Fall Break Mega Road Trip - Part 1

Planned for our fall break this year was a massive week-long road trip looping down through Oklahoma and Texas.  Included in the plans were some sightseeing, family time, and geocaching.  So we pointed the car west but hit our first stop just a few hours down the road.  Can't drive through Illinois without seeing the family.  Up first was to cheer on Carson at a soccer match. (A COLD one at that)

Rachel got her puppy snuggles in with Milo

Also on the agenda was a Flora staple...a few rounds of bowling. 

Dusty's dad had requested that we all sing together at church the next time we were in town.  So all of us sang a special together adults and kids.  First the kids did a song together.  Not sure what caused these giggles.

After a fun weekend with family, we headed off toward Missouri.  We made time to snag a few interesting geocaches such as this one along Route 66

Geocaching always seems to bring us to some fun off-the-path sites.  This was at the intersection of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma.  

 We took a 15-mile detour to cut through a corner of Kansas to this random cemetery in Kansas.  Mainly to log a geocache in Kansas.

Next up...our Oklahoma adventures.

21!

Happy 21st Birthday Aaron!

Birthday dinner at Portillo's

Aaron found this maze of crepe paper waiting for him when he woke up...courtesy of his sister

And since 1/2 of us are gluten-free and Aaron doesn't really like a lot of sweets...a personal sized cake to celebrate!

Happy Birthday Aaron...we love you!

September highlights

A few September highlights...

Dusty and I have lived in Brownsburg for 16 years, but this was our first football game.  We walked down to the high school for the homecoming game, but not before a quick trip to Wal-mart for a purple Bulldogs shirt.  We both decided that it was quite a different experience from Flora's Dancy Field.  A packed house and a win to boot!

I also got to congratulate my pal Alli on her latest medal haul from special Olympics!

We also planned a day centered around our geocaching hobby.  We participated in the Leaf Olympics.  It was a geocaching event hosted by a family near the Indiana-Ohio border.  We spent the morning hunting down and logging caches placed by this family, then headed to their home for a celebration picnic.  They also had an elaborate multi-cache placed on their land.  The last stage was this large container full of travel bugs.

Dusty figuring out how to get the cache at the bottom of this pipe

Our host's collection of pathtags!  These were some serious geocachers!

And now the rest of August

Time to jump back into things.  Rachel's first day of 8th grade.

A photo to document August 7th.  Daniel had heart surgery to replace a valve.  A long day, but the surgery was a success.  He was blessed that the problem was detected and that it was able to be repaired.

August also brings the church block party and time with my band peeps!

And warm summer nights for a downtown date

Lynn Reunion 2018

August brings one of our favorite yearly traditions, the Lynn Family reunion.  I'm so glad we're able to have these back out at my grandparent's house.  Even though they are gone now it's still full of memories and my Aunt Charlene and Uncle Phillip have worked hard to make repairs and get the house back in working order.  I was glad to be able to visit with my Uncle Clifford.  He reminds me of my Grandma Lynn.

A family fixture...the large catalpa tree out back

Mom with her siblings that are still with us:  Ginger, Leroy, and Charlene.  (We miss you Uncle Hugh and Uncle Ray!)

All the girl cousins in attendance.  Only missing 2

Both these boys are the sons of cops...and it shows!

Rachel made a new friend in Raylan

Marla was kind enough to pass out samples of Belgium chocolate from our trip.  I was not! 

My Aunt Ruth

July Wrap-up

After my little European adventure, the rest of July seemed fairly quiet.  We used the last few days before school to soak in a little more sun with the friends.

Borrow Lil' Blue for a spin in the sunshine...

And then it was time to start the 8th grade!  Summer moves fast around here!

Wrapping up in Waterloo

Our last day in Belgium was spent exploring nearby Waterloo.  Part of the 1815 monument that commemorates the Battle of Waterloo is a large mound of earth topped by a lion statue.   In French it's Butte de Lion or if you're a tourist from Indiana...Lion's Butt.  You can see the Lion's butt from Tina and Glenn's backyard.  So we capped off our week of sightseeing with a trip to the memorial and nearby Waterloo. 

As it would happen there was a geocache along a hedge on the border of the monument grounds.  So naturally, Olivia and I had to go find the "treasure".  After a mild amount of bushwhacking...success!

After a quick lunch at a Belgian McDonald's (another fun experience) we headed into Waterloo.  We took in some shopping and walked through the cathedral in the city.

After an adventure packed week, it was time to pack up the bags and head back across the ocean. We said our goodbyes and headed into the airport.

We had a small delay as we were in the wrong line for a few minutes, but we quickly found the correct check-in and were on our way through security.

Time to get comfy for this 8 hour journey!

Hello Lake Michigan....almost there!

Thanks for everything Belgium!