Missouri and Nauvoo

 Tyler came back in town from his sister's birthday party Sunday after church. This time I had my phone so no getting lost but the traffic at the terminal to pick him up was insane. I got directed into a lane and then it didn't move. I finally called Tyler and asked him to just walk out to  me. Once he got in the car, the police men then helped us get out of there. Tyler said most of the cars by the doors were parked and waiting. Seems like the better way to have done it would have been to tell those cars to go to a cell phone lot and clear them out. Not a fan of the North Terminal. 

Monday was spent finishing up school work, packing for our trip and running some last minute errands. However, that evening we had some fun and went as a family to watch "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." For a sequel it was really well done and everyone enjoyed it. There was some language, some scary parts and some sexual innuendos that went over the kids heads but it honestly felt cleaner than the originals. Not perfect for kids but I didn't feel too terrible about letting them watch it.

Tuesday after Seminary we headed out to Missouri to spend Thanksgiving with Tyler's sister Mariah and her family. The drive there went smoothly and somehow, even with all our stops we still made it there at the eta that Google gave us in the beginning. We got there just in time for pizza and enjoyed chatting and catching up. Then we even got a visit from their local missionaries and had a nice lesson on gratitude.

Wednesday was a pretty chill day. We all went to a nearby playground where the kids had a blast while the grown up chatted (and I shivered- boo to the cold!). Then we had an epic adventure at their local grocery store with all our kids (6 total). It was a little grocery store and our kids pretty much were moving road blocks. Not everyone appreciated our crazy but thankfully we only had a few things left to get for Thanksgiving dinner. Then that afternoon we basically just hung out. The kids enjoyed having playing Smash Brothers and Mario Kart with their Uncle Jeff and their cousin Jessie. Their cousin Red thought he was playing but his controller was never actually connected ;)

Thursday was Thanksgiving so it involved lots of cooking and dishes. I did the mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Tyler did the Turkey, Green Beans and his "Christmas Punch". Mariah did the rolls (which turned out way better than mine ever have), the stuffing and the gravy. About lunchtime the kids were restless and it was super cold outside so we attempted to go walk Walmart, but it was closed. So instead we took our moving road block back to the local grocery store. It was worth it. They needed to get out. A couple hours after that it was feast time! With all our combined efforts it was a really good meal. Later on we topped everything off with some pie- Cookies and Cream seemed to be the favorite of all my kids.

Friday was cold again so we decided it probably would be best not to be cooped up all day so we drove out to Columbia. It was an hour and a half drive and when we were only 30 mins out Steven started freaking out because he needed to pee. Tyler was frustrated because then we lost his sister, who we had been following. It was a lot of drama. We ended up eating lunch at seperate places and then meeting back up with them at Tiger Bounce. The kids had a blast a Tiger Bounce. It was a kind of hodge podge of different kid things- bounce houses, indoor playgrounds and a skating rink. All of our kids attempted roller skating (Mariah's kids are too young). It was quite fun to watch them attempt to skate. Ben really started to get it and did well- he is definitely our sportier kid. Steven got really frustrated with it and whiney but eventually sort of got it. It took the girls awhile to let go of the walker but eventually they started to be able to go small distances without falling.

After Tiger Bounce we went to Target and the mall for a quick second and then headed back to their house. On our way back to their house, the surburban was making weird noises but Tyler just couldn't pin point what was going on. When we got back to their house we enjoyed Thanksgiving leftovers, and watched a movie with the kids and then stayed up chatting with Mariah and Jeff.

Saturday we said goodbye to Mariah's family which was sad. It had been nice getting to hang with them and they had been such good hosts (constantly making us yummy food- they even made us breakfast every morning). Their kids Red and Jessie were lots of fun and they had really taken to their Uncle Tyler so they were pretty sad to have him leave...not sure if they were sad about the rest of us ;) 

On our way home we stopped in Nauvoo and Carthage. There wasn't enough time to do all the things but we got to do some. We hit up the visitor's center where the kids did a scavenger hunt and got a brick. Then we went on a carriage ride. It was super cold and not too exciting for the kids. They just took us through the back roads while they told us stories about various people who lived in Nauvoo. But Penny enjoyed getting to pet the horses afterwards.

