Smeby Family visits the Northwoods

We love living in the Northwoods but one of the downsides of being in Rhinelander is that we are far from family. This March my Auntie Carrie emailed and let everyone know that they were planning a family trip to Northern WI and that they would be staying in Tomahawk. I was so excited! Tomahawk is just down the road! It just put a smile on my face that my kids could spend some time with their second cousins. We drove over to their rental house for supper on Saturday evening. My kids made friends with the other children right away! Here are Lucy and Roman checking out Nolan's video game. 

 

 

We had some delicious food!

 

Roman was captivated by Uncle Glen's beard. Weeks have passed since this visit and he still talks about it. Haha! We'll be in the grocery store and he'll see someone with a big beard and say, 'That man looks like Uncle Glen!'

Glen asked Romy where his beard went and he quickly replied, 'My daddy shaved it off!' :) I don't know where this kid comes up with this stuff?

 

Eating dessert with cousin Nolan.

 

 

Hanging out with Kiernan! I haven't seen this guy since he was ~3 months old. Now he is such a big boy!

 

 

We tried to get all of the kids in one nice photo but we didn't get lots of cooperation! Scarlett was definitely not having it! Nikki asked me how we ever get all of the kids at the Hoekman family events to smile nicely for the camera?! Haha! I think that we usually try to take pics in the morning, by the time dinner is over, at least one child will be a hot mess!  

 

 

We did go outside for a bit! The house had an awesome beach and waterfront but the weather was lousy! It was so cold! Emily and Logan still managed to swim but there was no way that anyone else was getting in the water. :)

 

 Lucy had her rainboots along so she went wading. I think that she is still wearing a medal from her day care's Olympic events. She was pretty proud. Lucy and Roman loved watching the Olympics this summer! They can chant U-S-A like nobody's business! ;)

 

 

After some time outside, we changed into pajamas and read books with cousin Bruce. The kids loved hanging out with Nolan and Natalie.

 

 It was a great evening and we decided to meet up again at Wildwood Zoo the next morning. I will have a post on that adventure coming soon! Thanks for having your family weekend up North, Smeby crew! We had the best time.

 

Coloring Contest Winner

 One afternoon when I was picking the kids up from day care and I saw a slip in Lucy's mailbox that said she was a winner in a local coloring contest and that I should call the James Beck Cancer Center for more details. I had no idea that she even entered a contest so I called the James Beck Cancer Center receptionist to find out more. They said that Lucy's art was hanging in their building and that she should come to a ceremony to be honored with a prize. I told them that we would be there! When I informed Lucy that she was going to win a prize for her coloring, her reaction was so awesome. I wish that I had recorded it! She was beyond excited. I am pretty sure that Nobel Prize and Oscar winners are not as thrilled as this little girl was to win a contest. She quickly exclaimed, 'Yes, Mom! I would love to be honored for my coloring!' followed by, 'Can I wear a fancy dress?' Hahahaha! I love it! Also - she knew exactly what she had colored, Lucy told me that Ms Kimmy (her daycare teacher) told them to color the butterflies 'extra carefully' and that her picture would be on display at the hospital. 

 

Here is the official 2nd place masterpiece for the 3 to 4 year old category!    

 

 

Here is the program for the Celebration of Life. You can see that it was a legit ceremony! :)

 

 

I wanted to post this picture because it is a quick snapshot showing that, when Lucy gets very excited, she will open her mouth really wide and wave her fingers around. It is such a precious response and I am afraid she is outgrowing it!   

 

Here she is sharing a secret with her sweet friend Olivia - she was a winner in the 5 year old category.

 

Here is our winner!

 

Going up front to claim her prize.

 

Our very proud little girl! She actually won quite a nice prize -- Some cool butterfly crafting supplies, jewelry, stickers, and a bug magnifier.

 

Here are Olivia, Lucy, and Roman taking a break after the ceremony.

 

After the award ceremony, we celebrated by going out for Mexican food.

 

And returned home for baths and reading before bed. 

What a fun evening! So glad that our day care entered Lucy Bear in the contest!

Mid-August Happenings

Here is a glimpse of mid-August Happenings at the Storm household.

We headed to the library and discovered that they had a new worm to play with - Lucy quickly hopped on and paged through a few books on the worm's back. :)

 

 

Love snuggling with these two!

 

Grandpa Storm had some serious health issues in August. It was very touch and go for some time but he is a trooper and continues to stay strong. We continue to pray and send good thoughts to him and Grandma daily.

 

We have had an abundance of blackberries this summer! We have harvested lots of these delicious morsels in August, our favorite thing is to throw them in a good fruit cobbler.

 

Love this picture of Lucy Bear and her sweet friend Caroline at church enjoying some snacks after services. They are so serious! Haha! 

 

 

Here is the whole crew. Caroline has an older brother and Roman is obsessed with him. He asks me all of the time, 'Mama, what is the name of Caroline's big boy?' Haha!

 

 

The theme at day care during mid-August was zoo animals. Lucy made this tiger mask and Roman was eager to try it as well.

 

I have been cleaning out some of the boxes in our basement and finding stuff to send over to Roseville for Baby Cihacek. Well, one of those times, the children happened to be downstairs. Lucy spotted this stroller which has been down there for several months (It is an early walking toy, no one was playing with it so this mama put it in storage). Wouldn't you know it, finding this darn thing was like Christmas morning. Lucy was overjoyed. What the heck? The kids were actually fighting over it! Here they are, apparently trying their best to share the best.toy.ever!! So funny!

