Labor Day Weekend 2020

This year we loaded up the kids, Ranger, and a van full of stuff and headed to a resort in northern Minnesota for the holiday weekend. We were excited to say goodbye to summer with the Storm family.

Daniel was Dadding so hard with one hand on the wheel and a the other hand wrapped around a DQ Blizzard. Haha!

Our sweet cousins James and Neal waited for our arrival and did some boating with Grandpa & Grandma. 

Nothing better than a sunset boat ride. :)

Love sitting around a good bonfire! 

Auntie Amelia bought all of the kiddos matching Dragon jammies! They were so cute! Unfortunately we had one sad/overtired dragon in our mix after the long car ride.

Here are some dragons during happier times! ;)

The children love spending together and matching clothes make play time even better!

We had a great time playing and relaxing at the resort. Even the big kids enjoyed the sandbox! :)

We played at the play ground.

We hung out with the cousins!

We took rides and fished from Grandpa's boat.

Here are the boys!

Roman adores his cousin James.

Lucy caught a whopper! She was so proud. 

Grandpa caught a fish too.

The days were getting shorter and the nights were cool but we still had fun swimming!

Who needs a water park or a diving board when you have Uncle Brad to toss you in the water? Good stuff!

Even the pups enjoyed the lake. 

Lucy even got to try out the resort's paddle board. She did a great job making her way across the water. :)

The kids couldn't wait to hop in the hammock with their Uncle Brad. 

On Sunday we went on a little road trip to Itasca to see the headwaters of the Mississippi. 

The sign reads, ' Here 1475ft above the Ocean the mighty Mississippi begins to flow on its winding way 2552 miles to the Gulf of Mexico'

I had been to this spot a few times as a kid and I always remember it being pretty majestic. 

Turns out that it is kind of a small space and pretty crowded. Haha!

The children still loved seeing it!

Especially this little nugget who sadly got car sick along the way. 

Once he dipped his toes in the water, all was well. :)

Happy Labor Day weekend!

We goofed around with the cousins on a quick hike.

And got some ice cream, of course!

Thanks for the memorable holiday weekend, Storm family!

Roman is a 1st Grader

This school year looked a little different for both of the big kids due to the pandemic. In the Eau Claire school district, 1st & 2nd graders attended in person school 4 days a week in small classes with Wednesdays as a virtual learning day for deep cleaning and teacher inservices. The other elementary kiddos - Kinder, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders we split into cohorts and attended school 2 days a week in person and the rest of the days at home. Of course families had the option to keep their kids at home and do 100% virtual curriculum. After cobbling together elementary school + daycare + full time work at home last spring, this mama was very grateful that Roman was headed back to a classroom setting. Roman is extremely social so spending time with other children is vital to his happiness. 

He was so excited to be headed back to the classroom and worked to label all of his school supplies. 

Roman's cohort started a bit before Lucy's so big sister sent her little bro off in style by making a batch of pancakes.

We took our obligatory first day photos in the back yard. Roman's teacher this year is Mrs. Mahder; it is his first year at Sam Davey Elementary but his good friend Henry is in the same class so all is well. There are only 12 kids in class which is perfect for Romeo because then he has fewer distractions. Haha!

Face masks are required at school this year; thank goodness for grandma's who have made the kiddos so many fun masks. :) 

Roman is so creative, he loves history lessons and reading, he is a very strong reader so I have no doubt that he will rock 1st grade!

Roman is 7!

When COVID quarantines started rolling across the United States in March, Roman was already panicking about his birthday in August. He had seen footage of drive by birthday parties but wanted some reassurance that he would be able to host a big ol' party by August? His silly mama was like, oh - of course things will be back to normal after a few weeks of stay at home orders, we'll definitely be able to have a birthday party at the end of August. Ai yi yi - Insert Hand Slap to Face emoji here.

Despite the pandemic, we still had the best time!! We got balloons from Dollar Tree - always a favorite! :) Roman requested a bunch of stars this year.

Our big 7 year old had muffins for his special breakfast and zipped off to summer camp for a day of fun + a celebratory slushie.

Our chubby-cheeked toddler has grown up so fast! This picture is from Roman's 1st brithday. Awww!

This year Roman really wanted a cool new skateboard and 'Mario Brothers stuff ' so his wishes were granted with this penny board and a Super Mario shirt! ;) 

After a dinner of hotdogs, our 7 year old opened gifts from his family!

Roman got some packages in the mail too including this fun 'You R2 Cool!' wall hanging from his buddy Easton in Rhinelander.

Of course we sang and had birthday cake (per Roman's request, Mom made chocolate zucchini cake - the perfect late August treat!)

Guys, I am looking at these photos now and I have no idea what Roman is wearing on his head but, rest assured, he had a great night! Hahaha!

Roman had a small outdoor birthday at the park this summer; he invited his best buds and selected a shark theme. He and Lucy stuffed party favor bags at home before we headed to Jeffers Park for the big event. 

We made some cool shark fin cupcakes.

The boys played in the park and feasted on pizza, chips, and sugary drinks. :) The kiddos who attended were his bestie - Henry, a friend from summer camp - Steel, and Wyatt & Owen - our neighbors from across the street. They had lots of fun - it was a warm and windy August afternoon. 

We had a shark piñata (stuffed with individual bags of treats with the boys' names on them so there wouldn't be a free-for-all and many hands touching little candies and toys! Trying to plan a COVID free birthday in 2020 takes some planning ;) ) 

We also had a fun a pin the mouth on the shark game. Little brother Leo liked playing this one!

Love this 7 year old to pieces!

Thanks to everyone who made Roman's day so special!! I am very grateful that we could have a little party - he enjoyed every minute!

Love you to the moon and back big guy!