Next we did the Trades Tour where we learned about the Baker, the Tinsmith and the Gunsmith. Tyler was definitely most excited to see all the John Browning guns they had on display and to see some of the tools he used to make them. He probably could have spent much longer there.

Our second and final tour was the Pioneer Tour. In this one we saw Brigham Young's home (learned about his poor wife rowing across the Mississippi river with a baby strapped to her), and then we saw how wagon wheels were made and got to see a Blacksmith in action. The Blacksmith was really funny and the kids especially loved this one. He made a horse shoe for a "fairy pony" and the kids all got to keep one. The last stop of the tour was at the congregation hall.

After this we walked the ground of the Nauvoo Temple. It is such a beautiful temple.

Our last stop in Nauvoo was at a gift shop in town- it was such a ghost town, it was eerie. The kids all got a little something. Steven got a pocket watch, Ben got a small metal gun (he says it is the perfect size for his dolls), Lucy got a bear with a Nauvoo shirt and Penny got a small plastic horse. 

Then we headed to Carthage Jail. We made it just in time to get the last tour. We had a really powerful moment singing "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" in the room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith died. To me it felt like a choir singing, even though there was just a few of us. It was beautiful. And then the nice spirit got interrupted by two large families coming in. Oh well, they didn't want to miss the tour either. 

We hadn't eaten lunch because there wasn't really anywhere to eat in Nauvoo so after the Carthage Jail tour we had a very late lunch/early dinner. Then it was time to make the 7.5 hour journey back to Michigan. It was going to be a long night- our ETA was 2am but it ended up being even longer. Not only did the kids have to pee every hour but at 12:30am, when we were about 2 hours away from home (in Battle Creek, MI) the noise the Surburban had been making previously got crazier and it started driving weird. Thankfully there was a rest area right as this happened so Tyler pulled over. After some looking and jacking up the car, he realized that a wheel bearing was about to die. This meant we were not driving the Surburban home. I did my best not to panic on the outside but I was all kinds of panicking on the inside. 

We first called our insurance because they offer roadside assistance but apparently they only offer it for accidents. Since it wasn't an accident they would only pay to tow us 20 miles and we were 114 miles from home. Their tow truck also only had capacity for 2 people. They told us to check into an uber. So our next thought was for the kids and I to get an Uber to a hotel and Tyler would pay the absorbent fee to be towed home and then come pick us up later. Unfortunately there were no ubers available, no lyfts available, no taxis available. So we went out on a limb and called a towing company. Blessing of all blessings they could fit all 6 of us and tow us home for cheaper than our insurance was going to. Thankfully they also were not super far out. So we all squeezed into a tow truck and made it home by 4am. It was quite a long night, in which the kids did not sleep, and yet they still woke up at 8am. Here's the picture of the kids showing their excitement for waiting for a tow truck ;)

Things

On Monday Lucy had her annual check up. Her Doctor was running behind because apparently the person before us had come in late and brought a binder. Lucy's doctor admitted that that kind of threw her off her groove. I hope we helped get her back on her groove by not being complicated. I just complained about Lucy's desire to chew on all the things (currently it's ice). She said it's probably just a nervous habit but we are welcome to take her in for a blood test to make sure there's no deficiencies. However the way Lucy panicked and burrowed into me for her flu shot, does not make me want to take her in for an elective blood draw.

Monday evening Jacob was over and it was fun to watch all the kids play a game nicely together. They had seperated the stuffed animals into teams and were having them do all sorts of contests. There was a cooking contest in which they were all different judges (that were clearly based on shows they've seen) and there was a drawing contest in which I was quite impressed with all their artistic skills. It was fun to overhear them playing.

