Harris Family Reunion - Day 1 (Quad Cities)

We were so lucky to have the Harris Family Reunion in our neck of the woods this summer. We had so much fun with everyone and in true Harris tradition we squeezed as many activities as we could in the week that everyone was here.

Our first visitors, Brandon, Julia and Leah, arrived Friday late night. They arrived after Lilly was asleep. We ended up waking up to Lilly running down the hall screaming “My cousins are here, my cousins are here”.

We started Saturday off going to Antique Archeology. Antique Archeology is the set of a TV reality show called American Pickers. The main characters own the shop and it is often featured on the show. For more information regarding Antique Archeology visit my blog post on August 29, 2012. It was so much fun going to Antique Archeology with Brandon and Julia because they had seen the show and they were very excited. Brandon remembered where they got all the stuff in the store. He acted as our tour guide.

 

 

We did a quick drive by tour of John Deere Headquarters and then went to the John Deere Pavilion. I am so glad we went to the Pavilion. They ended up having a big summer fair going on with a lot of free prizes and a petting zoo.

 

 

While in the petting zoo a chicken came and pecked on my pants. Lilly is still scared of large birds so she immediately asked to leave. I think I liked the petting zoo more than she did.

 

While we took the kids back to the house for naps and lunch Brandon, Julia and Leah took a cruise tour down the Mississippi River.

Later that day Kathy arrived and we all went to a River Bandits Baseball Game. It was so much fun going to the game together and enjoying the beautiful baseball park.

Lilly and Leah got free balloon animals, autographs from the current Miss Iowa and they got to meet the River Bandit mascot.

We took the scenic route out of the ball park. Once we were home we all went to bed to get ready for our morning drive to Chicago.

 

4th of July - 2014

Our 4^th of July was a pretty typical one. We started off with the local parade. Lilly was so good at getting candy this year. She would chase people down if they had a necklace or ice pop that she wanted and was super cute so people would throw her candy. I was extremely proud of her.  

After the parade we come home for naps. Lilly had already eaten a third of her candy by the time we made it home.

 

We ended up spending a lazy afternoon at home. By the time we got around to getting fireworks for the night we realized we didn’t have enough time to make dinner. So we drove around to see what was open – apparently nothing in the Quad Cities stays open after 4:00 on the 4^th. We reluctantly decided on takeout at Burger King. We ate on the porch while we light our fireworks – very high class.

 

Lilly liked the fireworks a little better this year but Bennett cried the whole time. Lilly would even hold her own sparkler. Her favorite are still the snaps. We had a neighbor boy come and watch the show. He was probably 13 and was very funny. He would help Tyson pick up all the used fireworks. I think he thought that was ‘earning his keep’.

 

This year we attempted to go to our city’s firework show. The website said it started at dusk which was 8:20 according to the internet. I figured I would let the kids stay up past their bed times. We went early and found a spot away from all the crowds. Lilly and Tyson played a little ball together. The sun and 8:20 came and went with no fireworks. We ended up leaving at 9:30. They didn’t start the fireworks until 10:00. Who starts fireworks at 10:00? They are supposed to start right as it gets dark.

One of these years we will make it back to Utah for the 4^th of July and Lagoon!