Excursion for the Summer

Tara reminded me that even though we just had a baby, it was unacceptable to not go on at least one trip this summer.  So we headed out and did a short little excursion in upstate New York.  

Watkins Glen

We took all the kids and hiked around Watkins Glen.  It was fun for the kids to see all the waterfalls.

If you look carefully, you'll notice little Ryzen hiking up the stairs.  He was a trooper.  He hiked most of the way all by himself, even though there were a ton of stairs.

KOA Campground in Canandaigua
After we finished hiking, we drove up to a campground, where the kids had a great time jumping on the inflatable balloon.

Since Nova's so little, we decided it would be best to rent a cabin, rather than try to squeeze into a tent. It worked out great.

And what camping trip is complete without s'mores?  Tara and Aria also had a lot of fun singing songs around the campfire.

Joseph Smith's Childhood Home
The next day Tara and I went and did endowment sessions at the Palmyra temple, and after the kids had played a while at the campground, we headed out to see the house where Joseph Smith grew up. When we got there, there weren't any other visitors there, so we got our own private tour with the Sister Missionaries, which was really nice.  As a result, they were able to tailor their discussion to the kids.

The kids got to see where his family would read scriptures together.

And they also got to see the upstairs bedroom where the Angel Moroni visited Joseph.

They thought it was pretty cool that Joseph was able to hide the golden plates under the bricks in front of the fireplace.

Here's a big tree by the house that was likely there around the time that the Smith Family lived there.

Sacred Grove
The kids had a lot of fun seeing the Smith family home. However, when we headed out into the Sacred Grove, Aria started getting tired, and then the mosquitoes decided she was a tasty treat.  As you can see on her face in the picture below, she became quite unhappy. :) Despite that, the rest of us enjoyed seeing the Sacred Grove.  While Tara and I enjoyed reflecting on what happened there, Zade and Ryzen enjoyed seeing the endless number of little toads that were hopping around. :)  Ah, kids.

Hill Cumorah
The next day we went to the church located close by the temple, and then took the kids to the Hill Cumorah. They got to see how steep it was, and enjoyed wandering around.

Then we set off on the 4 hour drive back home. It was a good trip.