Tuesday I was grateful for a day in which I had no projects and wasn't hosting anything so I could just take care of neglected things. I ran some errands, did a Salvation Army run, picked up an awesome doll bed for the girls for just $5, and went through the massive amount of junk the boys had been storing under their beds and in the basement. The boys did not appreciate my efforts- Steven especially is quite the hoarder- but I felt better, at least for the one day that everything felt clean and organized. 

Wednesday the kids all had their dentist appointment. No cavities but Lucy has cracked two of her fillings from all her ice chewing and will have to go get them fixed. I struggle with stopping her from chewing on the ice because it's way better than other things she has chewed on before. Maybe I should get her blood drawn...That evening Lucy had Volleyball practice and then I had to take her and Steven to the church for activities. Steven's activity involved eating gross things and would you believe he ate a snail!? He was not a fan.

Thursday morning we had the pleasure of giving a lesson on a political section in D&C. It is hard to listen to how messed up our youth are about politics. We had one basically telling us it is more important to have a president that looks good than a president that has good policies. You can tell how much media has influenced them. I hope at the end I at least got them to realize they need to research things for themselves and put prayer into the equation. 

Thursday afternoon Tyler left to Arizona for his sister's 40th birthday. They are not that good of friends so he is trying to reach out an olive branch I suppose....a $500 olive branch because flights are pricey again. I think though that after my several trips this year without him or kids, he wanted a break of his own. I don't blame him. The kids have been in fine irritating form this week. Lots of button pushing. Taking him to the airport was an adventure in itself. I forgot my phone (because we picked up the kids from school first, it took me a bit to notice) so I had to google directions on his phone and do my best to remember them, It gave me a lot of anxiety. Traffic was also awful. I was in the car with the kids for almost 2 hours. And on top of it all we finished the story they were listening to on the way to the airport so I had no more entertainment for them. Not my favorite my part of the week.

That evening I left the kids to meet some friends at Cheesecake Factory. I was little worried about leaving them home alone at night but they did great, no issues. Cheesecake Factory was a nice outing, even if I always replay what I said later and then wonder why I am such a weirdo. We had about an hour wait for a table and then another hour wait for the food but that just meant more time to socialize and the food was delicious as always. With Melissa still in young womens we talked about how things are going with the new YW Pres and it sounds like all the work I had done to get the program running right has been derailed. It's really depressing.

Friday Caroline took my 3 youngest to the temple to video them walking around for a music video she is making for stake conference. I had the two teens (David and Steven) but I sent them out to Seven Eleven and enjoyed a quiet house for awhile. It was nice. I was going to be productive but I ended up taking a power nap instead. That evening Lucy had a volleyball match and she did way better than last week, she really went for the ball. Her team once again won 2 out of the 3 matches. 

Saturday the girls and I went to see "Once Upon a Mattress." I think the inappropriate stuff flew over their heads (like the "man to man" talk that was had) and they did pretty good with the long sitting time. I'm not sure it was quite Lucy's thing but Penny loved it. She told me afterwards that it was way better than she expected (I guess she had low expectations?). Penny really loved the song "Quiet" and the nightingale. It was also nice to be able to support Abbie, even if I am no longer in Young Womens with her.

In the evening the girls went to a friends house for a movie night and I played the Nintendo Switch with the boys. I have been frustrated with Steven all week and was still feeling blah when we first started playing but near the end I let go and we had a good time. I think Steven and I really needed that. And bless Ben's sweet heart for always telling me I'm doing good in the games, even though I am totally not. He is very sweet and supportive. He'll make a good husband someday.

