Missouri. Chicago.

Well...we went on a pretty cool trip this month. For the first 2 or so weeks of August, we went back to Missouri/Kansas City to visit Jake's mission. We did a lot of stuff and stayed with members and stuff and it was pretty fun but I loaded those pictures second, so we'll get to that later. After we went to KCK (I like to call it that) we went to Chicago to see Jill and Fred and the new baby Scooter. Jill and Fred call him Oliver, but that's not what's important. It was pretty fun and we did a lot of cool things but my favorite thing we did is when we got to stay home and watch Psych and Oliver/Scooter and I watched like 5 episodes straight. He loved it so much he slept the whole time. Which was good because Jill was making a quilt so I was a good babysitter and he didn't make a peep. The other things were cool too though. We did so much that basically I am just going to explain what we were doing in these photos that I took with my cellular device and hope everything lines up where it should be. Here we go. So one day Mom and Jill told us that we were going to go visit the University of Chicago. I thought that it was going to be pretty lame, but it was actually pretty neat and I liked it a lot. I'm pretty sure it's really Hogwarts. More on that later. We went to this free museum that had a TON of information about old dead people. I liked it. My favorite sections were about the Egyptians and about Nubia. At one point you go into a room and there is a HUGE statue of King Tut. It's 17 feet and weighs like 5 tons. They had to run bolts into the foundation of the building to support all of the weight. Craaaazy. This is Jill and Scooter (he's in the stroller) by the King.

This is a real live mummy with a real dead body in it. Kind of freaky. They had pictures of CT scans they had done at the University so they wouldn't have to open the mummy. It was creepsville, but for some reason I liked it.

Here's me and my ol buddy Tut. Jill said I knew it was King Tut before I even looked at the plaque because he's the only Egyptian Pharaoh whose name I knew. While that may or may not be true, that was not the case. I knew it was King Tut because he is my bud and I did a report on him in elementary school. He died when he was 17. Or 19. I don't know. It was a long time ago, ok?

This is what Scooter did through the whole museum. He really learned a lot.

Another day that I don't really remember which day it was but it was after the campus tour day, Jake and I went to the Field Museum. Mom and Jill didn't go because they had already been and Scooter didn't want to come. We were supposed to pay $15 a piece, but as "students" if we paid $18 we could see one of their 4 special exhibits. So I did that (good thing I still had my I-card on me) and we got to see EXTREME MAMMALS. It was so neat. Jake didn't really care for it, but I loved it. I got in trouble for texting in it though. I'll bet the cellular waves act like defibrillators for all those extinct mammals and we'd have an actual Night at the Museum on our hands. Anyway, this llama thing was way huge, but you can't really tell. We also weren't supposed to take pictures, so I had to sneak this one. Also...did you know that humans are considered Extreme because the size of our brain in proportion to our bodies is much larger than other animals. How neat is that?

My favorite exhibits were the animal ones and the Native American ones. Which were the only ones that Jake didn't want to see. Go figure. We didn't split up very often though because the museum was huge and there are people there that want to kidnap kids like us probably.

The Eskimo exhibit was soooo cool. Probably my favorite part. This kayak is made out of animal skin. Eskimos are so bad a.

There were a ton of exhibits that explained how boats were essential to the lives of Eskimos. Why wasn't I born in Alaska? 100 years ago? We may never know. I also learned that in one tribe, when a young man "came of age", he was carried away by a "spirit" into to woods for days, months, or even years. When he was ready (it didn't say how that was decided), he came back to the village where they had a ceremony. AND...when he came back he was a CRAZY MAN. He did several different dances, signifying his journey to adulthood. Or something. The first one he was only wearing hemlock boughs, which sounds dangerous for more than one reason. He dances as a crazy man and if anyone mentions food, he goes even more insane. (Legit.) Then with each dance he puts on more and more clothes, until finally he dances as an elegant gentleman. I wish we did that.

Sooo...this is a flying fox, a type of bat. I'll tell you what, if that think came flying at me I would probably drop dead from sheer fright. The bats at scout camp ain't got nuttin on this dude. (PS...note the granola bar. The bat was flippin huge.)

We also went to the Lego Store, which was way cool. Mom's original plan was for us to make a Lego for Scooter when he gets older (they just have bins of Legos everywhere) but it was like the day the senior citizens go to Walmart, except for with little kids. And the Lego Store, not Walmart. So we just looked for a second and then left. But not before I snapped this pic of Diagon Alley. I asked for it for my birthday, but it's like $60 sooo...

