Southern IL Part 3: Purcell Family Reunion

It's been about 5 months since I have blogged. Life got very busy for us after our return from summer break, so I had to prioritize things and blogging was put on hold. I won't be able to catch up on all things, but I'll try to hit the highlights. This blog post was about 95% done before I stopped blogging in July, so here you go!

This year with Elizabeth and our families both in the U.S., we had a summer family reunion. All of the Purcell siblings plus most of their kids and their kids's kids came.  Due to lots of rain, we went to  Plan B and the reunion was held at Franklin Park gym instead of Mark and Betty's back yard. It was a perfect spot for the occasion, a nice place for everyone to visit in the cool air conditioning, and the kids had a lot of space to play.

These two... the big wheels gang...it was not easy to get them off the bikes. 

Eliza got to meet a lot of cousins and aunts and uncles for the first time!

The Purcell sibling crew: Frank, Ed, Ron, Martha, and Mark

All the cousins. When I started attending the Purcell family Christmas in December 2007, the only cousins were Lucas, and the newly born Sam, Emily, and Michael. Look at the crew now!

I didn't get pictures of the food, but it was a great spread. We had BBQ, mac-n-cheese, lots of great salads, fruits, and desert. It was so much fun to see all the cousins bond, just like no time had passed since the last time they visited. 

That goes for cousins big and small :)

We took a break mid-day to let the kids and parents enjoy the pool. Our crew was all over the pool, between the diving boards, slide, and kids play area. Check out Michael's cannon ball.

And Nathan's diving skills :).

Back to the gym.

The oldest and youngest of these first cousins, Emily and Isla.

And Sam and Eliza.

Catherine and Benjamin - both lovers of art, dancing, and soccer.

The ladies :). It was so fun to all be together, I wish we lived closer to each other!

The Fox crew.

Eliza and Aunt Jennifer :).

Elizabeth and Sandra.

Kurt surprised everyone and showed up later in the day! It was very nice to see him and was a nice surprise for everyone.

And we had a piñata that Ron and Nancy brought over. This was one of the funniest things we did that day. Amy and Nancy filling it with candy.

Elizabeth played a trick on the kids and told them that they had to all sit in a  line and watch as the adults hit the piñata and got the candy. She managed to keep them in a line watching the adults all take turns whacking the pinnate. Their reactions were pretty funny!

Of course at the end, she told them she was just kidding and at the kids all got to take their whacks and get the candy. Here is the video, it's hilarious!

This little patriot was happy to get candy!

Uncle Ed is always so thoughtful. He knows how much Benjamin loves earning money and gave him a silver dollar from the 1980s!

A lot of people left by now, but these kids were still going strong.

Sweet little girls, Sarah and Eliza.

It was such a wonderful day visiting with family and perfect place to enjoy each other. Thank you Mark and Betty for planning the fun event!

Southern IL Part 2: Holiday World

The last time we were all home together, when the twins were just a few months old, we spent a couple of days at Holiday World. We did it again this year and it was so much fun!  This summer, all the big boys were tall enough to ride all the waterslides and ride most of the roller coasters. So in between the thunderstorms, that is what we did!

Here we go!

The twins loved the smaller slides and they were tall enough to ride one of the bigger slides. They are such a sweet little duo and adore each other.

Everyone took turns loving on Eliza throughout the day.

Once the water park closed, we hit the amusement park. Both days we had to take a couple hour break during the day due to thunderstorms, but we got right back in when the skies were clear...and the park was much less busy. The kids rode lots of rides, from spinning tops, to swings, gravity drops, roller coasters, and played games. The twins enjoyed the smaller kid rides, and we closed down the park both nights!

Grandpa and Eliza were the smart ones watching this crazy ride...

Lots of spinning, but the big boys loved it!

They spotted Holidog and the Eagle :) Good ole' America!

During the day, we would leave the park for lunch and went to the pavilion area. This usually coincided with a thunderstorm, so timing worked out generally well. One day the storm was really bad and Betty, Eliza, and I were at the cabins with the cars, so everyone apparently huddled together under the pavilion and waited the storm out.

We had two cabins at Lincoln Pines and they were great for our families. The grounds were really nice and we had a big common space outside, a lake with ducks to feed, and there was even a nice game room where we could play air hockey, fooseball, and some arcade games. 

Abraham Lincoln grew up just a few miles from here, and they had an old cabin moved to their grounds, that he spent the night in.

Lots of great cousin bonding time was had!

Nathan and the little girls ;).

We had a great time together, and I think it's officially a tradition now that we have done it twice. So, until next time when we are all home again in a few years!