Belle Isle

After a cold spell, Monday was a warm day so when the kids finished their school work, we walked down to seven eleven and got slushies. Then we went to a nearby park to enjoy them. We had some fun on the teeter toter, the kids attempting to lift me up but most of the time I had the advantage. Lucy suffered a minor tragedy and spilled some of her slushie. When they were done with their slushies, we went to the library and got some books. I really enjoy these outings with the kids. I know I should probably do better at arranging things with friends for the kids, they do like to socialize, but I really like our outings as just us. They are much more chill.

Tuesday I was hosting Bunco so I basically spent the day getting the house and food ready. Since it's November I did a Thanksgiving theme and Tyler was nice enough to do the turkey (although I helped a tiny bit with choppping spices). I really am not a fan of hosting. I always worry about all the things and just feel anxious and uncomfortable. But everyone was really nice and said they enjoyed the food and they all dug into the mini pies I made at the end. I did not win any prizes but that's ok, it always feels weird to win at your own house anyways. I did have a moment during Bunco where I laughed until I cried over the caramel candy I had out that basically stuck your teeth together and prevented socializing. For some reason Melissa and I found it super hilarious, only she didn't do the ugly laugh cry I did. I am such a weirdo.

Wednesday was fairly warm (although not as warm as Monday) and we did another walk- this time just to the library. While I was at the library I saw a homeschool family that I had met when Penny was doing speech therapy. I thought about saying hello but it had been sooo long since I had seen them that I decided to just not make eye contact with them. I hate awkward encounters so I probably make them more awkward by avoiding them. After our walk to the library, I drove down to Long's with the girls to get some doughnuts because they just sounded amazing. They were.

Thursday Tyler had off work for Veteran's Day and the kids were at school so we went out to lunch at a sit down place. Afterwards we picked up a couple games at Game Stop. I was attempting to relive my youth and thought I was getting a game that I had played when I was young but alas, it was not the same game. So disappointing. That evening we had a new family in the Ward over for dinner. They made quite the entrance by coming in with a dog that we thought was their dog. I was so weirded out, like why would they bring their dog?? And panicking a bit as I thought of all the things that it could destroy. Turns out it had been wandering our yard so they thought it was ours. I was more than happy to release it back outside. I hope it found its home, it didn't have a tag. Anyways this family has 3 little ones so they are in a much different stage of life than us but they are nice people. 

Friday morning Tyler and I had the pleasure of talking about plural marriage with our seminary class. I was struggling so I did a lot of research and ended up finding a podcast that had some great insight. It talked about the sacrafice Nephi made (killing Laban) and the sacrafice Abraham was asked to make (killing his son) and how it was a similar sacrafice, it felt like it went against taught values. It also talked about how these were not 2D people and how it was important to hear their stories. So I bought the book "A House Full of Females" which is supposed to give first hand accounts of polygamy. So far it's given a lot of church history but it's still been an interesting read. I feel like my feelings on plural marriage are still a work in progress but some understanding is coming. 

Friday after we did our school work, we drove out to Belle Isle. I wanted to see the newly remodeled aquarium but it didn't seem to be much different from before the remodel. Still the kids had a good time. They actually had fun learning about the different fish and were most intrigued with the garden eels and axolotl and also the fish that keeps its babies in its mouth. Lucy was really surprised that an axolotl was real. They have them in Minecraft and I guess she thought they were made up creatures because she asked me when they were created. 

After the Aquarium we went to the Conservatory that's next door. The kids liked hiding underneath the giant leaves and Ben thought the tree he is standing by looked like it had eyeballs all over its trunk

After our good times on Belle Isle we hit up the Detroit Cookie Co on our way home. On the way there Google took us through some pretty sketchy neighborhoods and I was grateful my car didn't decide to shut down on me (it's had the check engine symbol on for the last few days) and ironically after we had our yummy cookies, Google took us through this beautiful, historic neighborhood. Such a contrast between poverty and wealth. I am pretty grateful just for my middle class status. 

