In mid-October we headed to conferences at the big kids' school. Both Lucy and Roman's teachers said that they were doing a great job in class, learning a lot and making new friends which made my mama heart very happy and proud. After our meetings with Mrs. Wisse and Mrs. Glaser we looked around the school to find the kids' artwork on display. :)
Conferences wouldn't be the same without a book fair, am I right? Both kids got a treat from the book fair for their good work at school - Lucy picked out this perfect poster for her room.
After our meetings at school we zipped over Sioux Falls for our Fall Break. Yay! We spent Friday morning carving pumpkins on Grammy Sharon's kitchen floor.
Lucy and Romy absolutely love pulling out the pumpkin guts, designing the face, and carving the features. This year Leo was just starting to pull himself up on the Jack O Lantern.
After our Jack O Lantern time we drove to Baltic to eat some school lunch with a few of our best cousins and our favorite first grade teacher - Auntie Katie!
Nothing beats an elementary school lunch!
Lots of shenanigans from these three!
On the menu on this day? Chili and Cinnamon rolls! Yum. Growing up in South Dakota public schools, chili and cinnamon rolls were definitely a standard combo for lunch. I still associate these two items as a food pair to this day, just like pizza always goes with green beans and tacos pair with corn - haha!
After lunch our Friday of fun continued with a stop at Scheel's where the big kids ran around and played on the jungle gym.
Followed by a trip to the movie theater to see Toy Story 4! Roman's bad attitude in these pics was due to the tragic loss of a toy dollar store watch in the play pits of Scheel's.
We celebrated our sweet cousin Esther's 4th Birthday on Friday night. Check out this Paw Patrol cake - Gotta love a Skye themed party!
Birthday girl with cousin Jules!
The big 4 year old blew out her candles surrounded by a pack of cousins!
Just look at this sweet group of kids celebrating with Esther!
We partied with the family - Roman still managed to hold on to his bad attitude/ lost toy woes hours after the fact and took a few crabby pics at Esther’s birthday. Insert eye roll here!
Lucy absolutely loves to spend time with her favorite girl pack, the LAA Club (Lucy + Anna + Abby).
Lucy loves her Grammy Sharon too. :)
We had slumber parties with the cousins and kicked off an epic Saturday of fall fun in SoDak.
We donned our Halloween costumes - Lucy was a witch this year and we quickly cobbled together a princess costume for Jules. :)
We headed to a Halloween/Fall party at the Crooks Community Center. It was so much fun, lots of candy, carnival games, crafts, and door prizes! Here are the 9 little cousins posing for a picture at the event.
Here is the Storm crew - It was an extra special holiday because it was Leo's first Halloween. :)
As you can see, Roman declined to wear his costume on this day after throwing a big fit. Sigh. Let’s just say that fall was a bit bumpy for our Roman. He was in the middle of many transitions - a new school, a move to a new city, a new brother, new friends and expectations so it hasn't been all rainbows and unicorns! We have been working through a lot of big feelings and trying to find new ways to express frustration/loneliness plus curb attention seeking behaviors; he has been making some good progress recently.
The big kids were able to hop on a hayride with Auntie.
Another highlight was hopping on a firetruck courtesy of one of my childhood friends since Kindergarten and favorite firefighter - Rocky! :)
After a lunch break and some play time, we went to Sioux Falls to attend the Zoo Boo.
We arrived at the zoo and were greeted with a l-o-n-g line.
Some of the kids did better than others but this was a pretty common scene during the wait. Let's just say that this crew is not ready to head to Disney any time soon. #Can'tHandleLinesAndCrowds
Once we made our way through the initial crowd, everyone had a great time. It was a sunny and crisp October Saturday and the weather was perfect for us to wander through the zoo. My kids always love to see a herd of bison.
This little guy didn't mind waiting in line but he had a nice stroller and plenty of treats ...
The kids climbed on carvings and rocks like little mountain goats.
It was such a fun afternoon filled with cousins, zoo animals, and Halloween treats ... just a few of our favorite things!
On Saturday night, the boys were schooled in the art of cleaning fish by Grandpa Glen, Uncle Austin, and big cousin Paul.
We attended church with Grammy and Grandpa on Sunday morning.
Leo was looking like such a big boy in his cute church sweater.
We met up with Uncle Kevin, Anna, & Peter at the pool on Sunday afternoon. They were showing Coco in the lap pool so the kiddos alternated between the movie and sitting on inner tubes and hopping in the 'fun pool' with the waterslide, wave area, and basketball.
Thanks to Grandma who watched Leo - I was able to hop in the pool too. :) I even ran into one of my high school classmates that I hadn't seen in more than 20 years! Blast from the past!
The time in the water wore out my kids - my son who NEVER naps even fell asleep in the car.
We wrapped up our weekend at Austin and Mallory's house.
Want to know something cool? Both of these sets of kids are just about 51 weeks apart. So, for just 9 days a year, Abby and Lucy are the same age and, for only 12 days a year, same thing for Roman and Jules!
Jules is such a little mama - she loves spending time with baby Leon.
Whew - we packed so much into our fall break and we even found time to stop by Roseville on our way home to Wisconsin. We are so happy to live closer to our sweet cousins James and Neal! Lucy always loves reading with the boys and Romy is over the moon to play with his cousins and all of their cool toys. :)
Thanks to everyone who made our fall break fabulous!
