Roman @ 21 months

Roman just turned 21 months old!! All I can think about is the fact that when Lucy was 21 months old, she became a big sister. Oh.my.goodness!! We were crazy!! :) As you can see - we learned our lesson and Roman is not a big brother at 21 months. Haha!

Love, love, love this little boy. He is so full of energy and enthusiasm for life! :)

Roman's favorite things include being outside - if anyone else is outdoors (for example - if Dad is grilling on the deck) he will pound on the patio door and beg to go outside. He will repeatedly yell, 'Outside!' until you give in to his demands. :) 

He also loves anything with wheels. We were at Home Depot the other day and needed to wait for an associate to help us. Roman was restless so we put him on this riding lawnmower as a distraction. It was an awesome idea - until we needed to leave and had to take him off. Watch out! 

Here is a video of Roman and his Dad reading about trucks.

Love you to the moon and back, Romy!

A visit to the Children's Museum

It had been a while since we last visited the Children's Museum so we headed up to Eagle River on a Sunday afternoon in May.

The room with the black lights is always the first stop for the kids. As soon as they enter the museum they make a beeline to this exhibit. Here is Roman playing with the glowing scarves.

Lucy was excited to practice her fishing skills!

Roman mostly just splashed around in the water. :)

There is an exhibit at the museum that is filled with construction equipment, cars, train sets, dragons and castles and we really didn't spend much time there previously because Lucy wasn't super interested in those toys. Well, Roman discovered it recently and he l-o-v-e-s this space. It is fun to watch him play.

Another good afternoon at the children's museum! 

Day at the zoo

We recently spent a Saturday at the Wildwood Wildlife Park in Minocqua with the kids. It was an interesting place! There were a lot of free ranging animals and deer roaming around among the caged wildlife. There were lots of opportunities to feed animals as well! 

We started our visit by feeding the goats. 

Roman loves to pet animals - goats, pigs, whatever! :)

There were opossums to see up close. 

And bunnies!

I like this picture because, even though he was surrounding by a petting zoo, Roman is still clutching his hot wheels. Can't set down the car! 

We rented a wagon as part of our visit to the zoo. So glad that we did! Between the kids and all of our luggage - diaper bag, picnic lunch, etc, we always have so much stuff to cart around! 

We saw lots of birds at the zoo...

Including a house of parakeets and other colorful little songbirds that were super eager to eat seeds off of sticks that you could purchase at the door. You can see that Lucy is holding a popsicle stick covered in birdseed - these sweet little birds were all over it! 

Lucy was a fan of the exhibit.

After looking at other animals with our friends Ed, Amber, and their daughter Miriam, we went to play in the sandbox and visit the Nature Center. The sand area was neat because there were pretend fossils buried in the exhibit - the children could use shovels and paintbrushes to uncover dinosaurs.

Our little paleontologists :) 

Roman liked the dinos on the perimeter of the sand pit

Digging with our friend Miriam

After our adventures in the sand, we ate a picnic lunch with our friends.

Sharing a snack in the wagon with Miriam. 

What a fun morning with the kids!

Gone Fishing!

As previously blogged about, Lucy recently earned a fishing pole as a reward for good sleep. :)  She was very excited to receive her new pole from her Dad. 

Roman was excited too.

We headed out the deck for some casting practice.

Lucy's first pole features Tinkerbell, it even has some special lights that glow in the reel. 

Daniel schooled Lucy in some casting basics. :)

A couple of days after the fishing lesson, some of Dan's friends/co-workers came to visit. They went fishing in the river by our house and Lucy was allowed to go with - she didn't fish this time but she was pretty close to the action. :) Lucy was very excited when Mr. Ryan caught a fish. She keeps asking when the 'Big boys' will come back and go fishing with her. 

