Yesterday we drove to my sister’s house, who lives near Kansas City, MO. It was good for the kids to take some time off and play with their cousins. My sister and her husband were so good to us, and made us a really yummy dinner with Watermelon and Ribs! Thank you!
Our first place of interest was in Independence, MO, where we went to visit the Independence Visitor’s Center. Independence was a city that the pioneers helped to build up, thinking that it would become what they called “Zion”. Again I was impressed with how family-friendly the displays were, and all there was to see and do with the kids.
We got to see another log cabin home that we were able to go inside and see the inside dimensions of. This one was a little bigger, but I came to find out that this one was shared by 10 families!
There was also a little place to play for the kids at the Visitor’s center. My baby had lots of fun pretending to drive the horses for this little covered wagon.
Our second stop was to visit the Liberty Jail.
This isn’t a very good picture, but it was a humbling experience to see the rebuilt site where the prophet Joseph Smith had been falsely accused and held as a prisoner for several months in the cold of Missouri. I’ve always been touched by God’s words to the prophet Joseph, when he says, “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7-8)
My husband spent a couple minutes bearing his testimony, and helping them to understand the significance of the things they had just seen.
Afterwards, they watched a bunch of “Mormon Ads” which were pretty funny. I guess they watched one about some kids putting make up all over their dad’s face… they wanted to try it!
The rest of the day was just spent traveling. The nice thing about stopping at my sister’s house, was that we left a bunch of stuff with her. We’ll have a chance to get it later, and I could tell that we’d really over packed. I like to bring extra stuff just in case it gets too hot or cold, but in the 100 degree weather we’d been having, I knew we wouldn’t need our winter coats!
With our lighter load, it will also be a lot easier to pack and repack the car each night. It’s quite a bit of a group effort at each campsite, and we’re just starting to get into a rhythm. It’s been fun!