We flew into Chicago O-Hare, picked up our rental car and found our Hotel in Chicago for the night (it was after midnight by the time we got there).
The next morning we headed for Carthage Ill. The drive wasn't too bad, it was fun to see all the farming country and old farm houses and barns with silos scattered everywhere.
We quickly discovered the bonus to visiting the church history sights during "off season". We arrived at Carthage Jail and were the only people there. We got to have the tour just our little family and see some things the missionaries can't show people when there are large groups. It was so special, and the spirit was nearly tangible as we sat in the very room where the prophet Joseph was attacked and killed. I was so grateful to have Laexin and Loa there and for them to be able to to experience and feel the spirit in that room.
We then made our way to Nauvoo. Seeing the Mississippi river for the first time was awesome, even though spring hadn't quite hit.
The drive from Carthage to Nauvoo was pretty along the river. In Nauvoo we were able to go on the wagon ride and visit a few shops before they were closing up for the night.
At the family center we got to learn about bread making & candle making, we also got to pull wool for making yarn and then make a rope.
Then we got to go learn about the bakery and get us a molasses cookie.
We couldn't miss the Brick house where we loved learning about the way the early pioneers made bricks and also got a behind the scenes tour of where the missionaries make the Nauvoo bricks.
Last stop for the day was at the Blacksmith shop. We learned about the work of the blacksmith building the wagon wheels. We got a special mini horseshoe and also a 'prairie diamond'.
We found some pizza at the local convenience store - not necessarily something we would've chosen but the options in Nauvoo were very slim. After dinner we went to the show put on by all of the missionary couples serving in Nauvoo and Carthage, it was so cute and the kids just loved it!
The temple all lit up for the night was so awesome so I made LeGrand stop for some pictures in the freezing cold wind.
On Friday we spent about half a day seeing some more shops, walking the 'trail of hope' visiting the visitors center and the kids got to drive the oxen wagon. Then we headed toward Chicago. We dropped off our rental car and caught the 'L' train into downtown, got off and caught a taxi to our Hotel the Sheraton Grand right on the river.
The guys really loved all of the old guns at the gunsmith shop.
They also thought it was really cool to see how they used to print the newspaper and learn about the mail services at the printing press.
The trail of hope was one of my favorite stops, it just tears at your heart to read all of the stories and memories of the pioneers as they had to leave their sweet little town.
The missionary couples at Nauvoo recommended this little hole-in-the-wall BBQ joint on the way back to Chicago so we stopped there for lunch - it was yummy!
And we finally made it to downtown Chicago! The view from the window of our hotel was pretty awesome!
Saturday they dyed the river green and had a big St. Patrick's day parade. The river dying was cool,especially to see right from our window. We watched from our room as they started then made our way to the street to see it from the bridge.
The Ghostbusters even showed up!
We had some awesome breakfast then went to wait for the parade.
It was SOOO cold, with the wind blowing and the cold temps we were glad we at least brought gloves and heavy coats. While Loa and LeGrand waited at the parade route, Laex and I went and found a starbucks to get us some hot cocoa. To say it was a 'party' is an understatement - the streets were lined with college/high schoolers who were smoking pot and drinking, people picking fights and all sorts of stuff - cops everywhere patrolling. I kept covering Laexins ears and telling him to close his eyes and not look or listen, ha ha. It was crazy. After the parade finally started it was pretty much a let-down, there were mostly marching bands and some bag pipes and other random stuff, no real floats or anything - the kids were cold and done so we ended up leaving early. Needless to say we probably wouldn't go to the parade again!
We ran into the Chicago Architecture gift shop and there was a place next door with a whole bunch of legos and you could build your own piece of Architecture - the kids thought it was cool plus we were needing to thaw out so we built legos for a while.
We then made our way to Lou Malnatis Pizza and it lived up to the hype BEST.PIZZA.EVER!
We then went exploring chicago - found the buckingham fountain which of course wasn't running saw some cool street art and performers and visited the 'bean'!
We were all tuckered out by this point and chilled to the bone so we headed back toward the hotel, we ran into Garretts popcorn
(River is still green!)
And a few more cool things...
And a stop at Dylan's Candy Bar
Then we stopped by whole foods on the corner to grab a bite for dinner and back to the room to warm up!
Another view of the Green River!
Sunday
We made our way via the 'L' train to the closest church service. It was quite the experience to meet in an old Elementary school auditorium for sacrament meeting - to see the bishopbric and stake leaders seated in the front on little school chairs :) After church we headed to grab a bite to eat and while eating Loa got sick and puked everywhere...great.
We made it back to the hotel and Loa and I rested while LeGrand and Laex headed to the museum of natural history.
And they found Soilder Field
By the time they got back I was ready to get out of the hotel and Loa was feeling good enough that we went in search of some Chicago Dogs at Portillos.
Monday I came down with Loa's crap so we pretty much just spent the morning in the hotel. I was fluish and achy and not looking forward to the long trip home feeling like that. I finally mustered up the energy to get bags packed and we headed to the airport a bit early. ---Life lesson, NEVER try to travel on a temporary drivers license. On our way out of SL I had to go through extra screening and phone screening because I showed up with only my temporary license (my old one expired and I was waiting on the replacement) AND I hadn't brought any other proof of who I was. LeGrand told me just to leave all of my Credit Cards and other stuff so we wouldn't have to worry about it because he had his...needless to say this caused all sorts of drama trying to get on a flight. Anyway, so here we are trying to get back to SLC and I can't get through security in Chicago for the exact same reason, so I had to wait for extra screening all while feeling lethargic and nasty - it was MISERABLE!-- When we finally made it on the plane I was just ready to GET HOME :) We had smooth flight and drive back to Grace!
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