We decided to take a little road trip last weekend and see Nauvoo and the pageant. Katsu and I have been there before, pre-kids, but have not seen the pageant, and it seems like something you kind of have to do when you’re only 3 hours away. I had some reservations on how much the kids would enjoy it, but surely church things are family friendly, right (ha ha ha).
The drive was fine – very easy and the boys were great. We stopped off at our hotel in Keokuk, Iowa. Our portable DVD player broke on the way up, but really 3 hours without a DVD player isn’t a big deal (hopefully we can get it fixed). After checking in and dropping off our things, we drove to Nauvoo.
And the rain started. Big black billowing clouds and then pouring rain. Cars were pulling off the road and it was almost impossible to see. And of course, we were taking the little road right NEXT to the Mississippi River, where some of the land already looked flooded … at one point, one side of the road was blocked off from a fallen trip. But we did make it to Nauvoo and by the time we left the visitor center, it had reduced to a very muggy sprinkling.
The kids mostly enjoyed the Pioneer Living Center – or whatever it’s called where they show candle making, etc. Then we listened to the Nauvoo Brass Band. Andrew fell in love and insisted on waiting during the break between shows and watching the entire second show as well. By the end, the players all knew his name. Seth was not so enthralled, so he toddled around outside and during the second act, I tried to get him to tour the drug store and then finally gave up and just strolled him up and down the streets till he took a nap.
So, Andrew and Katsu went to the bakery for cookies, we tried to go to one more building, but the boys were unbearable by the end and fidgeting and crying and trying to touch the artifacts and run away. We went to the brick making place to get Andrew a brick which we had promised him. But even that talk was way too long and the boys were fidgeting and Seth was trying to eat into the plastic bag of sample clay. We decided to give in and find somewhere to eat.
After getting waylaid by some very determined Living Scriptures salesmen in the LDS book store, we finally got some sandwiches nextdoor and then had some fudge and Blizzards for dessert. By this time, it was raining pretty hard again, but it was time for the pre-pageant festivities. We took a quick picture at the temple and then drove to the parking lot at which point it was pouring. Pouring. So, we waited in the car as did everyone else.
Of course, at this point, Andrew HAD to use the bathroom. So, Katsu and Andrew left to find the port-a-potties while Seth crawled around in the car and kept honking the horn, much to the chagrin of the neighboring car’s passengers (while the boy seemed amused, anyways). By the time the guys got back, we decided to just go and get seats and sit on them under our umbrellas.
Which is pretty much how we spent the next couple hours. Mercifully, the rain stopped about halfway through the pageant. And the boys, while wiggly, sat still pretty well, even for the 45 minutes or so before the pageant started. The crowd was somewhat sparse with umbrellas or makeshift trash-bag ponchos in tow. And the actors kept thanking us for being there – kind of weird. I really really enjoyed the pageant, though, so I guess it was all worth it. Seth feel asleep about 30 minutes in, in the middle of the deluge, and Andrew feel asleep about 1 hr or so in.
The pageant was about Nauvoo, of course, and especially about one gentleman who came and ended up gaining a testimony. I really enjoyed seeing about the faith of all the people who lived in Nauvoo.
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