Catching up a bit

It's been a little while, so just a quick update in case you were worried about us. The Stone Family Reunion was amazing as always. Great to see Megan's extended family from all over the midwestern states. Golf on Friday was fun even playing as poorly as I did. Both of us fared fairly well in the Ten Point Pitch tournament (midwest card game). In an interesting twist, I was paired with Megan's mom Kathy, and Megan was paired with her sister Abby. And we had to play each other in the first round of the double elimination tournament. Like I said, both teams made a decent run overall. :)

What was fun this year was to see IHG connect with his fourth and fifth cousins. Those boys played hard, a lot. Here they are eating a meal together:

Of course, GBG couldn't get enough of the babies. Here she is with her fourth cousin and her Grannie Great:

At the conclusion of the reunion, we drove up to Manhattan, KS to visit Megan's uncle Steve and his wife Whitney. They are always happy hosts and it was amazing to catch up with them and hear about all the wonderful things going on in and around Manhattan. We even got to see some local wildlife walk right up in the backyard. 

Monday morning marked the beginning of our journey back to SC.  Leaving Manhattan, we drove through Overland Park, KS, where the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead is located. Having been there four years ago, we remembered how great of a place it was for the kids to see some really neat things as it relates to farm life. So for a few hours we spent time looking around, eating lunch, and playing.

It was fun even if the goats got a little mouthy, literally.

From there we drove down deep into Missouri where we spent the night at Big Spring National Park in a cabin. It was a beautiful drive through some of the Ozarks and imagine our surprise to find a herd of deer in a field right below our cabin.

I think it is fairly official that all of us are ready to be home. A few more nights with family and this Epic Family Road Trip will be in the history books. Even now, it feels a lot like this picture:

Like the setting sun in our rearview mirror, we are coming to a close on a trip that none of us will soon forget. Thanks for going along with us.