And The Hits Just Keep On Coming.....

Day Nineteen - July 31: Milwaukee, Chicago, back to Milwaukee, and now Nauvoo

This is Anner. I'll keep things short and simple.

Chicago was awesome.

From the top of the John Hancock tower.

The food was good.

Garrett's Popcorn...cheddar and carmel corn mixed.  Eat it together...yum!

Diiner at Harry Caray's.....we walked out STUFFED!

The skyline was amazing.

Wisconsin was green.

A deer just beyond the Becker's garage.

The people we stayed with were really sweet and had a beautiful Australian shepherd, Lucy. She was my buddy the entire time we were there. She loved me.

Illinois is so humid, but I love how historic Nauvoo is.

Even our hotel belonged to a Mormon man in the 1840s.

It's so cool to think that the roads I walk were once occupied by others years and years and years ago, and it's fun to think about who they could have been. Was one of them an ancestor? A modern-day apostle? The prophet? Questions like that give me goosebumps. :}

I am tired. I haven't gotten a good night's rest in a while. I really love doing this, but it really strains the energy I don't have. I need about 24 hours to hibernate and be a typical lethargic teenager.

I'm going to do baptisms for the dead in the Nauvoo temple tomorrow morning! I'm so excited!!! I will have so many bragging rights when I get home.
:D

(This is from Mundo)

Today we got into Nauvoo and saw the Nauvoo Temple, and were able to take some pictures there.

Now about Wisconsin we went to the Wisconsin Dells and went to the biggest water park in the U.S. Noah's Ark scratched my back up really bad, but we (my dad, and I) went on alot of water rides. My favorite ride was Time Warp.

After we went to the Wisconsin Dells, we went to Green Bay, Wisconsin and went to Lambeau Field and took the grand tour of the stadium and even went through the tunnel which when you crossed  a sensor it would make noise like your the players that are going through the tunnel which was pretty cool!

After Lambeau field we were heading to Milwakee, Wisconsin, there we stay with my Dad's childhood Bishop . We stayed there for three days. 

Scott with Barb and Don Becker

One day was in Chicago, Illinois and had city passes with one of my dad's tutoring familys give them to us, and we had awesome hotels. 

The Parents Room...

The Kids Room....

We then went back to Millwakee, and saw my dad's old house and neighborhood.

Gotta go! So Mundo out!


(This is from Noodle)


In Chicago,we went to a hotel.

The John Hancock Tower from our room in Chicago

In Milwakee we went to Sister and Brother Becker's house.

Before that we went to Lambeau field.We went through a tunnel which was pretty cool. We were shouting, "Go pack go!"

At a rainy Lambeau Field (at least it wasn't snowing!)

Gotta go Noodle out.

(This is Venessa)

We have had a jam-packed several days.  The kids left out a few things, so I'll just add them here.

While in Chicago, we were treated like royalty and spoiled rotten and ate waaay too much and too well...plus we were able to see lots of great things in less than 24 hours.

We got to go on the Sea Dog speed boat ride and see Chicago from the lake.  The pics aren't that great, but it was a ton of fun.  Noodle loved it most.

We went to Shedd Aquarium.

 A beluga whale...one of my favorite animals.

I took a picture of everyone taking a picture...

Red Poncho at the Aquarium

We also went to the Planetarium (but I was getting tired and didn't get my camera out).  So you just have to trust that we did go there.

After we were done in Chicago, we met up with Scott's brother and his girlfriend to see a Brewers game at Miller Park in Milwaukee.  It was great fun and the best part is that the Brew Crew won!

Geoffrey and Molly

Scott and Geoffrey

While in Milwaukee, we were able to attend a reunion of the ward that Scott and his family came into when they were baptized.  His former bishop had a slide show of the memories of that time.  I snagged a few pics of Scott in his 'glory days' from the slide show.

Man, was he hot back then or what????!!!!

The cute couple we stayed with in Milwaukee was wonderful and loving and our family will be forever blessed by the few short days we were able to spend with them.  The Becker's will always hold a special place in our hearts from now on.

