Gracie and Ryan are going to Europe!

An opportunity has presented itself for Gracie and Ryan to take the trip of a lifetime with Oak Park and EF Tours. And we decided to accept the invitation!  They’ll be touring the Swiss Alps with a 2 day stop in Lucerne, Switzerland along with several days exploring the Mediterranean coast  

This trip is the continuation of a few really cool pieces of the past for Ryan and for Gracie. As a high schooler, Ryan took a  similar trip to Europe where he spent time in Lucerne and fell in love with the quaint lake town. On our very first date, Ryan told me his goal was to make it back to Lucerne one day. It’s super special to me, and to Gracie, that he gets to fulfill that dream with his firstborn on her first trip to Europe!  I think he thinks it’s pretty awesome, too!  

If any of you have been following along for several years now, you may remember Gracie’s Ten Year Old Trip?!  On each girl’s 10th birthday, they were given a budget and an atlas to plan a trip for our family. In their birthday card, we express to them the purposes of the gift…a few of these purposes are to instill a love of travel, and to see the value in seeing the world!  While Hattie is in the planning stages of her 10 year old trip, Gracie’s big trip to Des Moines, Iowa was a huge memory and source of learning for her.  Gracie definitely embraced our feelings about travel and has become quite interested in exploring the world. Road trip or Europe trip, she’s game for it all!  

So here we are, planning for July of 2027 when two huge pieces of my heart will head across the ocean to make a lifetime of memories!  I’m so excited for them!  By the way, Hattie and I are planning to take our own trip while they’re gone, and we’re super stoked for our time to make memories, too!  

While Gracie is budgeting her money to help fund part of her travels, if anyone wants to be generous and support our Sweet Gracie in this adventure, she and we would be so grateful. She will be doing a couple fundraisers in the future, but she also has a donation page where you can help by donating funds. At the very least, click the link to see their amazing itinerary map of travel destinations!  

Gracie’s Fundraising Page

Thank you in advance to anyone who feels compelled to support her adventure!  We appreciate you!