 

 

 

Wausau Weekend

Dan had a meeting in Wausau on a Saturday in August so the kids and I tagged along. While Daddy worked all day, we had fun playing and spending time in beautiful Wausau. I had hoped to take the kids to the Farmers Market on that day - they have a great market there and the timing was perfect with it being mid-August to see lots of produce. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and it was raining all morning. :( We did the next best thing - went to Target and stopped at a couple of thrift stores! By lunch time, it was no longer raining so we went to the park for playtime and a picnic lunch.

 

 

We checked out the river after lunch - there were a couple of boys fishing very close to us. They showed Lucy and Romy their fish and even happened to catch a turtle while we were standing there. They kids thought that was awesome! Haha!  

 

After the park and lunch, we went to the gardens at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. 

 

 

This is always a favorite spot for the children.

 

 

There are only 2 sculptures that you are allowed to sit on - the hippo and the frog. Of course everyone needs to spend some time sitting on both of these guys! 

 

 

Friends, this was such a cool piece of outdoor art! These are two dancing cranes and their bodies were made out of sticks and plastic shopping bags. They looked very cool blowing in the wind. I don't think that my picture really does it justice; it was a very unique sculpture.

 

 

The current exhibit during our visit was Art featuring the Chair. It was actually pretty boring in my opinion but we usually zip through the galleries pretty quickly and go to the kids area.

 

 

Both of the kids did some crafting.

 

 

Lucy was pumped to use the scissors. :)

 

 

Romy sat in a crazy chair.

 

He also worked on these cool magnetic art puzzles.  

 

 

We read books about chairs and called it a day!

 

 

We had originally planned to go out for dinner after picking up Daniel (we don't get out much and Wausau does had many more options for restaurants than Rhinelander. Haha!) but no one napped and the kids were crabby so we got ice cream and headed home. Both Lucy and Roman snoozed the whole way back. We had a great day!

Celebrations in Roseville

In early August we headed to Roseville to celebrate Amelia and her soon to arrive baby! The kids love going to Roseville - they always say that it is their favorite town, second only to Rhinelander. :)

Amelia's shower was held at a very lovely park building. Lucy was so excited to be 'twins' with her Auntie on this special day. Check out the polka dots!

 

 

Here is Lucy with her Grammy Nola. As you can see, it was a very bright and beautiful Saturday afternoon!

 

 

 

We had lots of fun helping with the set up - Lucy loved decorating the cupcakes with Abby.

 

 

The theme of the shower was woodland creatures - how cute is this cheese ball porcupine? Ashton did a great job organizing this sweet event. We played games such as guessing the gestational time for animals, guessing the names of various baby animal offspring (did you know that a baby porcupine is a pup or porcupette?) , and guessing the gender/arrival date/weight of baby Cihacek. Lucy guessed that the baby would be girl that weighed 20 pounds, born on August 31. Yikes! I had her change the weight to 10 pounds but that is still a very big baby! I guessed that baby Cihacek would be a boy born on September 5, I just like the idea of babies being born on Labor Day. :)

 

 

While the ladies celebrated the shower at the park, our boys were relaxing at a nearby hotel. When we finished our event and circled back to pick them up, I saw this car in the Marriott parking lot. I spotted the license plate and laughed out loud. I love it! I have no idea who owns this car but I like their sense of humor. Haha!  :)

 

 

We returned to the park for playtime and pizza. It was a beautiful summer evening!

 

It is always fun to explore a new park!

 

 

 

Lucy was so excited to have an older girl to play with! She l-o-v-e-d spending time with Abby (Baby Cihacek's cousin on the other side) and still asks me when we can see her again.

 

 

As you can see - Lucy Bear is a hot, sweaty, and happy kid to be playing with Abby.

 

We headed back to the hotel after the park for some pool time. The kids were exhausted by the end of the evening. Yay!

 

 

One amazing thing about being a parent is seeing the joy that everyday things bring to your kids. Lucy and Roman are over the moon when they get to eat breakfast at a hotel. It just makes me smile. It is the little things, people.

 

 

 

We returned to the Cihacek residence for some Sunday fun and these two lucky kiddos got a very special gift from Grammy Nola and Grandpa Ken! Someone at their church makes little creatures out of yarn so Nola asked her to make little stuffed hodags for the kids. Love it! They are so adorable.

 

I mean - who wouldn't want to snuggle with one of these little monsters?

 

 

Lucy was also thrilled to receive an Elsa shirt.

 

We had some time for napping and lounging ...

 

And headed to Lake Josephine for playground fun, swimming, picnicking, and an early celebration of Roman's 3rd birthday.

 

It was another perfect summer afternoon! We really lucked out on the weather that weekend. Lucy and Roman love spending time with their Grammy and Grandpa.

 

 

Celebrating with cupcakes!

 

 

I can't believe that my little guy is getting so big.

 

Lucy was very eager to enjoy a cupcake!

 

Roman was pumped to get a Green Bay blankie from Brian and Amelia!

 

 

Sunday afternoons = lots of lounging. :)

 

Roman and Lucy enjoyed a quick dip in Lake Josephine.

 

It was a wonderful weekend with family! We are so excited to meet Baby C! The kids were very sleepy from all of the playing, swimming, and celebrating so it was quiet trip back to Rhinelander.