Family Reunion - Kaliher style

Last weekend we were able to go to the Kaliher Family reunion held at Starved Rock State park in Utica, IL. We flew in on Thursday and back on Monday. Between those days we had a blast.The first day we landed and headed to Eureka, IL to spent quality time with Aunt Gwen (one of my favorite people in the world) and her family. Carlita loves her cousin, Hannah. She gets all of Hannah's hand-me-downs and almost every outfit Carlita wore was Hannah's at one time. It's amazing being around a small town. Hannah and Carlita just ran off to neighbor's houses for pool time and did their own thing. For that first day I had no clue where my kids were. For one, I had been feeling sick. so the trip which required us to be up at 3:30am to get to the airport didn't help. Once we got to Gwen's I passed out for a few hours. And Karl did so too and Luke. Carlita was off with cousin Hannah (Gwen knew where the kids were at all times though). Once we have recovered, I got busy making the family slideshow which you can see on previous posts - what a blast to go through old pictures and figure who everyone was. Then Friday we were off to Starved Rock. We stayed at the lodge which had a great wilderness feeling to it. Our room was right on the first floor next to the pool, so the kids were in the pool within 10 minutes of arriving. Other cousins were there too. Everyone started to arrive and for our first gathering we met outside (in the heat and humidity), ate pizza, and did a fun ice breaker (led by Dr. Lulu). We had nametags and stickers and the objective was to get as many stickers as possible by going around and meeting each other. Many of us have never met in person (though knew of each other through email/letters/cards).  As the evening went on, the kids got back into the pool and the adults told stories and drank. We planned out our next day's activities and the ones with little kids (that's us) went to bed early.

On Saturday, I was up early to have yoga with Aunt Gwen, led by Aunt Cindy who did a wonderful job. Then my family went to eat with Grandma Joannie. Then Carlita wanted to do the pool but we wanted to o on a hike with the cousins. 
So we split up. Carlita with the swimming cousins and Luke with us in a backpack. We didn't know where the group of hikers went so we took on the St. Louis Canyon trail. That was very hilly with lots of stairs. We saw Aurora Canyon, on the way to St. Louis. The trails here were all accessible for the most part. All groomed with wood panels on the trail and stairs. It wasn't exactly hiking but it worked for us. Very pretty. Then we hiked back in time for lunch. The whole group gathered for that in the Great Hall and wore our bright yellow shirts (see slideshow). Those shirts glow in the dark - they were so bright. So we stood out - not like we wouldn't with this loud group. After lunch it was nap time for the boys. Carlita again was in the pool or hanging out with cousins. We had the LaSalle room reserved for the day where we set up games and remembrance tables for everyone to enjoy. I got to premiere the two slideshow movies I created for the event - one of the Kaliher heritage and one on the next generation of Kalihers. Everyone loved them. they were shown over and over. Of course both were posted online, through this site, Facebook, and our family youtube channel. Dinner was served buffet style and we ate in the LaSalle room. Then the fun Kaliher talent show was put on. What a blast! The patriarch of the family, Don, told jokes and stories. Some "I'm married to a Kaliher "stories were told. We had singing done by Kitty and Dave Reip. Danny Reip played his trumpet. Ally Koehler showed us her balance beam routine. Zack Kaliher sang a Irish pub song. The little kids did a tap routine, and Carlita tried to follow along. It was so much fun. After some cake the kids were yet again back in the pool, but finally off to bed.

On Sunday we were up, ate breakfast, and gathered the little cousins for a hike to Starved Rock. Very pretty and very easy to get to - all the trails were developed with lined wood or cement. We took a walk to the river and then visited the Visitor Center, which had a very nice video on the history of the area. I was very impressed by the center. It was almost a mini museum. We also got fudge for the girls and headed back to the lodge for lunch. In the afternoon the boys took naps, while us girls and a group of Kalihers took the trolley tour. I was laughing that the local Kalihers who grew up in the area was being given a tour by our Austrian tour guide. Though the tour was nice, it's not something I would even recommend. We went to the Canal visitor center (which was very small), a drive through tour of Utica (a town of 1000 people) and the Visitor Center, which we had just visited in the morning.  It was fun riding in a trolley but not really worth the money. once back, guess where we went - of course back into the pool. Then we got ready to go out to dinner at Duffy's Irish Pub, in downtown Utica, Il. You should have seen the bartender's face when we told him 29 people were coming. They gave us a room in the back - good to keep us contained in one place.  We had a performance by Mark B. of Danny Boy., and toasts all around, especially to Kristi H., Gwen B., and Susan R. who organized the whole weekend. Once back at the lodge we had left-over cake, said alot of good byes for those who were leaving early in the morning, and off to bed we went. 


On Monday we all got up at 7am, had breakfast, and went for a hike. Luke in the backpack and Carlita on her little feet (though she wanted to be carried). We went to see all the wood carvings around the lodge grounds and went for a hike to Wildcat Canyon. We saw French and Pontiac Canyon, and Lover's Leap on the hike. Wished we had more time or were able to have done more hiking (the kids are still too young to really enjoy it). Back to the lodge we packed up, said more goodbyes, and headed to Henry, Il for lunch with Grandma Joannie. We love comign to her house and visiting. Henry is a VERY small town but it has a great coffee house which we always go to when in town. After lunch we headed back to Aunt Gwen's house in Eureka to re-gather and prep for our trip to the Bloomington airport. And after a lay over in Atlanta, GA we were back in Philly by 1am and home by 2am. Luckily Karl took the week off and slept in with the kids, because they DID not sleep on the plane until we landed in Philly. Poor kids - they were so tired. Traveling is very rough on them.

All in all we had a blast with the Illinois Kalihers. Carlita was in her element following the older cousins. She was given alot of freedom which she loved. Luke was always running around, climbing stairs and getting lost. Karl got to hear lots of family stories, especially about his dad. We got to honor those who have passed away, Carol Kaliher, Chip Kaliher, and Steve Koehler. What a great memory and experience. I only wished I had that opportunity with my Cuba family but hopefully soon one day we'll all be together. and hopefully Karl and I can have these similar experiences with our kids as we plan family reunions with our grown-up kids and their families.