Gone and Back Again

Well, we went to St. Louis, MO to visit our dear friends, The Boyces. We had such a great time. Kim and I put together a sideboard for her dining room. It took us six hours and we only made a few mistakes! The kids had a blast playing together. The Boyces have a trampoline that Alexis and Audrey absolutely loved. We put the sprinkler underneath the trampoline and the kids jumped in their swimsuits. They literally jumped all day Tuesday. On Wednesday we went to a community pool that was a lot of fun. It had a deeper pool and a kiddie pool so it was perfect. Wednesday afternoon the girls and I drove to Keokuk, Iowa. We swam in the pool, had dinner, and went to sleep. Thursday morning we got up and drove ten miles to Nauvoo, Illinois. This is the first time we have been to Nauvoo and we loved it. We saw the play, "Anna Amanda" which the girls loved. It is a really cute play about a girl who is called "just plain Anna Amanda" and she doesn't feel important or like she is someone special. During the course of the play she realizes that when she has other people's "important clothes on" nobody recognizes her. She also gets taught that when people tell her she has her mother's eyes or her grandmother's chin she is inheriting their strong chin which is a symbol of determination. It is her legacy. Anyway, there were songs and it was funny. The girls sat in the front with all the other kids. I was really surprised that Audrey liked it so much and that she didn't get bored. We then went to play some old Pioneer Pastimes and went for a wagon ride pulled by horses that went all around Historic Nauvoo. We didn't make it to any other historic houses or the temple visiter center because the girls were really tired and ready to go home. It was 90 degrees out too so that didn't help. But all they talk about was how much fun Nauvoo was. We're definitely going to go every year. The girls got their picture taken with Anna Amanda. They loved that. Well, we are home now and just recovering. We are all pretty tired and just trying to get some rest. But we have really enjoyed all our trips lately. We loved visiting the Boyces. There is nothing like seeing your dear friends!