The City of Beautiful

So jeff was doing summer sales. And  he killed it at first and sold a lot. But the last three weeks he hardly sold anything, was gone ALL DAY, and was miserable. Somewhere along the way we stopped ourselves and asked "WHAT ARE WE DOING?" Making ourselves miserable , never being together, AND hardly making any money just wasn't cutting it anymore- especially since we didn't really NEED the money. Add a miscarriage into the mix and that was the last straw. So we decided to stop (he already made MUCH more money than he would've in any other job working the whole summer) and spend time together and have fun for the rest of the summer.

First thing on our list was Nauvoo, Illionois- a church history town. Nauvoo means "city of beautiful" in Hebrew and even though I don't have a fancy expensive camera, hopefully you'll be able to see why after looking at these pictures! If I could describe nauvoo, and the surrounding area, in one word it would be: quaint. When I told that to jeff , my sister, who tagged along, asked "what does quaint mean?" I replied by saying " look around you. What you see is the definition of quaint" it was so cozy and humble and 'hey how are you, why don't you stay awhile?'. I was squealing over the small wooden houses with beautiful gardens and green green grass. It was just a wonderful place to be!

scovill bakery. 

he was THRILLED to take this picture ^^

^^ he loved this place. for obvious reasons

^^ my husband loves wearing screaming' neon. he is glowing in broad daylight, just as he prefers. 

^^ planking. (pooping)

I was bracing myself for a very hot a humid experience, expecting to be drenched in my own sweat  by the end of the day- but the weather was perfect. We got to see everything we wanted to see in two days.

I was kinda a grumpy gills for some of the trip. #realtalk but UGH I do not want to be one of those moms who ruins the vacations for their kids because they are an uptight grumpy bum! I turned my attitude around and had a much better time. (Surprise!) not trying to make excuses but I think some lingering miscarriage hormones are still making themselves cozy. Also the aftermath of emotions can sometimes cause a bit of inner turmoil. Jeff has been very patient with me.

Overall though it was a great trip! Truly! The temple there was breathtaking. And we had a constant view of the Mississippi River. We loved exploring and learning about the early saints. For the most part, jane was great. I mean, it may not be the most baby friendly vacation but we made it work and I think she enjoyed herself.

^^ those skies were unreal!

 checkin out the mississippi river!

and NO. my 13 month old is nowhere near walking yet...

We got to play some pioneer games and activities. It came more naturally for some of us...but others, not so much.

One more thing though. If you go on vacation mostly for the food, nauvoo is not the place. There were about 2 restaurants within a 100 mile radius. 3 if you count mcdonalds, which I don't. (But jeff does- French fries for dinner!) I hardly had any REAL food the whole time I was there and I think that was something that made me a bit grumpy at times. And by the end I felt like a sick busted can of biscuits. The picture below is a picture jeff and I took together which is quite unflattering. We both looked at it and said "FAT CAMP"

Luckily, on the last day, right before heading home, we found  the cutest little farmers market (claps for real food) and ate THE best peaches I've ever had. Like I can't even talk enough about these peaches, they were absolutely heaven sent. jane obviously agreed., and may that onesie forever be stained with perfect peach juice.

ALSO, this was IN our hotel on the last night. Boom baby.