Charlotte, North Carolina

Josh and I were thrilled when we learned that there would be a Chelsea vs Paris St. Germain game in Charlotte, North Carolina.  Charlotte isn't very far from us and as we have long been Chelsea fans, we thought it was definitely worth it to make the drive.  Since our boys have become even bigger fans than we are, we decided we couldn't leave them home.

It was held at the Carolina Panthers stadium, which was the first time three of the boys had been to a NFL stadium (Palmer went to a Broncos game).

 The morning that we arrived in Charlotte, we went and explored around the stadium a little bit.

Since the game wasn't until later in the afternoon, we decided to spend the morning exploring Charlotte. Our first stop was the Discovery Place Children's Museum.  The boys loved it there!

 We spent a ridiculous amount of time with these building blocks...

 Palmer got his super high (thanks to the wall) and then I think he favorite part was pushing the tower over.  

 I always love just walking around the cities we visit.  Charlotte was so pretty, I definitely would like to go back.

 There were so many Chelsea fans walking around.  They were the most loved team there that was for sure. 

 Josh decided to just randomly pick a restaurant to go to and I am so glad he did.  It was so much fun!  They gave you a card when you got there and then you walked around to the pizza or pasta bar and ordered what you wanted.  They would make it there right in front of you and then when you were done, you just paid for what you put on your card.  

 The boys also loved the fact that there was random jars of candy they could eat.

 Our table had a live tree growing out of the middle of it.  That was very cool.

 The boys pizzas were all in the shape of bunnies (another highlight).

 After dinner we still had some time to kill so we walked around Charlotte.  

 Every city we visit has these cool bikes you can rent and when our boys are older, that is definitely happening.  Right now it would be a little bit stressful to ride with them in a city we don't know well.

 After a bit of exploring we were off to the game!  Each of the boys was handed a flag when we walked through the gate.  It was held at the Carolina Panthers stadium, which the boys thought was really fun.

 Thanks for smiling Lincoln...at least someone did.

 The game wasn't too action packed which I think was somewhat disappointing, but it was still fun to see them play.

Everything the game lacked in action however was made up at the end.  It ended in a shootout between teams and the goalie for Chelsea ended up making the winning point.  We all left on cloud 9, what an amazing experience it was.  

Nauvoo, Illinois

 On the way home from Utah we decided to go up to Nauvoo and see the Nauvoo pageant.  I was worried since we weren't going to have that much time there, but we did our best and saw a lot.

 This temple is so beautiful.  Josh and I got to go to the open house of the Nauvoo Temple in 2002 a few days after we were married on our way out to a summer job in Ohio.  

 There is such a cool feeling in Nauvoo.  I am so glad that the boys got to experience it. 

 The last time we saw this sunstone, it was outside (see below).

This isn't a great picture, but this is the last time we saw the above Sunstone.  We also took the boys to D.C. a couple of years ago and we got to see the sunstone in the Smithsonian.  

 We got a demonstration of candle making.  I thought it was so fascinating!

 Learning how to make barrels.

 Making rope.

 Watching the process of carding and spinning yarn.

 The blacksmith shop might have been everyone's favorite.

 Joseph Smith mansion house.

 We headed over to Carthage in the same day.  This was the window Joseph Smith fell out of when he was martyred.  

 The missionary giving us the tour used the boys to show what Joseph and Hyrum did as the mob came up the stairs. 

 The spirit was so strong and I think the boys were deeply impressed by this visit to Carthage Jail.

 After we came back, we ate at the Nauvoo Hotel and then headed over to the festivities before the pageant.

 Stick ball was the first thing we tried and it was a miracle we pried the boys away.  They thought it was pretty fun.

 We went to the dance and the boys were all asked to dance by some cute pioneer girls.  Palmer and Hunter said yes, Lincoln and McKay said not on your life.  

 I think they had fun.

 We did the handcart pull and it was pretty crazy.

 I am glad I didn't have to ride in a hardcart back then!  It was so bumpy just going through this flat space!  We all laughed the whole time.

 Stilts...not as easy as they look.

 This is also not easy.  

 We really did have so much fun and we didn't even get to do everything there was to do!

 The pageant was so amazing.  We had never seen it before.  

I got goosebumps at this part with the Nauvoo temple in the background.

 At the end we went up to meet some of the actors.  This man was so nice and took us around telling us all sorts of info about everything.

AS we were leaving we saw the guy who played Joseph Smith.  It was pretty cool to meet him.  The next day we headed home from our month long vacation.