My parents graciously took all 4 kids for the day. Matt & I set out around 9:00. Once in Galena we reached our first destination, Vinny Vinnachi's Italian restaurant. The food & conversation were wonderful. Next stop was what we call the Christmas store. We looked around at all of the ornaments to find the "perfect" ornament for each child - we try to find an ornament that represents something special from the previous year. We finished our shopping and Matt checked on some of his boxes.
Maude has been busy planting boxes in Dubuque (about 20 minutes from Galena) so we drove there to find the 4 new boxes. I love Eagle Point Park - it is a beautiful park and it has such special memories for my family. As far back as I can remember, the Swartout reunion was held in Eagle Point Park...driving through the park to look for Maude's box was like driving back in time (funny thing...everything sure seems smaller!) . Funny thing though...all those years of going there, I don't EVER remember going to the fish pond, so Maude's box was extra special! 
After finding the 4 boxes, we started to head back to the Quad Cities. We got into town and enjoyed our last few minutes of quiet eating a sandwich at Hungry Hobo. I love you Matt & I had a wonderful time with you! Hopefully we can do it again soon! : )
1 comment:
I don't remember the fish pond either... it's not new is it? Guess not judging by the over-growth. Just hearing the name of that park brought back wonderful memories of climbing those big stairs, tripping on those big stairs, playing ball in that parking lot, getting hit by a ball in a nearby ball field, Dave needing stitches in his hand from glass from retrieving a ball, yummy KFC and stopping with Grandad to pick it up for the reunion, the legend of the ghost at the house below, the old train car, the view, the squeaky swing overlooking the view,.... OMGosh, I loved that place! Good times and glad that you had a great trip!
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