So, from here, we will be in Nauvoo tonight and tomorrow night.  Then, it's a trip to Carthage, Illinois and up to St. Louis on Tuesday.  This vacation is just so full of things to see and do....and I'm really getting tired.  I'm with Anner.  I'm pooped.  I'm so happy we're doing this, but I'm starting to miss home, my bed, my Puppy-Butt dog and living out of a duffel bag is starting to get a bit old.  But I'm going to do my best to enjoy this last week and continue to document the memories we're making.  For now, it's bed time!

Next stop (in two days): St. Louis, Missouri

Once you say Wisconsin....You've Said It All!

Day Fourteen - July 26: Wisconsin Dells

We made it into Wisconsin yesterday. Scott was a bit giddy as we approached the Minnesota/ Wisconsin state line. We stopped just inside the border, pulled waaaaay over onto the shoulder, and shot a few pics of Scott by the state sign.





We reached the Dells and our quaint motel. There's no such thing as Holiday Inn here, so our surroundings were a bit, uh, dated. But there's free WiFi and a flat screen TV. The boys loved the fact that they have a little five round miniature golf course on the grounds here.

We ate at a local Mexican place last night, Pedro's. It was really good and the weather was lovely. We ate on the patio and it would have been perfect, except that there are FLIES galore here. It was all Noodle could do to sit not very still through dinner. He had to shoo the flies away. All the time. But all in all, a great little local place to eat.

Scott holding a chip....thank you Captain Obvious....

Me and my favorite Noodle

This morning we overslept.  On purpose.  We are getting tired and just couldn't muster ourselves out of bed early to be at America's Largest Waterpark at 9 a.m. sharp.  We made it there at around 12:30 p.m.  We slathered each other in sunscreen and Scott, Anner, and Mundo headed out to the exciting waterslides while Noodle and I wandered over to the kiddie play areas.  Noodle had a blast just splashing around and the other three in our family waited in long lines to go down two rides before we took a break for lunch.  After lunch, we all went on the Endless River Ride, which is just a slow tube ride around some of the park.  It was pretty relaxing and nice.  Then Anner stuck with me and Noodle and the Scott and Mundo set off for more adventure. 

Noodle showing me how he 'swims'.

....And he's done. 

  

It was a really gorgeous day and the only one that got burned was me, which I just can't understand.  I put on sunscreen. 
Alot. 
Often! 
Needless to say, my thighs were burned in funny patterns and it's not bad.  Just a bit tender to the touch. 
Don't worry, I'll be o.k.

It's been a great time here and the kids have totally enjoyed their first couple of days in Wisconsin.  Next we travel to Green Bay, Milwaukee, take a brief overnighter in Chicago, and then back to Milwaukee where Scott's old ward is having a reunion on Saturday.  I hope to post many fun pictures.  Like this.....

Once again, I'm amazed that we are taking this trip...something we have planned and discussed for years.  I know this is one trip that no matter how expensive gas is (and it's getting more expensive the longer we're on the road), the memories we make are PRICELESS.

Next stop:  Green Bay (to visit Lambeau Field), Milwaukee, and Chicago

A Restful Sabbath.....A Rare Occurance!

July 24 - Day Twelve:  Minneapolis

Today we didn't do much.

It was glorious.

We went to church in the Prior Lake ward....a friendly little ward in Bloomington.

We went back to the hotel.

We ate lunch.

We took a nap.

Until five thirty.

Not sure we'll sleep tonight.

We ate dinner a la microwave.

It was rotisserie chicken, steamed green beans, and Easy Mac.

An Oreo Dunk-A-Thon for Scott and the kids followed.

The kids played Monopoly on Mundo's iPod.

This has been the most relaxing Sunday we've had in probably years.

This is also what heaven must be like.

Tomorrow we head into Scott's home state.

On Wisconsin!