They also had a giant Woody made out of Legos. Neato. We also saw the American Girl Store. That was neat too. If I was younger I probably would have peed myself. But I didn't...don't worry.

On Friday, we went to the zoo (for freeeeeee) and while we were waiting for Jake, Mom, and Dad to ride the bus from their hotel (they're real live thugs now), Jill, Scooter and I went to the...something something museum. It was cool. Cooler if I was little and wanted to try all the hands on stuff that thousands of other kids have already slobbered on. But we took a pass. They also had a butterfly...thing. Where there are a bunch of butterflies in a green house that you can walk through. Scooter loved that. For realz. He started crying when we first got there, so I took him out to give him a bottle, but once he was out of the stroller, he stopped crying. Turns out he just loved the museum, so I carried him through it and he was going crazy. No cries out of that kid. I didn't take any pictures at the zoo for some reason, so none of that.

So now here are some pictures of Scooter. I have about 1 thousand, but I picked my favorites. Here's Scoots in his Olympics apparel, eyes glued to Michael Phelps on the tube. Okay...not really. This was at church. I just wished we were watching the Olympics instead... (the straps of the overalls say "USA". Adorbs.)

Only 4 words are needed for this one... "Come at me, bro."

Here's Scoots and my ol pal King Narmer.

So like I mentioned before...I'm pretty sure Chicago is as close as I've ever come to Hogwarts. I took like 10 pictures and sent them to Melanie, my supa fly roommate from last fall who knew exactly where I was/what was happening without me saying a word. For example: the moving staircases at Hogwarts! (obviously they were stationary in the picture because we are mere Muggles.) The Dementors are breeding! and The location of Dudley and Harry's dementor attack!! What a smart girl.

We went to the Chicago temple on Thursday because Fred didn't have to go to work. Or maybe he just DIDN'T go...I'm not sure. Anyway, Mom and Scoots stayed home while us 4 kids went. It was cool. There were only 3 other people in the session with us.

Before we went to the Field Museum, Mom had to go to the grocery store, and Jake and I had to eat lunch. So she dropped us off at Five Guys and headed down the street to the store. They had a really cool pop machine...touchscreen. Anyway, we finished before her so I decided that we would just walk to the store to meet her. "It's pretty far," she said. "You could just wait there," she said. But I thought it would be a neat Chicago adventure. Turns out she was right...it was pretty far. But we got this cool picture of downtown and the river...so it was worth it, right?

This was at Gino's East, a pizza place. Scooter looks so gangster with all the graffiti behind him. That he drew.

Now on the Missouri/Kansas. Unfortunately I am getting quite tuckered out, so this won't be as long. Maybe I will add more later. Maybe I won't. We stayed with 3 different members, Nate Benson, the Dycks, and the Beards. Jake lived with Nate and also with the Beards as a missionary. They were all really nice and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We saw a lot of people and ate some good food. We also went to the new Kansas City Temple. It was pretty neat.

One day we visited with only 2 families for the whole day. That was a long day. But Jake enjoyed it so that is good. One family had 3 screaming teenage girls, 4 dogs, a boyfriend, and a raccoon, all in a trailer. I liked this raccoon, Meeko. But I was also a little scared he would give me rabies.

We also visited the visitor's center in Independence and Liberty Jail. After we went to Liberty Jail, we stopped at a QT gas station (which I love) in Liberty. When we got back in the car with our slurpees, Mom said, "Thanks for letting us go here today, Jake. This was the only thing I wanted to do here." I thought she was talking about QT, so I quickly agreed. Turns out she meant Liberty itself.

We also went to the College Basketball Experience in Kansas City. I think it is supposed to make you feel like you are on a college team, but mostly I just felt like I was at Chuck E Cheese but with only basketball games. I liked it though.

We also made a day stop at Nauvoo. Man, we did a lot of stuff on this trip. We didn't have much time, so we just hit up our favorite locations, the temple (for a session), the blacksmith shop (my choice), the brickyard (Mom's choice), Wilford Woodruff's home, and the print shop. Jake didn't get a choice. As always.

We also saw Rendezvous at Old Nauvoo, a play put on by the senior missionaries, and saw the performing missionaries act out parts on the Trail of Hope. That was cool. I wanted to see the Red Brick Store and Joseph's mansion, but those darn Community of Christ people closed down early.

Well, that is all for now. It was a swell trip. We visited an investigator when we were staying with Nate named Arturo. He told me that Justin Bieber went to Mexico and he told everyone, "Te amo. Te amo." while doing a peace sign. What a champ. Te amo. Peace.