Traveling Twins!

The twins had a busy summer! Their last (official) day of school was Friday, June 9th. (They had actually been done a few days earlier since they didn't have to take finals). On Saturday, June 10th, we left town for our family vacation. 

After vacation, they had a few weeks of work and relaxing before June turned into July. On July 5th, Maddie left for Europe - France, Switzerland and Germany. She traveled with a group from school and paid for the trip herself. She was gone for 10 days and loved her time away - especially Switzerland and Austria (they drove through Austria on their way to Germany).

Here are some pictures from her time in Europe. 

Ready to leave the house - they left by bus (from the high school) and travelled to Chicago to fly out (Chicago to Charlotte to Paris).

A cafe in Paris and pictures of the many delicious meals/snacks she ate while in Europe.

The croissants were - by far - her favorite of the trip!

Her favorite snack - French Madeleines. We've found a very similar one (not quite as good, but very close per Maddie) at Sam's Club.

Arc de Triomphe in Paris

Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame (they didn't go inside but saw it from the street)

Versailles Palace & Gardens

Basilique du Sacre-Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). Only a few of the students and teachers walked to the top of the hill (steps) to see the Basilica up close. Maddie said that the view of Paris from this vantage point was amazing.

Eiffel Tower seen from the evening boat tour on the Seine River.

Hotel des Invalides - the building where Napoleon Bonaparte is buried.

The Louvre - Paris

The Mona Lisa

Maddie took this picture and sent it to me - "Mom, I thought of you when I saw these." She knows her "Jane Austin lovin" mom! 

The Young Martyr by Paul Delaroche - Maddie fell in love with this painting.

The group of 31 (students & leaders) left Paris in the early morning hours (train) and headed to Switzerland. They would make a quick stop in Zurich then spend the rest of their time (in Switzerland) in Lucerne.

The group spent some time around Lake Lucerne (just down the street from their hotel) - walking, swimming, watching the sunset and riding a ferry across. Maddie fell in love with Switzerland immediately. By far, her favorite country visited on this trip.

Mount Pilatus in Switzerland - Gondola & Cog rides

Fondue Night in Switzerland

While in Germany, the group visited the BMW Headquarters, saw the site of the Munich Olympics and toured Dachau (concentration camp). No pictures from these places.

Lego Store -

Germany - Old Town Hall with the Munich Glockenspiel that performs at 5pm every summer night.

Countryside Church and Neuschwanstein Castle (Cinderella Castle)

Linderhof Palace - No indoor photos permitted. This stop was a favorite for Maddie.

dinner at this location (see the name!)

She had an amazing trip - saw many wonderful things and got to experience things that most people will never do in their lifetime. BUT, she was thrilled to be back home again. 

While Maddie was in Europe, Will headed to church camp - this is our last year of church camps for the kids. It is a bittersweet end to a very long run of years at camp. From the first year that Kaitee attended (2011) until now, we have been sending one or more kid(s) to camp for 13 years straight! 

A couple (very short) weeks later, the twins left for a mission trip to Guatemala with 19 other students/leaders from church. Our church works in partnership with Impact Ministries in Tactic, Guatemala and has been sending work teams to their schools for years. Both Kaitee & Alex were able to go a few years ago and the twins have been looking forward to this opportunity for many years. 

While in Guatemala, the team helps with VBS type activities, work projects around the schools and tours parts of the region - meeting the Guatemalan people and learning about their way of life. It is truly a wonderful, life changing trip.

Packing the twins was a fun challenge (clothing for cold/rainy/hot weather, work clothing, church clothing, multiple pairs of shoes, snacks, donation items, etc). Gotta love packing cubes!

Prayer time before boarding their flight. 

These pictures are out of order as they are from all of the leaders phones. However, it shows the many things that they did while in Guatemala.

Can you find Will?? 

Their flight got in around 11:30 pm. By the time we grabbed their checked luggage and headed for home, it was after midnight. The twins gave us all souvenirs and then Will, Kaitee & Alex headed for bed. Maddie sat and talked with Matt & I until 2:30am. She would've talked longer if we had let her. Will wrote in a journal and shared the daily entries with us over the next few days. 

It was a life impacting trip for both of them. They loved what they did and what (who) they saw while in Guatemala. We pray that their hearts are softened to God's calling for their futures - we don't know what He has planned for our kids, but we want them to be open to opportunities that may be presented to them. We are so thankful for this opportunity and the ministry of Impact.