The visit to MO

I know I haven't updated in a little while, but I've been really busy with work, so I'm finally off today and have time to upload all of these pictures.

My grandma and aunt Joyce have been asking me for the past several weeks if I was going to be able to come to the family reunion this year. For a while, I didn't think so. Then, I found a place in my work schedule where I was off for a weekend and decided to surprise them. So, I kept telling them that I didn't know if we could make it or not. Not to be mean...just wanted to surprise them. It was also my granmda's 21st birthday, so I thought it would be special. ;)

On Friday, the 22nd, I got off of work at 6:30 and Jason came with the kids to get me and we left to come to MO. The kids loved the "big silver bridge" and the "big boat" (in Alton). They stayed awake for the majority of the trip. So, this is how this post will work...I'm the narrator and here are the illustrations.

Leaving to come to MO:

Friday night when we got there, we came in through the basement door and as soon as we walked in, they all saw my dad's drums and wanted to play. Shawn played first, then Jasmine, then Luke. Jasmine was the loudest and she really looked like she knew what she was doing. lol They had a lot of fun with that. Jasmine said, "When I get older, I'm gonna be in a band with a drummer!" lol

Here are a few misc. pics of them playing...

On Saturday, we had planned to go to St. Francois Park with Kelly, John, and all of the kids. We made it out there around 12:30 or 1:00, I think. We had a spot that had sand, so the kids had fun with that. Jason was helping the kids catch little fish. They thought that was just the coolest thing. My dad grilled...oh my Gosh, I really miss his grilling. He's the best. One of my favorite things is when he gets something cooked, he'll bring me a few samples of it. He brought a plate down of one rib cut into a few pieces and we all pigged out on it. Ant loved them! He said my dad should be a chef. LOL I think that made dad feel good. I think we all had fun...it just flew by though. It didn't seem like we had much time. We came back to the house to get the kids baths and everything. My brother told me to call him when we got back because he wanted to stop by and see us for a little bit. It took me a while to get a hold of him, but we ended up just going over there and visiting for a little bit. We didn't get to go see his mom like we wanted to, but we started kind of late. They're coming up in a few weeks, so at least we'll get to spend some more time with them then. I think my brother really missed me. Here's the pics from the park:

On Sunday morning, we got everything packed and Jason loaded everything into the car. I got the kids quick baths and we headed to Walmart to get my grandma a birthday card before going to the reunion. I had this idea to even call my grandma to wish her happy bday and to pretend we were in IL to be an even bigger surprise. Jason said that was mean. lol Anyway, so we headed to the reunion. It's this little tradition to go to KFC and get a big meal. So my mom picked that up on her way over there. The reunion was at Arnold Park, like it's been since I can remember. The reunion isn't anything like it used to be. For those that don't know, my dad used to play the drums in the family band. The past several years my dad hasn't been able to play because of his job. This was the first time he's been home for the reunion in several years. I used to fall asleep in my playpen listening to the band play. Anyway...after my dad got his traveling job, they had some young guy playing for a few years. After that, the band just stopped playing. So the past several years it's just been karaoke. I wanted to sing this year, but my voice wasn't up to par because I was sick.

The kids had fun dancing...Shawn and Jasmine were asking people to dance with them. Jasmine asked my dad and my brother to dance with her. She grabbed my dad's hands and asked, "Will you dance with me?" My dad said, "Well...I don't really dance" and my mom is going, "Oh come on...she wants you to dance with her." So he just kind of stands there while she's twirling. LOL Then she asked my brother to dance who told her, "Sorry kiddo, I don't dance." That time she just danced by herself again. Then Shawn was my dancing partner the majority of the time. I did dance with Jasmine and Luke a bit. Shawn is the one that really loves to dance. He wanted my mom to dance with him, so she did. Shawn was even dancing in the middle of the floor all by himself. It was kind of funny. We didn't get to stay very long because we had to make the trip back home and of course take all of the kids back. They were all telling their mom and grandma about the weekend they had. I think they had a lot of fun. Oh, and they liked my grandpa's Harley, so there are some pictures of them on that too.

Here's the pics from the reunion:

Here a few more pics that I had of the weekend...