Friday Fun

Now that our friend Laura is a stay at home Mama, we are trying to connect with her & the kids and our little pack of friends on Friday mornings! These kids enjoy spending time with each other - heading to the park or running around the gym at the YMCA. :) 

They also like sharing snacks and having lunch together. :) 

Roman loves this little lady! He and Evelyn are good friends. :)

So sweet! Roman looks pretty excited but Evelyn is not so sure! :)

Swim Lesson Update

Just a quick update from swim - Lucy received her official report card stating that she can move up from the Pike class to the Eels! I still can't believe how much she has improved over the past few months. This little mermaid loves the water. :) 

Lucy's class recently had safety day at the pool. Lucy was thrilled to see a real boat in the water. She couldn't believe it! Haha. All of the kids jumped in the inflatable boat and went through a drill on what to do in case they ever fall out of a boat in real life. 

Happy Mother's Day!

So blessed to be the Mama of these two kiddos! 

We had a laid back Mother's Day - 

I was treated to awesome food from breakfast to a wonderful grilled dinner thanks to my loving husband. :) I even got to take a nap (best present possible for a Mom! Haha!)

The kids got me some beautiful tulips and calla lilies....

And Lucy made me this sweet card. Love it!

Can't imagine life without these peanuts. So thankful to have such happy and healthy children and so grateful to have such awesome examples of motherhood with my own mom and mother-in-law!

Bears!

We have lived up North for over a year and had not experienced a bear sighting until this Mother's Day weekend! We spent the evening at our friends Dave and Laura's house and, when we were driving back around dusk ~815ish, we spotted 2 bears on the side of the road. It turns out that it was actually a Mama and 3 cubs!! One of the cubs scampered up a tree pretty quickly and the others just stood and watched us for quite a while. It was awesome! The kids were happy to see bears, but I think that Dan and I were much more excited. :) So incredible to see these guys in their natural habitat. 

Here is the cub that went up the tree. 

Trying to hide from us...

Here is Mama and one of her cubs, the other two are in front of this pair - if you look closely you can see another cub in the left hand corner of the picture. 

Opportunities to see wildlife up close is one of the reasons we moved to the woods! How perfect to see a Mama and her cubs out and about on Mother's Day weekend. :) 

Donuts & Library Time

Here is our latest installment of Donuts and library time. We headed to the library on a chilly Saturday morning in May. 

Lucy and Roman were treated to donuts. Lucy had her usual, strawberry frosting and sprinkles. Roman had a powdered sugar munchkin.

Nothing brings more joy than a train table! Especially for Roman. :)

Lucy @ 3.5 Years!

In early May Lucy celebrated her half birthday. 

Here is our three and a half year old!

In keeping with quarterly updates - here are some of Lucy's favorite things at 3.5:

Fishing! Lucy recently earned a fishing pole (each night that she spends the entire night in her own bed she gets a sticker on a chart, after so many stickers - she gets a reward!) She got a Tinker Bell pole that lights up. I will do a separate post dedicated to fishing adventures soon.

Lucy loves bugs! Real ones! She will find ants, pick them up, name them, try to find them water and a warm and cozy bed. One day when we were taking off shoes by the door and washing hands, Lucy reported that she had an entire family of ants in her pocket.By the time I checked her clothes, all of the ants were already MIA. I am sure that the ants in question are all finding warm and cozy beds around our house now!

Lucy is becoming a huge fan of games - Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, Hi Ho Cherry O, etc She doesn't always play by the rules but she is having a great time and growing her counting skills.

Lucy enjoys riding her bike! She cruises all over the drive way on this little tricycle. We got this for her last year and it is amazing how much more coordinated she is this spring. She can pedal like a champ now! 

We are in princess mode at the Storm household, Lucy loves these Disney ladies. 

Lucy's favorite treat = popsicles! As previously blogged about, there is nothing better than a popsicle in the evening.

Lucy loves to stuff purses and bags full of her treasures. This Hello Kitty bag is a big hit. 

Finally, our girl still loves books. She is an avid little reader. This one is a recent fave - My Daddy is a pretzel. We read it and do all kinds of yoga moves along with the characters in the book. :) 

Love you Lucy!