Nauvoo Trip (Part 1)

All smiles as we head out!  (It lasted 7 minutes before Juliana decided
she wanted "out." )  {Sigh}

 This summer I was determined that we would go somewhere and do something as a family!  We discussed close-by options, but nothing really came of it.  I had wanted to venture out to Utah, but being so pregnant and not sure if our old van would make it that distance, we decided that probably wasn't going to work either.  Then, Cubby's sister, Sara, asked us if we wanted to meet in Nauvoo for a few days!  (Nauvoo is a city in Illinois that was home to the early pioneer Saints.  It is now a historical city and there is a lot of see and learn about church history.)  It's only about 5-5 1/2 hours away so you'd think being from Nebraska I would've gone at least once while growing up, but I had never been!  Things all fell into place and at the end of July we loaded everyone and everything up and were off!

Kari is our star traveler and has figured out the fasted way to pass time is to just go to sleep!
Love that girl!!!

 Juliana and Christian kept themselves busy doing stickers and coloring.

Eventually, they fell asleep too and Emily was more than happy to watch a DVD.

Daddy drove :-)

We reached the hotel around dinner time and the kids loved exploring their new digs.  (Cubby had a bunch of Hilton points saved up from his various work travels and so we were able to get adjoining rooms for next to nothing.  It was awesome and proved invaluable at bed and nap times.)

Juliana got cozy :-).

Kari and Emily played peek-a-boo!

After unpacking, we went to dinner and by the time we got back, Aunt Sara, Uncle Kirk, and their kiddos had arrived.  We spent the evening swimming in the pool--the kids' favorite thing to do!  All of the children were soooo excited to see their cousins!!!