Father's Day Weekend

Here are some scenes from father's day weekend at the Storm household. We had a quick picnic while the sun was shining. ;) As you can see, Ranger was sticking very close to the table in hopes of getting some crumbs. Smart pup!

 

 

Roman found a little toad and he was so excited!

 

We headed up to Minocqua on Saturday afternoon. They have the best public beach and swimming area there. We love it!

 

Here are our little fish.

 

 

While we were at the beach, there was a national dog dock jumping going on - no joke, this was a legit competition with prizes and it was even televised.

 

Dogs would zip down the dock after a toy and jump as far as they could at the end.

 

 

It was very cool to watch. These dogs could really jump - like 25 feet off the end of a dock! Chief would have been a champion!

 

 

We can't go to Minocqua without a quick trip to Hogie Doggies. The kids just love the cones with the candy eyeballs.  

 

 

Summer fun!

 

 

On Sunday we celebrated Dan. We love him so much!! Here is a Q&A that Romy filled out about his Daddy. ;) 

 

We made Dad a special breakfast in the morning - Lucy picked out the 'fancy' tablecloth and the fine china.

 

 

We relaxed all day and had a wonderful dinner off the grill in the evening. Roman wasn't being very cooperative on this night. (He declined to take a nap earlier in the afternoon)

 

 

These two are so fortunate to have such an awesome dad, the best grandpas, and an amazing great-grandpa in their lives! We love you guys!

Bay Beach Fun

Back in February, we made plans to go camping in Door County for Father's Day weekend. We went last year and had the best time! Alas, the forecast for the weekend looked rotten - lots of rain/storms - and we were still suffering from some post traumatic stress due to our water issues earlier in the week so we cancelled our reservations at Peninsula State Park (actually we moved the dates to early September!)

 

We still wanted to do something special with the kiddos so we headed to Green Bay for a day trip on Friday and made a stop at Bay Beach. We just love this place! It is so fun and super affordable. Lucy and Roman declared it the best afternoon ever and we literally spent $10. Win-win.

 

Does anyone else have children that are obsessed with these coin collectors? We can go to the best zoos and amusement parks in the world and the Storm kids will beg for pennies and literally run to spin coins as their very first activity! Haha! 

 

 

 

First up - the carousel! Roman wanted to ride the big buck.

 

 

Selfie with my son. Love this guy!

 

Lucy picked the orange horse.

We all rode the little train. 

 

As you can see, a big storm was about to roll into Green Bay.

 

 

Lucy really wanted to go on the Ferris Wheel. They were really cranking that Ferris wheel around and it looked way to fast for this mama. #nothanks Good thing that Dan is okay with spinning rides! He offered to take Lucy. :) 

 

 

The line for the Ferris wheel was pretty long so Romy went a bunch of rides while Daddy and Lucy waited. 

 

 

 

 

Daddy and Lucy had the best time on the Ferris Wheel! Just look at the joy on that little face. I love it!

 

 

We went on lots of rides including planes,

 

 

 

swings,

 

 

 

 

the caterpillars,

 

 

And the race cars.

 

No better way to end the day than with an ice cream treat. :)

 

Cheers to another great trip to Bay Beach!

I used to be cool ...

This image pretty much sums up our lives these days ...

 

 

We have officially succumbed to a life of kids and dogs. The week that I turn 37, our little family officially purchased a new minivan.

 

In my mind, this is what minivan life looks like -

 

Hahahaha! My family had 2 Aerostars when I was growing up and I totally remember van life - trips to my grandma's house, camping adventures, sprawling out to read books, etc.

 

This is what life has become! #totalmom

These two patiently waited in the play area at the car dealership while mom and dad did lots of paperwork.

 

 

Lucy and Romy are beyond excited to have a van! They think it is the coolest. ;)

 

 

This is the beginning a new chapter in our family! Cruising around in a minivan. First stop = Bay Beach.

 

 

We are going to have lots of adventures in this vehicle. I can't wait!

Summer Camp

Lucy finished up day care and started going to summer camp at the YMCA this June! She was a little bit unsure on her first day but, when I dropped her off, her best friends from day care- the twins, Kelsie and Khloe, and their 2 older sisters greeted her at the door, helped her find a cubby, and asked her to play. It made my mama heart very happy to see those 4 girls scoop Lucy up! :)

Lucy's days are filled with swimming, camp songs, playing with friends, field trips (They visited the Rhinelander Ice Arena last week and went skating!) and sweet crafts like this:We love camp!

The Worst of Summer

This summer has been super wet in Northern Wisconsin. We have gotten so much rain that all of our rivers and lakes are very high and the ground is totally saturated with water. We lost power on Sunday afternoon and it was not restored for 22 hours. 22 hours without a sump pump at our house = disaster. Our basement quickly filled with water.

 

This is me late Sunday evening, just a selfie of yours truly wearing a headlamp, giving a thumbs down and dragging a bunch of stuff out of our basement. Ugh.

 

 

We were super fortunate that almost everything downstairs was in a tote or on a shelf. We don't have a nice finished basement, it is just a storage area for us. It was still a mess though! We did end up buying a generator after this experience and I am so thankful that we did because we lost power again on Monday night for another 12 hours. Boo!

 

I did lose one milk crate of papers/'treasures' to our little flood but honestly, it was probably the universe's way to telling me to get rid of some of this stuff. As you know, I do have some issues with holding on to stuff/hoarding! ;)

 

Here are some things that I had to part with due to water issues ... taking pictures of them made me feel better. Here is a little trip down memory lane for you all.

 

First up - literally every single one of Lucy's daily reports from Play Haven (Age 3-15 months). Seriously - I am not sure why I held onto every single one ... First Time mama + Hoarding Tendencies!

 

 

Flipping through these did bring a smile to my face. Do you guys remember all of Lucy's eating issues? Look at how excited her day care providers were when she ate from a spoon for the first time!

 

Here is Lucy's slip from her second day of day care!

 

It was just a little trip down memory lane to see  when Lucy started sitting up, taking her first steps, etc. :)

 

 

I had a few old cards from birthdays gone by that got wet...

I just love seeing my Grandmas' writing! Both of them had very distinctive penmanship. :)

 

 

Doesn't this card just reek of 1989? Hahaha!

 

I got this card from Cabbage Patch Headquarters when my doll turned one. :)

 

Okay ... this one is a little gross. I literally saved this baby tooth for 30+ years.

 

Again ... birthday wishes from the late 80's/early 90's! Hahaha!

 

 

I used to have this Danny Gladden picture hanging in my childhood bedroom. Baseball mullet to the max!

 

I also used to have this Jose Canseco folder. Too funny!

 

And, from my college days ... before Facebook they would issue Buzz Books each year with pictures and contact info for all of the students. We used to spend hours paging through these things and making notes on who was new, who had the best/worst pictures, etc. I have many fond memories of sitting in Bergsaker and Granskou Halls flipping through these Buzz Books with friends. Again though, not sure why I have held on for over a decade.

 

I am finally parting ways with the last of my college notes. Seriously folks - why did I hang onto my Western Civ notes for years? Not only did I cart them to Madison, I took them all the way up North! Wow! Good bye Western Civilization binders!

 

 

I hope everyone else is staying dry!!