Travel log

O.K. so for the first of our long list of vacations this year we went to Palmyra and Niagara Falls. We left July 15th and came back the 18th. We got to go with our really good friends, the Bachmeiers. We had a blast. We went to Niagara first and stayed the night there. Charlie had stayed behind with hopes of interviewing with Swartz Creek on Friday. He never got a call so he drove to meet us on Thursday night. We left Friday morning and headed for Palmyra. We got there in the afternoon and went to the pageant that night. The hecklers were terrible and the kids became very offended. Thank goodness the pageant was spectacular. Saturday morning Charlie, Marie, Dan and I were able to do a session at the Palmyra temple. It is a beautiful temple and I'm glad I finally got to see the inside. While we were there, the kids swam at the hotel. They loved that. Afterwards, we did the Palmyra sites. We got up Sunday, went to church and drove home. Here are some pictures.


Here we are at the monument on the top of Hill Cumorah. Man, is that a climb, especially when it's hot!

Here we are at the Homestead. It looks so different now from when I saw it as a little child.

After we got back from Palmyra, we had two days to ready ourselves for Nauvoo. We left Wednesday morning and drove down. We arrived that night at dinner time. We stayed at Camp Nauvoo. It's a camp ground owned and operated by the Community of Christ church (Re-organized LDS). It has pretty nice facilities. The best part was the lodge they have. It was air conditioned and huge. It was great because we had 80 people from the Hutchinson side of the family there and it was perfect for all of us to gather in. The camp ground was only about 5 minutes from historic Nauvoo. It was a great location. So that night we just hung out. Thursday we were able to do a session at the Nauvoo temple. What a beautiful temple! Lexi even was able to do some confirmations too. That night we hung out again and played some getting to know you games because many of us don't see each other on a regular basis. Friday was the day we had available to see the sites. It was pretty hot (heat index of 107 degrees) so we didn't do too much. We went to see the pageant that night. Thank goodness it cooled off when the sun went down. The pageant was good, but I like Palmyra better. Saturday morning we cleaned up the camp ground and most of us went home. Charlie and Merrit went home with my brother and his wife because Merrit had scout camp on Monday. I took the rest of the kids and my nephew to my sister's house in Missouri. She only lives about two hours from Nauvoo. We stayed at her house until Monday morning. Then I drove home with my parents.

The kids wanted to see Carthage. We went there first thing in the morning so it wasn't too hot yet. We tried to see historic Nauvoo afterwards but it was pretty hot. We tried to stay in areas that were air conditioned.

This lady showed us how the people in Nauvoo made bread in the bussel oven. We even got to try some. It was pretty good. They make it fresh every day.

This man helped our kids make a rope. We even were able to keep a bit of it. Both of these pictures were taken inside the Family Living Center. It is air conditioned.

This is a picture of some of the family listening to the Hutchinson children (my dad and his sibblings) tell about childhood memories. We did this on Friday night. It was great. I really enjoyed it. Most of what they talked about I didn't even know. It was fun to hear about the things they did when they were little.

Friday, we tried to do this oxen ride but it had been closed down early because it was so hot (I mean my sandals were melting to the road). So we had to go Saturday morning before it got too hot and before we left for the day.

So the week we got back, Merrit and Charlie were at scout camp. Merrit had a blast and was very busy. He completed 11 merit badges, the most of our troop. He earned the nickname Merrit Badge Hicks. After they got home Saturday, we had to prepare for Lexi and I to go to girls' camp. You've already seen pictures of Hannah and me there. I didn't really have a good time and so I only have three pictures from the whole week (plus the stake took a bunch of pictures so I didn't bother carrying my camera around with me). I don't know that I want to go back to girls' camp again, unless the trouble makers don't go that is. I think it would've been really fun had they not been there. We got home from camp late on Aug. 06. We decided to go down to Mom and Dad's to help them with their bathroom. Hannah was able to come with us and posted some pictures of that trip earlier. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of this trip. We had a good time on this trip, but were super busy. Unfortunately, we didn't finish the work. We had to leave though because we were scheduled for our kids to show goats at the Genesee Co. Fair the next week and their inside exhibits had to be submitted by that Saturday, the 14th. We all know what happened with the fair. Although we were upset that our goats weren't allowed in, we weren't upset that we didn't have to be at the fair grounds. It actually allowed us some much needed free time. After that week, we decided to go back to Mom and Dad's to try to finish the bathroom. We left right after church on the 22nd. We were able to finish some more, but not all of it. This trip was a little more fun though. Les and Kristi were there too. We were glad we chose to go again.
Here are the kids at Mom and Dad's house the second time we went down.

They were creative with a cardboard box and used it to sled down the hill. They played with it for quite a while, until it feel/ was pulled apart.

This is all the kids waiting for the water balloon fight to begin. Grandma had a great idea to have the fight. It was fun lots of fun for all.



This is everyone being sprayed off. They were covered in cut grass. Les had fun spraying.

