Hoekman Family Vacation 2016

 

Each year we get together with my parents, my brothers and their families for an extended weekend. We usually meet some place in between Sioux Falls and Wisconsin and rent a house or cabin. We always have the best time just hanging out. Lucy and Romy are so excited to spend time with their cousins.

I just love this little pack of kids. Eight awesome cousins! Right now they are 9, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 years old! They keep everyone on their toes. :)

 

 

Here is everyone with Grammy Sharon and Grandpa Glen.

On Friday night we had a 'Dump Dinner' - Kevin and Katie boiled sausage, corn, shrimp, potatoes, and peas and dropped it all on the table for everyone to eat. We knew that the kids would be over the top when Kevin dumped the food right on the table so, as you can see, the photographers were ready to capture the moment. 

 

 

Dump Dinner Glory!

 

 

Peter, Lucy, (and Austin) were pretty pumped to see the food on the table.

 

 

Our excited crew, waiting for the food to cool down.

 

 

 

We ended up staying at a big farm house very close to Winona, Minnesota / La Crosse, Wisconsin. The house definitely had enough space for our group, it had a fabulous swing, a huge yard, and tons of trails for us to run on with Ranger. It also had some interesting décor...

 

If you are not a fan of dolls, you would have been creeped out by this place!! Haha!

 

 

 

No joke! They were everywhere!

 

 

Including the linen closet! Roman called them 'the princesses' all weekend! :)

 

 

Back to the less disturbing details of the house... :)

They had a wonderful swing hanging from the tree in the front yard, this occupied the children for hours.

 

 

Here are the big girls, waiting in line for the swing. :)

 

Paul having his turn.

 

Lucy Bear flying high!

 

 

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast and Kevin quickly claimed this coffee cup as his favorite. Haha! How gross is this? Nothing better than starting the day drinking out of the toilet bowl.

 

We all took family pictures courtesy of our photographer, Mallory! :) Here are my kids, all dressed up waiting for their turn in front of the camera. As luck would have it, the day before the vacation Roman got hurt on the tunnel at the daycare's playground. He came home with a bruise right next to his eye. Ugh. Right in time for pictures. Hopefully it will be easy for Mallory to muff it out with photoshop! Haha!

 

 

Cousin love. We often have aggressive hugging during Hoekman family vacation.

 

 

We also had some adventures in beautiful Winona! They have some scenic hikes and lookouts in the area.

 

Here are Lucy, Anna, and Abigail posing for a pic.

 

 

We added Esther to photo. Julianna was kind of a hot mess this morning so she stayed back at the house to relax with her Mama.

 

 

Lucy and Roman sharing a seat.  

 

 

We love Winona! What a beautiful town. We drove by the University after lunch and Roman informed us that he would be going there after he finished the Raccoon Room. Haha!

 

 

 

I love my boys!

 



 

We always have delicious food on these getaways. Here are Romy and Peter enjoying an after dinner S'more.

 

Lucy had one too!

 

I hadn't seen little Esther since April and, my goodness, this little peanut is growing! She is wanting to crawl and climb! How cute is this girl?

 

There were lots of lovely wildflowers near the house.

 

On Sunday, we went to the pool in Winona. I am not joking when I say that this was the first time that my children have ever been to a public pool! We always go to lakes so this was definitely something new for them. They are not really familiar with 'lifeguards' and 'pool rules' so we did get scolded a couple of times. Oops! :)

 

 

Roman loved the mushroom and Esther enjoyed sitting and splashing in the cool water.

 

 

Here we are, relaxing poolside during a break. The break was another very difficult concept for my kids. Haha! Roman was beside himself when he had to climb out of the pool and wait for a few minutes while the lifeguards took a break. :)

 

 

We also celebrated August Birthdays! Mom, Julianna, and Roman all have August birthdays so we needed to have cupcakes. :) Our big soon-to-be 3 year old and 2 year olds.  

 

We love to blow out candles and chow down on cup cakes. :)

 

After cake, we opened presents. Julianna's birthday is August 14. She opened her girl from us which included a new summer hat and a stuffed Dory. Let me tell you, it was pretty hard for Roman to let go of this Dory and give it to his cousin!! Haha!

 

 

But, no worries, our little man got some sweet gifts from his cousins so all was well.

 

A circle of kids opening gifts!

 

 

 

A new Paw Patrol video for the win!! Thanks for the presents everyone!

 

 

Another successful Hoekman Family vacation on the books! We had absolutely beautiful weather, and everyone stayed healthy; we are so blessed to have this time together! :)

 

Life Lately

Here are the late July happenings from the Storm household.

 

 Lucy had an appointment with a dermatologist to remove a mysterious spot from her ear (turns out it was old scar tissue). As always, she was a little trooper during the procedure. The dermatologist was in Wausau so we took advantage of the day and did some back to school shopping. Can't believe that my baby girl is starting 4K in just a few weeks!!

 

 

Lucy picked out a cookie to celebrate a successful appointment. Of course she chose this summery sugar cookie that looked like a flipflop. :)

 

We love to spend Sunday afternoons at Buck Lake! Here are my sweethearts making their way down to the beach.

 

As you can see, it was a bright, sunshiny day.

 

 

We made a quick trip through Wausau to pick up Daniel and to head south for Hoekman family weekend. We found a park for some playtime and a picnic lunch. 

 

 

These two appreciated a chance to stretch their legs. :)

 

Summertime picnics are the best!