming at the YMCA later that day and had a blast. I got the cutest pictures of Taron and Ella at the pool. They closed it to the public for an hour soon after we got there so we all got out and the boys went to play basketball and the girls (yes, Solei, Sierra, and Allison) joined in at an Aerobics class full of women. It was hilarious. Then they all went swimming again when the pool opened back up. Cindy and I had left dinner in the oven which was great since we were starving when we got back. We had planned to go boating but the weather near the lake said it would be windy and possible thunderstorms, but we ended up having a great day.
Tuesday we all got up early to go to Adventureland which is an amusement park comparable to Lagoon and 2 ½ hours away. Chris came up with a great idea. Since everyone had someone to hang out with…except for Jordan… he called up his boss’ daughter (Courtney Richards) who just happens to be 16 and set her up with Jordan. His first blind date. We picked her up around 8am and it took about 3 to 5 minutes of our making small talk until they got comfortable with each other and didn’t stop talking the whole way. You all know Jordan, so that shouldn’t surprise you. She is originally from Draper and just moved out there when Chris did so they had a lot in common. It was so great to have here along for Jordan. They were on their own pretty much all day except they joined us for a few shows and we’d bump into them once in a while. She has the cutest personality and was a perfect match for Jordan. We all had a blast…except for when Sierra’s finger got pinched on one of the rides and it was bleeding really bad. The weather was perfect.
We packed up and left early on Wednesday morning. We wanted to see Chicago during the day since the kids would probably not go there again. The following is an excerpt of what we wrote to Chris and Cindy explaining the last day of our trip. "We spent a crazy day in Chicago. The weather was a little chilly and sprinkly, but not too bad. We ate at the Grand Lux Café and LOVED it! The desserts were especially fantastic! After that, we went to Navy Pier which was a $19.00 parking rip off and then we did a Family Fun House maze that ended up being a $42.00 rip off and it lasted about 5 minutes!!!! We couldn’t believe how dumb that was. We got some great pictures of the skyscrapers and got a nice hotel with a yummy sports grill restaurant that was perfect for a late dinner. The only bummer was that there weren’t any hotels in the area with an indoor pool.
We made our flight just fine this morning, but were delayed taking off because of heavy winds in Denver. We knew we had missed our connecting flight about half way through. But once we landed at 12:12 p.m. we checked the departure screen and our connection had also been delayed and was boarding and scheduled to leave at 12:16 p.m. Brendan couldn’t run with his knee so I took off down to the gate (about 200 yards away) and asked if we were too late to make it on the flight. They said that they were just about to close the doors so I yelled to Brendan and the kids who were coming as fast as possible down the hall. They held the doors for us and the plane took off about 2 minutes after we sat down!!! Unfortunately, our checked on bag was not as quick, but it was delivered to our house that night just as we were getting ready for bed.
We spent a great weekend together until Jake left on Saturday for Arizona to visit with Cameron. Jordan left on Monday at 5:45 a.m. to go to football camp until Saturday and Allison left at 7:15 a.m. for a week at Clear Creek camp. We are all alone and can I say that’s it’s not fun!! We miss them terribly especially at dinnertime when it’s just me and Brendan at our dinner table. We are sure that they are all having a great time though and can’t wait until we get all back together. We don’t have any plans for our empty nester week since Brendan has a lot of catching up to do at work and I have 4 bow orders to keep me super busy and tied down. We’ll celebrate next Monday when we are together again and maybe have dinner at Café Rio!"
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