We left Mom and Dad's on Wednesday morning and stopped at the COSI museum in Columbus, Oh on the way home. Here are some pictures of us having fun there. It's one of our favorite museums.



Here we are showing our nicely polished pennies. We were able to do several science experiments that day. It was so fun.

The museum has its own Gravitron carnival ride to show the power of centrifical force and inertia. It's one of our favorite exhibits.

I will post soon

I really do have some things I want to post about but I haven't had the chance to lately. I should have some more time this up coming week so stay tuned...

look how big i am getting

i'm so sleepy!!!

me in my saucer

the mess after my first blue m&m

Walt Disney World

We couldn't go to Florida and not take the kids to Disney World, especially since we were only staying about 1 hour away. We knew we had to take this opportunity because we didn't know when we would ever make it back to Florida again. Of course from the moment we told the kids we were going they were beyond excited, as were Les and I. The last time I went to Disney World, I was about 7 years old and Les had never been.

Just look at the happy faces on my cute kids!!!!

Something that I thought was really great is that we were all able to go on most of the rides. Since so many of their rides are more like attractions and not dips and loops Audrey was able to come along too. She was scared of a lot of them, but never cried or anything, she just covered her eyes. Something else that I think Audrey really liked was that we weren't allowed to take the stroller in the line so, she was given a lot of freedom. I was a little nervous at first, but she did really great about staying with us and not trying to run off.

(remember to click on the collage to make the pictures bigger)

We were at the park for about 10 hours and the kids did awesome. One of the favorite rides for the boys was Splash Mountain. They were all tall enough to ride so that worked out great. Technically all the boys were also tall enough to ride Space Mountain, but Logan didn't want to and Parker decided last minute that he didn't want to either. Parker said that he will be ready to ride it when he is 11 years old. I was so happy that they backed out because I know it would have scared them so bad. Les said that when him and Bradyn were done with the ride Bradyn said, "I'm not sure I want to do that again." It was so funny and cute. When I was 7 and rode the ride I cried because it totally scared me. What was also great is that we went with our friends Jim and Melissa so, we had 4 adults and 4 kids. That really worked well for rides.

By the end of the night we were all exhausted and ready to go. We left while the fireworks were still going and that was an awesome plan. We were able to get right onto the monorail, which took us to a tram, which then took us to our car. It was a wonderful experience and I am so happy that we were able to go as a family. I can't wait till we are able to go again!!!!!

West Virginia

Here are some pictures that depict our vacation/work trip to west Virginia.

We had some good times... (All the kids enjoyed relaxing and watching TV.)

(Merrit being inventive with 2 big bouncy balls)

some bad times... (After getting in trouble)

and some of both.
(The long and frustrating road to a bathroom makeover)

Florida Vacation

Last week we were extremely blessed with the opportunity to take a trip to Florida. My best friend of many many years Melissa was going to be going down to New Smyrna Beach with her husband Jim to stay for a week in Jim's parent's condo. They invited us to come along and we jumped at the chance. We knew we would never to be able to take this trip without having a place to stay free of charge. The condo we stayed at was right on the ocean, I mean look out the balcony and there is the waves. It was absolutely beautiful. This will just be my first post on the vacation, I have a lot more pictures to put up. Stay tuned for more beach pictures and pictures from our magical day at Walt Disney World!!!!!

This is my first attempt at making a photo collage so, I really hope that it turns out ok!!!!

(click on the collage to make the pictures bigger)

****The bottom left picture on the collage is a picture of a jellyfish that the tide brought in. For 2 days they covered the beach, it was horrible. Thankfully by the time we returned from Disney the jellyfish were gone and it wasn't inconvienent on the beach anymore.

Logan showing his muscles (isn't the water just beautiful)

Parker Boogie Boarding (this was the boys favorite thing to do)
Boogie Boarding with Jim

Logan enjoying the water

Audrey having fun on the sand. She didn't want anything to do with the ocean!!!!!

Girl's Camp

I went to girl's camp this past week and had an ok time. The leaders had a lot of wonderful events/presentations planned out for the week. There was a group of girls from the ward that needed constant babysitting and corralling to get to where they were supposed to be. This made it a very long and exhausting week. Thanks Hillary for your endless work with the girls, I'm glad you were there with me. It was wonderful to be able to go to camp with Hillary and Alexis.

End of year baseball!!!!

Parker and Logan's end of year festivities......

Parker and Logan's T-ball Team-----Daddy was one of the coaches!!!!

Parker receiving his trophy

Logan receiving his trophy. Last year his team was totally unorganized so, he never got his trophy. He was so excited to finally get his own trophy!

The boys with Parker's buddies!!!

Bradyn enjoying the treats!!

Bradyn's teams end of year picnic.........

Having fun eating some good food...Audrey just loves sitting there with her brothers :)

Bradyn receiving his trophy!
Hicks boys with their best buds!!!!!

WE ARE A HAPPY FAMILY!!!!!

We were very lucky to have the kids be apart of such great teams this year. They had such a blast playing and we enjoyed going to their games to watch.