Day 5

Gratitude
Extended bonus family
flexible schedule
community theater

After picking up Serena from Hannibal, we stayed in Quincy because I did not want to make the drive back home late at night.  The kids got to swim in the pool before we checked out and then we made our way to Nauvoo, IL.  For those of you who do not know, this is where my stepmom is from.  This is also where we held my dad's memorial service.  And while he is not buried there, it is hard to explain but I feel closer to dad in Nauvoo than Chicago.  I think partly because this is where his brick is in the veteran's memorial park, partly because this is where he wanted to live his last years and partly because he loved Nauvoo.  He said it reminded him of Clinton County.

That being said, we love going to see Ronnie and Sandy.  We are always welcomed there so we decided we were already in Quincy we would drive up and see them.  Bonus that it is Ronnie's birthday tomorrow so that was nice to see him and we brought him some coffee from Starbucks to enjoy every morning.  They were happy to see us.  We had lunch, went out to the field to see the Jamie set up to feed the calves and then back to the house and visited the horses.  It was nice to see them.  I need to get up there more to see them.