Friday, July 4, 2008

4th of July in Richland, WA

On Thursday, July 3rd, we left Seattle for Richland, WA. My mom grew up there and we headed over for a 3 day Allred family reunion with her brothers, & sister, and all my cousins and their kids. It was fun to drive from Seattle and see a good part of the state of Washington.
In the afternoon of the 4th, we took a bus tour of the city. We saw all of the Richland hot spots, houses, and hang outs that my mom, aunt and uncles took part in and were a part of. It was a "history tour" of their family in the city. It was fun and gave us a good feeling of what their lives were like in a small town 50 years ago. I believe that it must have been a great place to grow up and it made me want for a simpler time and way of life.
Kate with her cousin, Ashlyn.
As part of the history tour, we visited the grave site of my grandparents. My cousin planned for the children to do brass rubbings on the headstone. It was a wonderful way for them to get involved a feel a part of their great grandparents whom they did not have the opportunity to know.
After the bus tour, we had a big barbeque at my cousin's house. This house happens to be the same house that my mom grew up in and that my grandparents lived until they passed away. It was a fantastic family party, and it brought back a lot of fond childhood memories for me. I know that my grandparents were smiling down on the festivities and loving that their family was all gathered together in that very place.
Jeff was one of the first winners at BINGO. It was a struggle to pick between the Richland Bombers t-shirt of hat. He went for the hat, sorry no picture, and I hope he doesn't regret the decision :)
After Bingo, it was time for an at home fireworks display. My uncles came prepared with hundred of fireworks. Brooke got to light one of the big ones and my kids thought that it was pretty cool because we've never done them at home before.

The kids got gigantic sparklers to celebrate with.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

cool trip

loubige said...

Jen, looks like it was a fun trip! Glad you guys had a good time. I really like the idea of the history bus tour. And what is the deal with Jeff ALWAYS winning stuff?! That guy is sooo lucky!!! See you tomorrow, Lou.

Maggie said...

That looks like such a fun trip. It's so good to see pictures of your parents. Tell them Hi from the Pearts/Schimelpfenings/Johnsons!

Gretchen J said...

Can I be adopted into your family? I want to play Bingo and win prizes and set of fireworks that look like they came from across the southern border!! You guys know how to party!

Ari_rox said...

lol aww, there's no pictures of me anywhere in your blog! xD I really don't care, though. xDDD