The Great Summer Vacation

Lets see if I can get this all on one entry!
May 29th - We woke up around 6 am to get ready. We did the final packing and got the girls dressed and fed. We met my parents at the Walmart on the highway around 7:15. We picked up a few things there and headed out. My brother Caleb was also with my parents. We drove ALL day (forgot we lost an hour in the time zone). We drove all the way to Nauvoo, IL in 17 hours. Clara and Lexa did fairly well. We bought two new dvd players for them. We booked a place in Nauvoo that was a log cabin. It said it slept 6 people. There was a queen bed, single bunk beds, and a futon. It was tight but we made it work. Clara slept in her pack-n-play, mom and dad on bed, me and Lexa on the futon, Nolan and Caleb on the bunk beds. We got there around 1 am.

May 30th - Amazingly enough, Clara sleeps great in a room with people! I think sleeping with Lexa has desensitized her. Every day on the trip she was quiet and played in her crib until someone besides Lexa got up. We slept until at least 9:30 most days. We went to find breakfast. We eventually ate at a bar in Nauvoo. It was interesting. We headed to the visitors center and took a carriage ride through the country and learned about the farms and people that lived in Nauvoo. Clara fell asleep on a bumpy dirt road being pulled by horses. Then we looked at the visitors center and went to a wagon ride through the town. Clara screamed the entire time so I heard very little of the presentation. My mom went through the temple during all this. We then drove to Carthage Jail. It was a pretty special place (might have been more special had Clara not started screaming in the upstairs room). We went back to Nauvoo and ate at a really yummy buffet. We finally found Mimi and played at a local park with a merry-go-round and a teeter-totter. During this visit I convinced Lexa to let me pull her very first tooth! It was exciting. That night we saw a very good show called the Sunset over the Mississippi. It was awesome. We took turns chasing Clara until she finally fell asleep. That night the tooth fairy came, slapped uncle Caleb in the face, and left Lexa $2.

May 31- We wandered more around Nauvoo. The family living center was open and showed us how to make clothes, rope, bread, candles, etc. Nolan and Caleb saw the gun shop, we spent some time at the boot shop, went to the brick factory and to the burial site of Joseph Smith. Then we drove to Chicago. We ate dinner at the Full Moon around 10 pm.

June 1st - We had checked into a Motel 8 with two double beds. It was tight but we made it work. Clara was still great sleeping. We kind of just hung around, did some shopping during the day. In the evening Caleb, Nolan, my dad and I went to a White Sox baseball game. That was really fun. It was with Calebs school friends. And the White Sox won! Nolan bought a hat and two pink shirts for the girls.

June 2nd - I drove around looking for a salon in the morning because I was sick of my terrible hair cut! and we were dealing with humidity so it made it worse. After I found a good salon that did a great job I met the fam at Emily's pancake house. We had a huge breakfast. All meals were in shifts because someone had to be walking around with Clara so she wouldnt scream the entire time. After breakfast we went to see Caleb's school. He took us around and even showed us the cadaver lab (gross!!!). We saw the foot museum (he is at the Dr Scholl Podiatric School). We finally saw where Caleb lived. Typical college bachelor place. We made a fruit salad for a BBQ and then went to a BBQ of Calebs classmate. Clara ate about 3 hot dogs and Lexa had a great time playing bean bag toss (or corn hole in some parts of the country). After Caleb, dad, Nolan and I went to see Star Trek (Mimi did a lot of babysitting. We appreciated it!!!). It was a great movie, good concept (even though time travel drives me crazy) and we were glad we tried to watch all the old ones before we saw it.

June 3rd - We headed to the Museum of Science and Industry (or industry and magic as we called it). This place was huge and AWESOME!!!!!! We could have spent a whole week there! We saw the smart house and Harry Potter special exhibit. I liked the whisper room. Nolans favorite part was the smart home. Clara liked spinning in the rotundra. Lexa liked Harry Potter, even though she has never seen any of the films because they scare her. We tried to find a place called Gino's East to eat Chicago style pizza downtown. Clara was getting hungry so the rest of the family went to Millenium Park and Clara and I ate at the Corner Bakery. Lexa had a sub on the way home and then she and I sped to the closest theater that was showing Up in 3D. We LOVED IT!! On our way home we found out that Caleb, dad and Nolan were just eating pizza finally at around 10 pm. They brought us leftovers and we loved the pizza. One of these mornings I also pulled out Lexa's second bottom tooth and the tooth fairy came again with $2 but didnt smack anyone in the face this time.

