Witch Doctor or Chiropractor's Daughter?

Chiropractors around the world, and in this house might be offended that I grouped them with witch doctors :)  So just so everyone know, Chiropractors are real doctors, they help millions of people and are not known for wearing cervical vertebrae around their necks!

That being said, for Sam's Spinal Anatomy classes he had to buy a complete spine model.  To study each each section he separated them onto yarn.  Marlee, however, thought they were a fun necklace her daddy made for her.  When ever she wears it we call her the witch doctor.  This picture was taken back in March but this necklace is still one of Marlee's favorites.  

Croft Family Visit!

     The Crofts visited during the second week of the Palmer Break.  We were so excited to show them around and spend time with family.   I'm going to break the visit up into activities.  Our first tourist stop was Davenport. 


Davenport:   

Palmer was the first stop on the Davenport tourist list. 

 
Marlee had more fun climbing stairs and walking on benches than touring Palmer.  

 We were able to tour the B.J. Palmer Mansion.  The founder of Chiropractics is D.D. Palmer and his son B.J. is know for getting Chiropractics and the school going.   B.J. traveled a lot and apparently had a thing for Asian art.

 After touring around Palmer, we went to the sky bridge that overlooks the Mississippi.  It was raining pretty hard when we got there so Andy and Sam decided to go play out in the storm.  

 After watching her Dad and Uncle Andy, Marlee decided she needed to play in the rain as well.  

We went home shortly after this picture was taken.  It turned out to be a good thing because that afternoon we received a Tornado warning.  The trees whipped around and the rain pelted our windows.  It was a little scary, but no tornado touched down near us. We didn't even lose power.  I don't think it helped Grandma be excited about where we live though. 


Botanical Gardens:

Our next stop was the Botanical Gardens across the river in Rock Island, Illinois.  The gardens were very pretty but they weren't labeled very well.  We were in luck though because we had Andy with us!  He didn't know that he would be getting a plant quiz but quiz him we did.  I think he got a little tired of us saying, "Hey Andy, what's this plant?" over and over again.  Even though we asked a bunch, Andy knew what all the plants were.  Pretty amazing, huh!

The Botanical Gardens had a Hawaiian garden area.  It was my favorite.  I've never been to Hawaii, but it came pretty close to how I pictured it with the waterfall and vines.  

Marlee found all the kid actvities that were scattered throughout the garden.  Here there were kid chairs painted with different insects.  She liked the dragonfly chair the best.  I love her scrunchy nose :) 

This activity center had fun books.  I especially like this picture because it shows Sam being the awesome dad that he is! Marlee loved spending time with him during his break.

This is what everyone else was doing while we were reading books and trying out chairs with Marlee.

 

Nauvoo:

Our Next stop was Church History site, Nauvoo, Ill.  We walked up and down the restored historical Main Street.  A few places we stopped included the gun smith, bakery (for the free cookie, Marlee ate mine too!), tin shop, Brigham Young home and the John Taylor home.   

 If we had been wealthy enough to afford horses, this is the type of wagon a family like ours would have taken across the plains.  It makes the moving truck we just used to move here look ginormous! 

 Marlee didn't really like to ride in the stroller.  More often she was running off into the grass that was taller than her.  I like that she is turning back in this picture.  To me it's like she's saying, "Watch what I can do" as she ventures off.  

The next three pictures are from the...yep that's right... the Brigham Young Home.  How did you guess.  

The Fam outside the cellar.  It really was cooler inside there. 

Marlee went round and round this well for a good ten minutes.  She'd squeeze through this little opening and then run round and do it again.  I guess that is the second use of the well.  One to get water, two to be a playground toy. 



















While we waited for Dada and Grandpa to get the cars, Andy rested on a bench in the shade.  Marlee, on the other hand, sat down in the dirt and played.  I really think this was her favorite part of Nauvoo!


























We had so much fun having family visiting.  Not pictured are the many games we played (I won Ticket to Ride!) and the time we just relaxed and enjoyed one anothers company.    

Wallace Family Visit!

     During the three week Palmer break we were so excited to have family visit us!  We were all excited to have family come, but I think I was most excited.  This is the longest/farthest I've been away from home.  It's been a great experience living in Davenport so far, but at the same time I miss being close to extended family.  Now on to the fun. My family came the first week of our break.  I'll break the trip down into days :)  

DAY 1:
      The first night that the Mom, Dad and Camille were here we saw fireflies.  It's hard to get a good picture of fireflies, but they were very fun to see. The next day we took them around to see the sights of Davenport.  As much as I like this city, there isn't too much touristy to do, but here is what we came up with: 

First, we took them to Palmer.  We thought they might like to see the reason we are here.  Sam took us on a short tour of the school.  Some tour highlights were display cases of spines, a stale fortune cookie and the founders-ashes-in-the-wall wall. 

 Next, we went across the sky walk that overlooks the Mississippi.  This walkway has floor to ceiling glass so you can see the river very well.  Except of course for where that casino blocks the view!  My favorite part of seeing the river is all the pelicans that hang around down there.  There were probably a hundred hanging out.  

We walked down for a closer look and to cool our toes.  Marlee loved getting hit by the waves.  Every time they came is she would giggle so loud.  It was only a couple of weeks before this that Sam and I came down to almost this same spot and the river was so high it was flooding under that fence behind Sam!

Day 2:

The next day we drove to Nauvoo, Illinois, LDS Church History Site.  We made it there even with two gps failures.  The road must be new because the gps always told us we were driving in a field, but we never left the highway :)  The Nauvoo temple is beautiful and there are a lot of things see and do in Old Nauvoo.  

We took a bumpy oxen ride, wagon ride and walked around the temple.  I really enjoyed seeing where the early saints lived.  We saw how much they sacrificed and to me it showed how strong their testimonies were.  They knew that Heavenly Father would be with them as they followed His commandments.  It strengthened my testimony and I know too that Heavenly Father will help us through the challenges and trials we are given.    

 Everyone took turns chasing Marlee.  Grandpa is corralling her back to the group this time.  She loved having so many people to play with.  Mom and Dad loved having help chasing her!

Beautiful!!!

Carthage Jail is only like a 30 minute drive from Nauvoo so we went there too.  Marlee fell asleep on the way so her Daddy carried her around until she woke up. 

 Day 3:

After Nauvoo we were all kinda tired of driving so we decided to go to the Zoo that is only a 20 minute drive from our apartment.  We forgot Marlee's cup so she got some bug juice at the zoo.  I swear all that it is is flavored sugar.  We watered it down but Marz was still bouncing off the walls.  We saw some fun animals, but I think the best part was just being with family.  

Just a couple of Monkeys!

Taking a break in the shade.  Marlee was having fun handing things to Grandpa.  

Marlee and Grandma are cooling off with the squirting elephant and the mist fan!

 Marlee was very brave and she let her dad help her feed the swan.  I was surprised she thought it was so funny!


Here are just a few more random pictures that I thought were fun!