Tomorrow:  Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin

Shopping, Saving, Singing, and Seeing

July 23 - Day Eleven:  Minneapolis, Minnesota

Our whole family has looked forward to this stop for quite a while now.  Today was spent in humid, stormy-then-suddenly-sunny-then-stormy-again Minneapolis.  This weather changes on a dime.  It takes Las Vegas quite a few hours to get a storm brewing and going overhead, while here, it will storm up pretty quickly and then vanish.  But the temperature hasn't been too hot.  It's just weird to try and chew the air before you breathe it.

Shopping
I was excited for this city because I went shopping at the biggest mall in America.  Strangely enough, it's called the Mall of America.  The people who came up with that name were a bunch of geniuses.  Geniusi?  Not sure what the plural of that is. 

I had about 45 minutes of mall time to myself before Scott and our two oldest had to leave (which I'll write about in a minute), and then Noodle would be in my charge.  So my store of choice to burn that precious 45 minutes?  Sephora!  If you've never heard of it, it's a Girly-Girl's heaven.  Makeup and Perfume Paradise!  Stocked up on a few things, found a new product to try, sampled perfumes (none of which I purchased), and soaked in the estrogen vibe there.  Aaaahhhh!

We also visited the Lego store, and Noodle loved the huge Woody that was built out of Legos.

He and I also shared a Cinnabon cinnamon roll.  Noodle said that it was better than mine.  Ouch.

Saving
Scott, Anner, and Mundo were able to go to the St. Paul temple today and do baptisms for the dead.  This is the first time the three of them have been able to do that together.  It was a great experience and I look forward to the time in less than two years when our whole family will be able to go all together to do baptisms.  To have all of us in the temple will be a very sweet day and will give our children the taste of heaven that awaits them as they live the commandments and prepare to make further covenants with their Heavenly Father.

Singing
Scott saw U2 in concert tonight.  Again.  For the third time in two months.  I'm not exactly sure how the show went because he's still there, but he has been soooooo excited to see this show.  I'm hoping the storms hold off a bit longer so he doesn't get soaked and potentially ruin our family's video camera.  As we were driving to the stadium, we were pushed off to the side of the road by a motorcade of police officers who were escorting about three white windowless vans.....which Scott says was U2 themselves because that's how they get to the venues.  In hindsight, we should have rear ended them so we would have had to exchange numbers.....


Seeing

Finally, tonight the children and I witnessed the last Harry Potter movie.  It lived up to what we expected.  Noodle had a hard time sitting through it as his attention span is very limited, but he was able to put up the arm rests between he and I and the seat on the other side of him and stretch out to lay down.  He asked a lot of questions, but since the theater wasn't packed, no one seemed to notice it.  Anner is a bit sad that it's all over now.  I found there to be some very sweet (but sad) moments.  The whole reveal with Snape and his connection to Harry was very well done, and I'm satisfied with how it was all wrapped up.  The kids really looked forward to this and we're so happy we made this part of our vacation.


This vacation has been one great day after another.  Part of me wants this to never end and I'm grateful that we still have quite a few days left.  Tomorrow we will be attending a local ward and then hopefully going to the temple grounds as a family.  This whole hanging out together thing really is pretty cool.

Tomorrow:  Minneapolis....still!

A Simple Summary....

July 22 - Day Ten:  Minneapolis, Minnesota

(This is from Noodle.)

We drove a lot in the car.

We watched some movies. We went to a hotel.

We went to Nana and Grandpa's house. We went to Granadma and Granpa's house.

It rained, hard today.

We went to Aunt  Alicia's house.

Baliee was staying at Nana and Grandpa's house.

The cats stayed at home. We packed a lot of stuff in our car. We saw waterfalls.

(This is Venessa)

We're going to be here for a couple of days.  It'll be a nice break to just stop and enjoy before we move onto our next stop in this grand adventure.  Tomorrow holds shopping, a trip to the temple for our two oldest, the U2 concert for Scott, and Harry Potter for the rest of us tomorrow night!  We can't wait to see the movie and I know Scott is excited to see U2 for the third time in two months.  A fun day awaits!

