Kirtland and Cleveland

We went off on a short vacation for Good Friday and the weekend. We're only about 3 hours from Kirtland, Ohio. We wanted to go again (last time we went Victoria was only 1!) so the kids could learn some church history. We went to Palmyra 2 years ago and plan on seeing Nauvoo and Missouri this summer, so we had to get this trip in to make our church history tour complete, once we complete it.

We left Thursday evening and got in later than we planned. The good thing was that Erik was really tired the next day for the tours, so he was quiet and cuddly, trying to fall asleep instead of bored and crazy, though it could have easily backfired into tired with tantrums!

  First, we toured the Newel K. Whitney store and home. Many amazing revelations were given in the  rooms above the store. I know the kids felt the Spirit and seemed to listen pretty well. They especially enjoyed seeing the old-fashioned way of life. Erik took a snooze on the picnic table while we had lunch (good thing the rain cleared up by then!). We toured the Community of Christ church afterwards. They have a little museum in their church building full of church history, then they showed us a video about the Kirtland temple before giving us a tour of it. They currently own the Kirtland Temple. It was very informative and the kids enjoyed being inside a real temple! The best part, for me, was singing The Spirit of God at the end, since that was the song the Saints sang at the dedication of the Kirtland temple.

Saw Mill and Ashery

Erik's lunchtime snooze

River where many Saints were baptized.

Kirtland Temple

We went to the Johnson home/farm last and again felt the Spirit as we learned about all the revelations given there. The boys were laying on the ground by the end, but they were quiet, at least! We got to bare our testimonies on the step where Joseph Smith often preached from.

Steps where Joseph Smith preached from. Erik kept hiding from the sister missionary trying to take our picture- stinker!

After a better night's sleep, we spent the next day at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Driving through Cleveland, it looks like a great place! There's lots to see, so we'll have to go there again sometime. The kids, who are all very much into experiments, loved the museum and the shows we saw! It had been a long time since we had been to a Science Center.

View of the lake behind the museum.

Karissa is flying a plane!

Astronaut

On Mars

On Mars

Austin is taking of in a rocket ship.

Kid's play area.

Before going home, we had to eat at the authentic Puerto Rican restaurant there. Wow, way good! We'll need to go back just for that!

Mofongo- a popular Puerto Rican dish made of mashed plantain and cooked in a broth. This one is covered with shrimp. There are other varieties too. This was the best we've ever had!

Rincon Criollo