Nani & Papa came to town

Nani and Papa came to visit us this week. I wanted to remember the fun things we did each day, so I went day by day with pictures for that day.

Tuesday-Nani & Papa got here before school got out. Rebecca was shy at first. We looked at pictures of them holding her when she was younger. That really helped her to become comfortable with them faster. The older kids ran home from school. We had a HUGE pot of creamy chicken chowder for dinner and played.

Wednesday-Ammon & Papa went to the library to check out books. Corrine & Grace got all dressed up for their dinner with activity day girls. That night Simeon got his Arrow of Light award.




Thursday-Nani & mom went to craft night at the church. Dad & Papa played Wii with the kids. Johann and I got to go on a date to the grocery store!

Friday-Nani & Papa watched the kids while Johann and I went to 3 parent teacher conferences in the morning. In the afternoon we went to the raptor center at Lake McBride. On the road there Papa spotted a dear. We went on a hike and found 2 deer right next to the trail. We walked down to the lake and found alot of fossils in the rocks. Tonight Johann and Simeon went on a campout with the scouts. We had pizza for dinner. Corrine & Ammon put on a movie night complete with punching tickets, snacks and LOTS of rule, like no laughing or blowing your noses! We watched Tron Legacy. Then they had a sleepover in the boys room.







Saturday we went to the John Deere Pavilion. They were working on the project "Can Do". They had 40,000 lbs of canned food they were making into a life size combine. Half the area was taken up and the other half was busy. We left and went the the John Deere Headquarters. We climbed on a combine and lots of other tractors.





We then went to the Niabi Zoo since it was free. It was getting chilly by then. As we ate lunch we could hear the lion roaring. When we got over to it they were asleep. He lifted his head up and looked around, then layed back down. We saw 2 sheep head butting. We feed the goats and fish. The wolves were really active.




Sunday we went to church. We had Johann's family over for a super yummy Thanksgiving dinner.

Monday-Nani & I went shopping. Papa took Simeon & Corrine to Sycamore mall to walk around and get Dairy Queen ice cream. Corrine & Simeon got small blizzards and they were bigger then Papa's medium sundae! They went to the Dollar store. Simeon told me he saw a container of premixed cinnamon and sugar. When they got home Ammon was having some Wii time and we all watched or played with him.

Tuesday-Nani, Johann and I went to the Nauvoo Temple. Rebecca played with Joel, then came home before the big kids got home. Papa met the big kids at home. Simeon taught Papa how to play "Garbage". We had homemade carmel snack mix and hot cocoa. Pretty Pretty Princess was played by Papa and the girls. Ammon played the knight, princess & ogre game with Papa.

If Papa asked Rebecca "Am I your buddy?" She says "No, I'm YOUR buddy." She said lots of "I love you's."

A day out with Ammon & Rebecca

Today I just had Ammon & Rebecca. Simeon is at camp and Corrine is spending the day with Grandma Smith. So the 3 of us headed to the Quad Cities to play at some of our favorite spots there-the Family Museum and The John Deere Pavilion.
The outdoor area of the museum was the hit of the day, besides the goop Rebecca played in for 20 minutes before we convinced her to go somewhere else.
During the summer they have different activities throughout the museum. Today they had bubbles outside. Both the kids were having a great time playing with them. Ammon somehow lost his footing and ended up sitting in the container of bubbles. We laughed about it saying that I wouldn't need to put any laundry detergent in the wash today!! He thought that was funny.



Then we went over to the water area. This is by far the funnest thing for the kids to do. Endless water for them to fill, pour, dump, and splash in. Rebecca got her pants soaked, so off they went to dry while she played some more.



We then headed over the bridge to Illinois to play on the tractors. Theses tractors hold the kids attention for a long time. They are HUGE and full of gadgets to touch, steering wheels to drive, seat belts to buckle, tires to climb in, and tractors to walk under. If Ammon loves playing here, then Rebecca is in heaven!! It was hard getting her to leave.
When we left I went in to ask for directions to another ramp, since ours was closed due to construction. Then Ammon asked the man how they got all the tractors into the building. He showed us the massive doors they open to bring them through, and how they do it.



I loved this old tractor. It was super rusted and really showed it age, but that also helped show the hard work it had done. If had run into this out at a farm, I'd had taken dozens of pictures of it!





When we left we went to the entrance ramp the guy told us about. He said it was taking him 45 minutes to get home instead of 20 at 5pm, so I thought no big deal it's 3pm we'll get on quickly. Boy was I wrong. I saw a long line of cars and thought that's the wrong lane, so I got over and ended up missing the ramp. So I decided to just make a u-turn and get on from the other directions. Miles later the line ended and I knew we had to find another route home. I knew the 80 was north of where we were and figured I could find it. My GPS kept trying to send me back where we had come from. I started going north and had a feeling that I could find my way to the 80. We ended up on a beautiful road right next to the river. There were the most beautiful parks and walking paths along the river. It made me want to stop and get out, but I was also not totally sure where we were and how long it would take to get home, so we kept going.
After driving for some time I started to recognize the area and then I saw the name of the town we were about to go through. I knew that town. I knew it because it was the town we went to for lunch after Becky's funeral. We drove right past the church where we had lunch.
Another 10 minutes and I saw what I was going towards. A ramp onto interstate 80. I knew we could find it and we did. It made me feel good knowing that my instincts were correct. It took us 40 minutes longer to get home then normal, which I'm sure was shorter then the wait at the ramp to get onto the 74.
Now I can't wait to go back on that road again to explore some of the fun things we saw, like the over look hike, the parks and the John Deere plant with a visitors center. I wonder what they have there. I'm excited to find out!