978 Miles.... Continued :)

Brecken "making Daddy coffee" in our hotel....

Here is something I was surprised to enjoy. I admit that I didn't fully appreciate "farm life" while growing up there, but I am SO happy to make sure Brecken understands and is familiar with all of the fun that farm life has to offer.  We visited the John Deere Pavilion in Davenport, Iowa and it was VERY cool!

Checking out all of the BIG tractors!

The store was TONS of fun!  They had two small kids' tables set up for kids to "sample" all of the toys they sold....

We told Brecken that he could choose ONE small tractor to buy and take home.  He was looking through the selections with daddy....

... but after playing with all of the options on the toy table, he wouldn't settle for anything other than a specific yellow monster truck.  We scoured the store and looked high and low for this certain one and couldn't find it anywhere.  We finally asked Brecken if he could help us look and he took his sample one around to each package and said, "Nooooo, that's different..." until he spotted the same one.  It was cute as he found it and exclaimed, "Is the same!!!!!!!!!!"

Checking out a John Deere lounger, kid size of course!  A lucky kiddo could have a VERY decked out JD room!!

That night, we were MORE THAN EXCITED to attend the reason we were in Iowa in the first place.... A "Welcome home party" for a dear high school friend of mine that had just returned home from Afghanistan.  It was so good to see him and a great surprise to see several other classmates that night!  Here, Brecken is playing with Dan and Jill Yule and showing off his "aminal book!" (animal book)

WELCOME HOME SKEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was too busy talking that night to take very many pictures, but we did snap one of several of us Pekin kids!!

We had an early wake-up the next morning in Moline, IL to start our decent to Southeastern Iowa..... Along the way, we made sure to stop at one of my childhood favorite places:  THE KALONA CHEESE CURD FACTORY!!!

Learning how cheese curds are made....

Asking us questions about the "four big forks that turn the cheese around" :)

After buying our cheese curds!

First taste of a Kalona cheese curd :)

After arriving in Ollie, Iowa, our day was jam packed with Ollie Big Day and a Gott family reunion.  Both were AWESOME!  I unfortunately don't have any reunion pictures from my camera but did take a few at Ollie Big Day :)

Steph and the kids drove down for the day and Brecken LOVED watching the parade with his cousins!

Getting freezy pops and candy from the parade!

We were SO excited to see the Yules at the parade!!!  Brecken and Wyatt are close in age and haven't had a "play date" since they were tiny :)

B is NOT a fan of bouncy castles.  I believe he's yelling, "MOMMY HELP ME!" during this photo :)

American Pie performed at Ollie Big Day and it was great to see them!  One of the lead singers, Kathy Burris, was one of mom's cancer nurses back in the '80's.  We have stayed in touch with her over the years and love it when her and her husband perform in nearby venues.  At one point, she came out into the audience and serenaded Brecken which he LOVED!!!!!

Meeting Kathy backstage after the show!

American Pie singers Randy and Kathy Burris, Brecken and Mommy, Papa Gott, Emma

Playing in the park with Emma....

The slide has certainly aged since I played on it as a kid.... And while I'm sure it's the same size today, it looked SO TALL with my little kiddo on it!!

Ollie Big Day was a VERY hot day..... Brecken was covered in sweat, drool, and candy by the end of it all!

Brecken wore Uncle Aaron's 1986 Ollie Big Days shirt :)

The final show of the night was Elvis..... Brecken was singing and dancing for a lot of the performance, but had totally tuned "The King" out and instead focused on a nearby tree at this point.....

B was started, and laughing, when Elvis snuck up on his and started to sing to him!!

Can you believe there is still MORE to this roadtrip!  We're on our LAST day though, so one more post to follow!!