228 Krazy Kaplan's Billboard Signs Later

We arrived in Dixon, IL to celebrate our nation's Independence with the Brinker side of my family :)  It was a tradition throughout my life that we would visit my grandparents in Mt Morris, IL for the 4th....a big part of that was due to the fact that my Grandpa Brinker was a WWII Veteran and had been a POW....he has a pretty amazing story and the little town of Mt Morris, IL has always known how to celebrate the day in style.  Our family gained a strong sense of patriotism from Grandpa's service and that holds true today as well.  Though both of my grandparents on the Brinker side have passed on, many of us decided to make the trip back there and relive the tradition.....it was so fun!

We decided to rent a house on Rock River with my mom and dad, aunt, uncle and cousin, and did not know all the specifics about it until we arrived....we had just seen a few pictures.  Once we arrived, we realized it was actually on an island and the river was pretty high, so we had to drive through some water to get to the house.  We made some jokes about the fog rolling in at night and said we might have to play Survivor and kick someone off the island  :)  There was a rickety wood bridge that went from the house to the opposite bank of the river that the owner said we could use in case of emergency....if the river flooded us in...haha!  I LOVED THAT!  BUT, we couldn't use it unless there was a real emergency.

In all our email correspondence with relatives before the trip we had been referring to our group as "the river rats" just to distinguish between others who were lodging elsewhere...but, we had no idea how accurate our nickname would be.  At about 1:30am on the first night, Kenna woke up.  She and Savannah were staying on the lower level of the house on a blow-up mattress.  We had left a lamp on down there so they could see if they needed to come upstairs to use the facilities.  She glanced over at Savannah who was sleeping and saw something furry by her shoulder and chin....and McKenna realized it was a mouse.  She quickly woke Vanner up and they threw the covers off of Savannah SOOOO fast.  THEY DID NOT SCREAM.....I DO NOT KNOW HOW THEY STAYED CALM!  If it were me, everyone on the island would have known about it (there was only our group on the island, but still...).....So then, they made a plan.  Savannah said, "OK, on the count of three we run upstairs and tell mom and dad...1"  Just then, McKenna thought she felt something on fuzzy on her leg......so there was a really fast "2,3"....and they ran into our room and told us Savannah had a mouse on her face :)  So we made bedding accommodations for them UPSTAIRS and those of us "in the know" about the mouse on the face slept the rest of the night with one eye open :)  So, the house left some to be desired....besides the mouse (or, possibly, mice)....the water was really stinky and we weren't sure if we smelled better or worse after a shower :) BUT, it had a really nice, big open room that we were able to use to host our family for two dinners....we had about 45 people out to the "River Rat" house :)

On the 4th we enjoyed the Fly-In Breakfast, the ceremony at the Grand Stand...where we met Colonel Chris Miller...he actually came over to meet us and wanted to stand by us to ring the bell....not sure if our family was a good photo opp for him or if it was just a fun fluke, but we enjoyed meeting him and we really enjoyed his speech, we got to ring the Liberty Bell (a replica) at the same time as they ring the one in Philadelphia, we met up with our extended family for the parade, then went to the "River Rat" house for pulled rat....errr I mean pork...ha...WHAT IF! and tons of songs...stories...meeting some of the great grand kids who we had not met yet.  Everyone had a chance to meet Savannah and Danielle....that was a blessing to me.  Then, we headed to Mt Morris for the fireworks and some of Uncle Denny's popcorn :)

Seeing all the airplanes was a highlight for Brad...I know he and my grandpa would have loved talking airplanes together :)

The Mt Morris "Liberty Bell"

All the girls with Colonel Chris Miller...we are holding the rope for the "Liberty Bell" waiting for the OK to pull it at the same time as the real Liberty Bell in Philadelphia.

We had some free time on Saturday morning, so we toured the President Ronald Reagan childhood home in Dixon, IL.  We attended a birthday party for one of the great grand kids at a Splash Pad in Oregon, IL....then we got together with all our family again at the "River Rat" house and had some KRAZY fun....Family Minute to Win It Games and a Taco Bar.

This morning we all met up at the White Pines Lodge for brunch....these are a few of the great grand kids that were still with us after brunch...16 in this picture, but we were missing 11 (I think...if I counted correctly).  I told my girls the story of when I was at the Pines for breakfast and Grandpa sneezed his pancakes and syrup across the table onto my face....FOND MEMORIES :)

Not sure why, but we (all the cousins) always used to hang our spoons on our noses when we went out to eat...so, I am working on passing this tradition to my girls :)

It was a fun adventure!  I will always...always remember the "River Rat" house (and so will Savannah and McKenna :)....and all the laughs we had meeting up with my KRAZY cousins, aunts and uncles...and all our families :)  Hopefully, we can meet up more often!  

On the way home, Brad found a coke "with his name on it" at a gas station (genius marketing). 

He deserved it after spending the weekend with my KRAZY family, I guess :)