We went to Nauvoo to see the pageant just before it closed for the year. They had a lot of pioneer crafts and games to do before the pageant which the kids loved. Since we are in such a small branch, it was great to be with a large number of Saints. We had the chance to talk to members that were volunteering at the pageant from all over the country. The pageant was great as well. If anyone wants to see it next year, you can come stay at our house, we have plenty of room! Here's a picture of the girls in front of a statue of Joseph.
At the pageant, like at General Conference, there are people there trying to take save us from our "mistakes". Have you ever pondered this question? (Joke, don't go to this ridiculous website).
Next, it was off to Mark Twain Lake in Missouri. It is only about 40 minutes from our house. I grew up going to the lake or at the beach, so all of my family vacations involved water. Becky does not share my love for water but she came anyway. (What a wonderful wife I have). She does admit now that she had fun though. We stayed at a campground that had a waterpark, miniature golf, go carts, etc. After doing all of that, we went down to the lake and rented a Sea-Doo. It was a blast. The lake is right next to Hannibal so we went to the Mark Twain Cave. Mark Twain based some of his books on the cave.
Yesterday we went to the Illinois state fair. It was our first experience at a state fair. It was huge. It's basically like one large amusement park with animals. The kids enjoyed feeding the camels, sheep and goats.
This is the famous butter cow. The whole display was made out of butter. The longest line at the fair was to see the butter cow. Only in the midwest baby!
Kaitlin is getting big enough to enjoy some of the rides that you have to pay an arm and a leg for.
And finally, what would a midwest state fair be without milking a cow. The girls actually thought it was cool and were not grossed out by it.
Later in the day we went to a restaurant called Fitz's. They bottle their own root beer and soda there and you can watch them do it. Pretty cool place. They brought out the kids' food in old Chevy classic car boxes. The girls thought they were pretty cool.
Of course turning 8 years old meant that Kaitlin could be baptized. Kaitlin was very ready and exicted to be baptized. She gave a talk in Church about baptism a few months ago and everyone was very impressed by what she said and how grown up she is. The day after her baptism she was asked to talk about her baptism. We wanted her to think about her feelings and talk about them, so we did not help her with the talk. She bore her testimony and did a wonderful job. Here she is in her beautiful baptism dress.
3 days later was Camie's 5th birthday. Since there is not much to do in the little town of Pittsfield, we again spent the day in St. Louis. The first stop again was Build-A-Bear Workshop for Camie to get her birthday bear.
That evening we ate at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. They brought out a big sundae for Camie and her eyes were huge. It was a fun day. When we got home, Camie was happy to open her presents! Camie is also growing up fast. Like Mom and Kaitlin she is in love with reading books. She is only in pre-K but is reading at a 1st grade level. She reads all day long. At school they have her go in with the 1st grade class to read. We are blessed with two girls who are very smart and sweet.
Well, it has been a busy few months. We are off to Chicago for our first experience in the "big city." We have a lot of fun stuff planned so we should have plenty to blog about towards the end of the week.
