Road Trip Back to Our Roots

Adventures. We are always up for one … or two ... or a few.

  

With Luke on Fall Break, we zipped back to Kansas to sneak in a quick trip to spend time with family & friends, attend some Theta Alumnae Weekend festivities, and enjoy the lovely autumn season in Kansas. With over 1200 miles on the road and 3 little boys who travel amazingly well (Grant earned his first big road trip badge on this excursion) we packed in 5 days of FUN including the following ...

Catching up with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents and more. Visiting with friends and walking down memory lane. Listening to laughter from little ones sporting costumes and playing Legos and driving the Kid Jeep and batting around the tetherball in the basement. Introducing Baby Grant to loved ones. Enjoying games and prizes galore at the school carnival. Spending the morning at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead with the goats and chickens and owls. Celebrating birthdays and more birthdays with family lunches and delish dinners. Touring the K-State Theta house and showing the boys where Mom used to live. Shopping in Downtown Wamego. Watching K-State win against Mizzou. Checking out Uncle Craig’s 1942 vintage fire truck. Running in the WildKAT Chase 5K. (Even better, running the race with Theta friends!) Seeing how much campus has changed over the past 12 years. Enjoying a family brunch at Kite’s before hitting the road back to Colorado. Napping boys on the trek across Western Kansas. Pulling into the driveway at 8 p.m. with happy hearts and fond memories.

- Grant and his Godfather - 

We were so thankful that Michael

drove over from Lawrence to join us

for not one but two evenings of fun!

 Enjoying a beautiful fall morning at Deanna Rose Farmstead.

 Gazillions of fish in the water

 Just another day down on the farm...

 Mama & the boys outside the barn

 Hello, Mr. Goat with a Beard.

 Strolling around the butterfly path

with Mimi Margie

 Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory

with Uncle Sal

- The Lunch Bunch -  

Grant met Aunt Mary Ann, Aunt Marie and 
Aunt Florence for the first time. What a treat!

Family Dinner at Paul & Juli's Home

Cousin David (via skype) who's studying in Germany,

Paul, Grant with Emily, and Aunt Mary Ann

A special present from Grant's godfather Michael 
who is in law school at KU... it's a KU track suit for Grant!
(Never fear, K-State fans ... we're still Wildcats at heart!)

 The Leahy Cousins ... some of whom 

have a side gig in the superhero field!

No trip back to Kansas is complete without

a trip down a country road. In this case, we were

driving from Kansas City back to Manhattan.

We encountered some traffic on I-70, so we exited

early and took the back roads to get there.

At one point, we were on a road resembling the 

Oregon Trail ... but hey, we made it

to our destination!

 At the Theta House for an alumnae lunch.

Back in the day, we used to eat dinner

and study in the dining room.

 Blast from the past ... old composites on the wall.

 No Theta legacies here with 3 boys, but there's always 

hope the boys will find a Theta girl some day!

 Driving Miss Gracyn

 Uncle Craig recently purchased a 1942 fire truck to restore

and eventually drive in local parades. The boys loved 

checking it out ... and hearing the siren!

 Cutie Cousins

 Proud Papa with his 5 Grandkids

On Sunday morning, we joined the K-State Theta

Chapter for its 15th Annual 5K run. This fundraiser

for CASA began when we were in college

thanks to the vision and talent of our friend

Melissa (pictured on the far right!) And she's

even wearing the original race t-shirt!

What a great walk (or run) down memory lane with

from left ... Lisa and her son Will, Kylie, Heidi & Melissa!

 Let's rock-n-stroll!

 Heidi, Jami, Grant & Melissa post race

Ladies Who Lunch...

at Kite's in Junction City.

Briana, Jami & Gracyn

Papa with the 2 young'ns

Grant & Gracyn