More Nauvoo

     A note about MRE's (Meal's Ready to Eat).  My parents gave us some MRE's one Christmas to enhance our food storage.  I have eaten MRE's before on backpacking trips and they are tolerable--some are even good.  But, I must confess, these particular MRE's stayed in our 72 hour emergency packs for a loooong time; I don't know exactly how long, maybe 5 years.  I decided we either needed to use them or toss them, so we packed them in our car and planned to use them while on vacation.  Our first night in Nauvoo, I decided we would dine gourmet--MRE's.  Out they came and---UGH!  Not only did they look and smell like congealed fungus, but they tasted like dry, rubbery cardboard (Yes, The brave souls of the family--me and Mckay--actually sampled them).  We had chili and potatoes for dinner instead.    Suggestion: don't store MRE's in your garage in 105 degree San Bernardino summers.  And don't try to eat them after 5 years if you do!  

The first thing we did as a family in Nauvoo was to take a wagon ride.  I was really looking forward to a brief tour of the sites in Nauvoo and thought the kids would enjoy it.  I'm not sure if it was too much previous driving in close quarters, or what, but the kids decided this was the time and the day to torment me with miserable bickering, untimely offenses, and intolerant whining.  It was not fun.  It saddened my soul and put a damper on the day.  The whole day was sprinkled with bickering and , I must say, it was my least favorite day of the whole vacation.  I about blew my lid several times. When you are in public, especially in a Mormon public, you want to appear to be a sweet, loving, gospel-living family.  This was not one of those days--we were grounded in the reality of raising four kids--it was embarrassing.  Sigh.  Where were the "angels" I'd raised who knew how to be thoughtful, helpful, and considerate???

On the Wagon Ride:

Beautiful horses used to pull the carriages. 

Hey-ho! A Wagon Ride!
 
Things we saw from the wagon:

The Nauvoo temple.


A beautiful old Catholic church next door to the temple. 


An eensy-weensy cabin.
 

An Old Well.
 
The show must go on . . . Literally.  In the afternoon we went to see some of the shows that Nauvoo offers.  The kids loved them.  Ryanne and Elias liked the humor of the presentations. 
Leah loved the dancing.  She said, "I'm going to do this dancing and singing when I get old enough.  i am going to come and perform in Nauvoo!  Nauvoo is great.  I want to live here.  It would be hard to drive all the way home to get our stuff and then drive all the way back, but it is worth it because it is sooooo beautiful here."
 Mckay had a hard time sitting and listening; he wants to constantly be moving, touching things, investigating.  One thing that was humorous and slightly embarrassing was that he asked the missionary guides so many questions that they could not get through their scripted presentations on the tours!  In one of our plays, Anna-Amanda, Mckay left us to go sit with a 10-year-old girl he met!  (The same one from Adam-ondi-Amen. More on her later). 


The cast from "High Hopes and Riverboats."  Elias liked this play
because one of the main characters was named Eli. Eli was a funny,
endearing tease who made everyone laugh. Elias definitely identified with him!  


Here is "Eli" dancing on the left. 


Elias thought it was cool that guys could dance, sing, and act. 


Here is the puppet show that was an entre act to another play
titled "Just Plain Anna Amanda." It was geared towards kids and they liked it.



Then we saw a play featuring all the Senior couples in Nauvoo. 


 Ryanne liked this play best of all because
there was a crochety, crazy old wife who
drove her husband so mad
with nagging and non-stop gab
that her husband  pretended to be deaf.  

One of the shows we saw was BYU's "Vocal Point," an ACapella group. 

We loved it.  Ryanne became a fan (she later got some of their CD's).  Mckay was excited that one of the members of Vocal Point was named Mckay.  Elias couldn't help himself--he kept getting up to dance.  He has funny "moves."  The people behind us were laughing like crazy as they enjoyed his rhythm.