Friday evening Lucy had her second volleyball game. I feel like she was a little bit more shy of the ball this time around- maybe because she realized it hurts to hit it? But her team still won. Although she tells me it doesn't matter if she wins, it's all about learning how to play. They have really pushed that message.

Saturday was a low key day. Errands in the morning, one of the kids had a friend over in the afternoon, and we ended the day watching "Just Add Magic" on Amazon Prime. 

November Begins

Sunday was Halloween but I failed to take any good photos. It was cold and ended up sprinkling on the kids. Steven went to Milford with Max and David. The rest of the kids went trick or treating here with the younger 3 May kids. Tyler and Caroline's husband were nice and went out with the kids. Caroline and I stayed home and chatted while we passed out candy. Once again I ran short on the full size candy bars and ended up having to scrounge up things- a super old bag of Smarties and some Twinkies from the basement. Kind of a bummer for the hand full of kids that came after the good stuff ran out. I guess if I want to do full size candy bars next year I will need to buy more. 

Monday was Lucy's nineth birthday. Since she already had her party and cake it was a fairly low key day. She started off opening all her presents (at 7am sharp). Our big present to her was the ear piercing but we did get her 2 Minecraft Minifugres and one more pair of earrings (unicorns). Grams Hatch got her a huge pack of Roblox figures. Grams Brady got her a Beanie Boo and gave her some cash. And Ben got her one Roblox minifigure and a Minecraft Minifigure.

After Lucy finished her school work, her dad took her out to KFC for lunch. Next I took her (and Penny) to the mall so she could spend the Claire's giftcard that Peter had got her. She ended up getting a Beanie Boo with it and a Unicorn Pop-it. Then we went to food court and got milkshakes. After that the girls were actually able to play at the play area- it was finally open! 

For dinner she was content to have potatoe soup and we wrapped up her special day finishing off Season 2 of Lego Masters. She said it was her best birthday ever so I'll take that at as a win.

This week my project was to move out the stuff by the front door so we could get the lockers set up- mission accomplished! And I even sold the desk that was there. I also tried to decorate the top with things we had on hand to make it more homey. Still want to add some things but I have to find things that won't fall off and break. So far I am really happy with the lockers. They hide the kids crap perfectly.

Wednesday night Lucy had volleyball practice and Activity Days. Lots of picking up and dropping off but she's the only one doing a sport right now so I can handle one busy night. After I dropped her off at her activity I strolled Salvation Army- I do love thrift shops. I ended up finding an extra small but extra cute nutcracker. It will be a great addition to my collection.

Thursday night we went and saw our Seminary Student, Dean, again. He's the one who owns a flock of birds. I do love finger trained birds, they are so fun. His birds also talk and they can whistle the Star Wars song. Tyler and I are talking about getting one but I just don't know. As an adult I'm not sure I can handle the feathers and poop everywhere. Plus it's cold here and I am not sure where I'd put one. But it was a really fun visit.

Also on Thursday my kids made these lovely masks at school and kept scaring me with them. First I was driving along and spotted Lucy wearing hers in the rearview mirror. Then I was going to the bathroom and when I opened the door, there Lucy was, wearing the mask and freaking me out. 

So to counteract the creepy masks, I will show a picture of the girls making Poppy proud and wearing their jean jackets to school. Apparently snow jackets are "uncool" so the jean jackets are winning lately.

Friday night Lucy had her first volleyball game (after just one practice). The coach had us come early for no apparent reason. We ended up just waiting in the halls the whole time we were there early BUT Jenna is in volleyball with Lucy so it was nice to be able to chat with her family and catch up with them. I'm going to enjoy hanging out with them on Friday nights. The girls also played surprisingly well. I really thought it was going to be more a train wreck than it ended up being. Lucy actually hit the ball several times and even got it over the net when she served. Her team also won so that was awesome.

Saturday Steven worked hard so he could earn the rest of the money he needed to buy his Nintendo Switch. He is pretty happy that he finally was able to get it.