A Missed State Sign, Mount Rushmore, And A Corn Palace

July 20 - Day Eight: Bozeman, Montana and Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

(Scott wrote this.)
Today we started off at Venessa's sister's house.  They were great hosts and took us in as if we lived there, and after I gracefully left a scratch on their Pergo floor, I'm sure they were sorry they were so hospitable.  After about 2 hours of driving, we arrived at our first stop, the Billings, Montana Temple. 

This is a smaller temple, but a very unique temple (architecturally speaking).  It has a single spire, but to my knowledge is the only one of it's style in the world.  I could be wrong and I wouldn't be surprised if I were, but it is unique and I can confidently say that!  After the temple, we continued on our way.
 
We have had several misses on pictures of the state signs as we zoomed by them, completely unaware that they were coming up.  Knowing this and being the one in the navigator's chair, I was determined to catch the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign.  Although I was extremely tired, I was not to be defeated.  To make it even better, I swore to myself that I was going to get a shot that was worth remembering.  As the time drew nearer, the sign was in sight, NOW is my moment...as I aimed out the windshield, there were too many bug guts, time was running out, I went to the passenger side window.  It was too hard, I couldn't find it in the view finder...I panicked and tried to time it as well as I could. 

Too bad I have really bad timing!  All I got was an impressive shot of the Saturn next to us!  Needless to say Venessa hasn't and won't let me forget it!

After the picture fiasco.  We ended our I-90 treck for awhile and decided to take Highway 16, a small two lane road the Black Hills National Forest.  A very good move!  It was a slightly slower drive, but absolutely beautiful.  I would definitely do it again!  As we were on the 16, a bird flew right in front of our car.  The poor clucker never had a chance!  He took the brunt of the force from the front grill, only to then bounce up, smacking against the windshield and then off the car.  He left a nice little splotch of blood, assuring all of us that the last thing he thought and saw was "Oh crap".

We finally arrived in Keystone and went to the "Crazy Horse Memorial".  We paid $27 to see a head carved out of rock...It is a total ploy to get your money and not impressive in the least.  I'm glad we went, but have no intentions of returning until it is done, which means that I will never be going back there again!

The darker image is a smaller replica of what the monument will eventually look like.

As we were heading to our hotel, now well past 8:00, we came down the hill and the Flanders (Anner) exclaimed, "There it is!"  We had finally arrived at Mt. Rushmore.  That was impressive.  The whole area is absolutely spectacular!  It is truly beautiful!  A highlight of the trip.  If you have never been to the monument, it needs to be something you do, it is worth it.

After checking into our hotel, we headed off for something to eat, Subway!  When we got there, we were reminded that we weren't in Vegas anymore.  It was closed.  After driving around and debating where to go, we decided to go to "Teddy's Deli".  A little more expensive than Subway, but very enjoyable!  They treated us well and the food was pretty good.  At around 11:00 p.m., we finally went to bed!

July 21 - Day Nine:  Mount Rushmore and Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Checkout today was at 10, an hour earlier than we would have liked, but we pulled it off.  Our first stop was to go in and fully take advantage of Mt. Rushmore.  We spend a couple of hours there admiring the amazing monument that that is. 

When we finally left, it was well past noon and seeing that we lose an hour, due to the change in time zones, we knew it was going to be, yet another long day.  It is amazing how quickly South Dakota goes from breathtakingly beautiful to Wyoming-like boredom.  Shortly past Rapid City, that is exactly what happened.  Furthermore, the humidity kicked in, right around that time.  From there it was drive, drive, drive. 

We jumped off the freeway to look at the Corn Palace, but that was about a 10 minute detour that we didn't even get out of the car for, trust me, it wasn't worth it! 

From there it was on to Sioux City and dinner at KFC.  Not one of the more eventful days, but due to Mt. Rushmore, it was definitely memorable.

Tomorrow:  Minneapolis, Minnesota