Vacation!!!

Well, everyone, we're back from our humanitarian mission to provide hundreds of starving mosquitoes and chiggers with two weeks worth of meals.  We had a blast and got in some great cousin time too.  Here are some highlights.

While Aunt Betsy and Uncle Dennis took the boys to the local skateboard park,  I watched the littler cousins as they played in the pool.  While I was occupied making cheesecake, the kids decided that they might as well get clean while they played.   Obviously I had to get pictures (after removing the empty bottle of bubbles and hand soap).   Here are Gabe and Bethany, bathing beauties.

Bathing Beauty #2 in her very own pool.

Gwen, Heidi and Amber - our three four year olds.  These girls are the cabooses of the Peck, Adams & Smith families and we are sure glad we have them.  Check out their matching do's (Thanks Aunt Sarah!).

After Kansas City, we stayed overnight in Hannibal Missouri.  Sam & I took a lovely dinner cruise on the Mississippi River.  The food was divine and the banjo/harmonica music was great.  Hannibal is a lovely town and it has almost too much to see in one day.  We may need to readjust the amount of time we spend there next time.

Grandma, Amber & Sammy overlooking the mighty Mississippi at Lover's Leap, Hannibal.

Amber, Miranda, Clayton & Carson in front of Carthage jail.  The boys travelled with Grandma, Aunt Emily & Aunt Jane from Hannibal to Nauvoo and I must say it was quite pleasant having only three kids in the car for a couple of hours. 

One of the best parts of the trip to Nauvoo is the carriage ride and tour.  There was only one day that we were even able to go because the other days were just too hot for the horses. (Holy Cow, it was hot as the blue blazes this year!).  Thanks Uncle Jason for getting up at the crack of dawn and getting us tickets.  Here are the kids petting Ben & Rocky after the ride.

You wouldn't think we'd have a lot of time to do bumper cars between the Nauvoo pageant, the shows, the house tours, the shopping & the pioneer fairs but we managed to squeeze it in.

A couple of cute girls visiting the temple on the way out of town.

Aunt Emily at the Winters Quarters visitors center.  It is quite impressive.  The temple there is just lovely too.  After we got the tour, we went out to dinner with Aunt Michelle, Uncle Len & Lauren in Omaha.  Thanks for being such great hosts, guys.  And an extra thanks to Uncle Len for checking out Chad's gimpy shoulder.  Don't worry, he's doing his exercises.  You can check out his back muscles at Thanksgiving. :)

After Omaha, we stopped by Alma, Nebraska, the town where my mom grew up.  I hadn't been there since before Aaron was born.  We went to the pool that my mom lifeguarded at as a teenager, we took the lakeside walk, we had a yummy bbq at Sandra's house (Thanks Sandra!), and we got a tour of the house where my mom grew up and where I have tons of fond memories of visiting my grandparents.  It was so nice of the family who lives there now to let us see it.  Here are Grandma, Em & Chad on the front steps.  After Alma, we headed home again.  We really missed the family we didn't get to see in Utah for what was supposed to be the second part of the vacation, but we were just too tired.  We still love you guys though and next summer we will go wherever you go - promise!