June 4th - Nolan's grandma grew up in Michigan City, In. We were staying about 1 hour north of Chicago, then Michigan City was about another hour from Chicago. We went and saw Grandma Wright's brother, his wife, and their daughter. Uncle Leonard took us to the house they all grew up in, to the park they all used to hang out at, where Grandma and Grandpa Wright met. There was a little zoo at the park and Lexa loved it. I thought uncle Leonard was going to drop on us, but he made it. We ate dinner with them then headed back to the city. We stopped by the Sears Tower (now the Willis tower) right at sunset and then drove by and saw all the lights at the Navy Pier.

June 5th - GRADUATION DAY!!!!! We had to leave our hotel room around 7 am to head downtown. The graduation for Uncle Caleb was at the Civic Opera House. Grandma Dolly arrived in Chicago the day before by plane. We sat near the back to let Clara out. She luckily fell asleep right as they started. We all got to hear the speeches. She woke up when people started cheering. Nolan stayed in the lobby with her the whole time. Nolan came in when it was time to cheer for Uncle Caleb. He was hooded and pronounced Dr Caleb Roy (wah) Baker, DPM. We are so proud and excited for him!!!!! Afterwards we ate a quick lunch at McDonalds across the street. There we met up with a good friend from the cancer camp we used to go to when we were little. We have known this friend since we were about 9 and 10. Her name is Tracy Barnes and she just happened to be in Chicago for a conference that same weekend. Funny enough the conference was about Kinesio Tape, which Caleb is dying to learn about!!! So he actually went with her to the conference and we all went to the Navy Pier. Lexa and I rode the ferris wheel. Grandma Dolly, Nolan, dad, Lexa and I did an architectural boat tour town the river in Chicago. It was really cool and we learned tons!!! Mimi and Clara played in a fountain in front of the Pier. We also let Lexa play in it. They both got soaked and loved it. We went and found Dr Uncle Caleb and ate at the Rainforest Cafe (still in shifts to watch Clara). We went back to the hotel, dropped of Clara and Mimi, then had dessert at Chili's. We thought it would be the last time seeing Dr Uncle Caleb and Lexa cried herself to sleep because she misses him.

June 6th - Dr Uncle Caleb showed up to help with making sure the parents Element (car) was working right for the drive home. Got our oil changed, packed and headed out. Grandma Dolly was flying home on Sunday and dad was helping Dr Caleb pack and move to Binghampton, NY where he will be doing his residency for 3 years before heading back to Longmont to start his own practice. Mimi and Lexa rode in the Element and Nolan and I rode with Clara in the van. Drove all the way to Omaha, Ne in 11 hours. Got in a hotel right as a huge lightning and rain storm hit the city. Clara was so exciting to be there that she just ran in circles, smiling and laughing. She has finally found out how fun having a sister is. Clara would straddle her then jump up and down and dive all over Lexa while she was in her sleeping bag. We were on the second floor so we tried to keep them quiet around midnight, but it was hard not to roll on the floor laughing.

June 7th - Drove the rest of the way to Severance, Co and Mimi to Longmont. Left Omaha around 11:30 and got home around 9 pm. Whew!

It was a great trip. I didnt know that Chicago was the third largest city in the US. I wish we had another week there to see the aquarium and other museums. I hope Nolan will take us back there again someday. Clara was a monster on the road but is great here at home. We had a good day of relaxation with a lot of laundry to do. If you actually read all this, I hope you enjoyed our great summer vacation!!!
PS I will probably put most of the pics up on Facebook or on www.steffandnols.com . Sorry, Havent figured out how to post them here yet. Our camera died in Chicago so pics will have to be gathered from phones, Dr Calebs camera and Mimi's camera.