Frogley Summer Tour - Day 11

Day 11: Nauvoo, IL

Today I got up about 7:30. I got dressed and took Matthew to the Nauvoo Market (which opened at 8) to buy groceries for the next couple of days. By the time I got back everyone was up and dressed. We ate breakfast, picked up the hotel a bit, then drove down to the Visitor’s Center. After looking around there for a bit, we drove to the Cultural Hall & Family Living Center and took a short Wagon Tour around Old Nauvoo. Dave and I found ourselves wishing we could visit every site here… possibly without the kids.

When the Wagon Tour ended we spent some time in the Family Living Center learning about barrel making, rope making, candlemaking, weaving, and bread baking. The kids thought that was really cool, especially the rope making and the weaving since they got to help with both of those things, and the bread because they got a sample. A short trip to the Scovil Bakery followed and the kids enjoyed their cookies from there.

By that point the kids were super hungry and getting bored and cranky, so we left the flats and went to Grandpa John’s Café for lunch. Yummy sandwiches and milkshakes. We also stopped at the Fudge Factory and picked up some fudge and caramels.

We decided we all needed a bit of a break before attending the Sunset by the Mississippi show tonight, so we headed back to the hotel. I took the older 7 swimming in the hotel pool while Dave put Matthew down for a nap. When we finished that we started a load of laundry and let the kids watch TV and just veg in the hotel.

About 6pm we told the kids it was time to head to the show. For some reason no one seemed to understand what we were trying to leave the hotel for and everyone dragged their feet. We managed to get to the Outdoor stage just after 6:30 and were told to go decorate paper hats to wear in the parade. We made it in time! The kids colored paper hats, then carried flags and toy instruments and followed the band around the stage and through the audience and ended on the stage. Then they stayed on stage for the presenting of the colors, and for the Pledge of Allegiance and Star Spangled Banner.

The show, “Sunset by the Mississippi,” started promptly at 7pm and was amazing! So much fun! Singing and dancing. Lots of character from the performing missionaries, both young and old, and some really fun acts thrown in as well. We really enjoyed the song about bugs (Spray With Me to the tune of Stand By Me), the three “random preselected audience members” acting out a skit, the Nauvoo Exercise (one finger, one thumb, one arm, one leg, one nod of the head, jump up and down…), the one where the old guys sang and danced, and many, many others. We are super glad we took the time to go see this show as it was fun for all of us.

After the show, we returned to the hotel again, and cooked up some corn dogs for the kids, and frozen chicken pot pies for Mom and Dad. We picked up the hotel a bit while dinner was cooking, and watched Girl Meets World while we ate. Then we sent the kids to bed while I finished folding the laundry we washed today, and handed out some Nauvoo fudge to those still awake when I finished. Now Dave and I are going to watch a show together, and call it a night.