McAllister Heartland Tour: Day 4 - Family Photo Day

One of the defining moments of the entire reunion was taking the family photo on Monday morning. The most recent group picture prior to this one is nearly six years old and missing a few spouses - okay, only Amber - and several grandchildren.

With each family loading up in their own cars and having everyone follow in a single file line to Northwoods Park, the procession felt eerily like one you'd see for a funeral...in a comical way of course.

The photo shoot was everything you could expect with group of 13 grandchildren under the age of 10 and as many adults trying to keep them smiling and their hands to themselves. Thank goodness for the digital age of photography as the girl behind the gamera seemed to have her finger glued to the trigger pushing in rapid fire succession. We'll see how the final product will turn out, but the experience alone was one for the ages.

Following the shoot each family dispersed in their own directions. We headed back to the Nelsons so that Amber could put Ashley down for a nap. I went back out to the park to hang out with Jenna, Brent, Dori and Geoff while their various kids played on the playground.

While leaving the park Geoff was telling me all the knew things that were in town. There is now a Wal-Mart and a Steak-n-Shake among other establishments. One place called Culvers is where we grabbed lunch. Culvers has ButterBurgers. Use your imagination to figure out what that means, but they were quite good. I was sure to grab some food for Amber before returning back home.

The rest of the day was spent outside. Brent and I took Bryan, Jenna and JoAnna on in an energetic game of driveway basketball. The older grandkids captured craw-dad's in the creek next to the house. Later in the afternoon Bryan brought out a rocket set that we took out to the Morton Soccer Park. The multiple launches of the tiny crafts were cool to watch, especially as the kids rushed to catch the decending pieces falling out of the sky.

We finished the day with some grill delights, including burgers and brats. The evening activities varied as the night ended with everyone eventually joining in on a viewing of The Italian Job.