Summer 14 Roadtrip: Day 6

Day 6: Thursday June 26

Grandma and Grandpa had two days off their missionary work to show us around the area. They had a zillion amazing activities planned for us! That first day, Grandpa took the boys to Lego Land at Crown Center and Grandma took us girls to Science City at Union Station, all in downtown Kansas City. It was fun to see Grandpa and Grandma navigating a big huge city!

Niles and James heading to Lego Land

Niles and James with a Lego guy (is that the guy from the movie?)

Niles spots a plethora of legos!

James watching the lego builders at work

James with Lego R2-D2 and C3PO

Niles with C3PO

Lego soccer stadium (it was World Cup time!)

James with Lego Batman

James on Lego Motorcycle

For lunch we came over from Science City and met the guys for lunch at Crown Center food court. The Brenchleys also joined us (The Visitors Center Director and his wife had a 13-yo granddaughter visiting from Springville, Utah, so she joined in most of our adventures). Addie and I had delicious turkey sandwiched from Einstein Bros, Rich and Heidi had Chinese food, and the little boys had brats. Then we walked over to Kaleidoscope, an Arts and Crafts place that Hallmark created for kids (a place where they recycle/reuse extra paper goods, too).

Addie at Kaleidoscope

Niles with Grandma at Kaleidoscope

Heidi at Kaleidoscope

James and Dad at Kaleidoscope

After Kaleidoscope and a visit to the Hallmark History museum (did you know Winston Churchill was a painter? He was also BFFs with the founder of Hallmark and gifted him with several paintings--I loved them!),  We headed back to Independence and had Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner at Grandma's apartment. Then we went to this fun waterpark near the apartment.

Addie & Heidi

Addie

James

Niles

Niles & James splashing

James kept trying to get Niles with the spray,
but Niles figured out how to do it really quick!

We had a great time there and we were EXHAUSTED that night! We slept well and got ready for another busy day on Friday.

Summer 14 Roadtrip: Day 5

Day 5: Wednesday July 25th

We woke up and packed up Wednesday morning, then went to take a family picture in front of the Nauvoo Temple. We said good bye to The City of Joseph and headed to Missouri to see Grandpa and Grandma (we were so excited!).

Rich took this picture of Niles and me early Wednesday morning.
(We had such a nice hotel, we all slept so well!)

Melin Family at the Nauvoo Temple
(the nice lady who took the picture didn't quite get the bell tower in the shot,
but you get the idea)

James and Niles on the temple steps

Cute brothers at the temple

I got a sun catcher that looks just like these pretty inverted star windows on the temple

Joseph Smith statue on Mullholland Street.

We drove south along the Mississippi River for a few minutes, then crossed it at Keokuk, Iowa, then drove south some more til we turned off on a highway in Missouri and headed West toward Independence.



We had a potty stop at a god-forsaken gas station in a tiny rural town full of some clearly-meth-addicted patrons. We survived. Then we had lunch at Taco Bell and headed south to Liberty Jail.

We had a great reunion with Grandpa and Grandma Melin in the foyer of the Visitor Center at Liberty Jail. Two buses arrived just after we did, so they put us in a room with a video and some drinks and snacks until the crowd had subsided. Then Grandpa led us through the regular tour. It starts in a chapel-like room where he gave us some history of the jail, then he took us into the rotunda with this replica of the jail, complete with mannequins of Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Alexander McRae, Caleb Baldwin, and Lyman Wight (in this photo, you can only see Joseph on the left and Alexander on the right).

Grandpa told us many stories of things that happened while the men were imprisoned.

Addie, Heidi, and James looking down at the jail

Niles, Grandma, and Heidi on the lower level of the rotunda.

It was wonderful to see Grandpa and Grandma in action and to learn why Liberty Jail is such a holy place. It was a refiner's fire for the prisoners, and we all must pass through our own "Liberty Jail" periods in life. After our tour, Grandpa and Grandma took us to dinner at The T-Rex Café.

Ammon, James, Heidi, Addie, and Niles outside the restaurant.

James and Heidi climbing the stairs up to the balcony where our booth was situated.

Addie and James in our booth

Heidi, James, and Grandpa panning for gold in the geology section of the café.

Niles on a Dino-Dig

Heidi and James, paleontologists at work.

James on a Dino-Dig.

 

James, Niles, Grandpa ready for dinner.

Heidi, Grandma, Ammon and Addie waiting for food.

James and Niles met a dinosaur

Entrance to the T-Rex Café
 



We had such good food at the café and there were so many fun things to look at and do! It was such a wonderful treat from Grandma and Grandpa, the kids will be talking about it for years. We drove home, planned out our next day, and hit the hay!

 

[While we were leaving the restaurant, I got news that my stepdad's father, Grandpa Jack Drews had passed way early that morning. My kids and Rich never met him, but he was such a sweet man. I felt so sorry for Mark and for Grandma Drews.]

Summer 14 Roadtrip: Day 4

Day 4: Tuesday June 24th

Another full day in Nauvoo!

We began our day with breakfast at Grandpa John's Café. Then we took our happy bellies down to the brick yard for a tour before we saw the children's play "Just Plain Anna Amanda." On the corner by the brick yard, we caught a performance from Youth of Zion, a fantastic a capella group in period costumes.

 

Youth of Zion singing beautifully

Niles, Rich, Addie, and Heidi taking in some music.

Niles snuck away and climbed on a wagon.

At the end of "Just Plain Anna Amanda," Amanda pulled James up from the audience
to sing with her. He did GREAT!

After the show, lots of kids took pictures with the cast.

Heidi, James, Amanda, Niles, and the cast...

After the play, we drove over to Carthage to visit Carthage Jail where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed on June 27, 1844. We noticed on our tour that we traveled from Nauvoo to Carthage on the very same day Joseph and Hyrum made their last journey--June 24th.

Addie, Niles, Heidi, and James at the Joseph and Hyrum statue in front of the jail.

James hugging his hero

My handsome boy!

A beautiful painting of Joseph's "Farewell, Nauvoo."

Niles was pretty rowdy, so I kept him in the visitor's center while Rich took
 the big kids on a tour of the jail. Addie, James, and Heidi on the tour.

James at the window where Joseph was shot.

James by the door full of bullet holes.

James, Heidi, and Addie outside the window where Joseph was shot and fell to his death.

On the way back to Nauvoo, we ate sack lunches and talked about our visit, then we went back to the hotel. I took a nap with Niles and Ammon while Rich took the big kids souvenir shopping. Later we had dinner in Keokuk at Long John Silvers, then came back to watch "Sunset on the Mississippi" and BYU's Jazz Band concerts in Nauvoo's outdoor theater. Around 9pm we heade back to the hotel, but stopped at the temple to watch the sun set. The kids chased fireflies on the temple lawn while I held the baby and Rich took pictures. It was a beautiful night and I felt my Grandpa could see us there.

 

James and Niles loved the concerts.

The Joseph and Hyrum statues across from the temple.

James and Niles

Good night,  Beautiful Nauvoo!