Early July was spent at the ballpark! Lucy's season ended in June right as Roman was kicking off his games.
Look at our handsome ballplayer! He played for the Marlins this season.
One of Leo's little day care friends, Annika, had a brother on Roman's team so he was thrilled to have a consistent playmate at the diamonds.
There is an osprey that lives in a giant nest in the baseball lights - we even saw the bird bringing a fish back to her babies.
We headed to South Dakota in July and we got to Hudson when Roman discovered that he did not pack any pajamas for the week. Ai yi yi. We zipped into a local Goodwill to get some jammies. And - yikes - look at what we saw in the glass case! Slappy! He was holding a creepy little sign that said, 'Free Me'.
We stopped at a rest area - all of the kids needed some time to stretch their legs!
What a beautiful summer day!
We made it to Grandpa and Grandma's house - Lucy quickly treated Grandpa Glen to a back massage.
We headed over to Kevin and Katie's house right away because we had a 12th birthday party to celebrate!
Happy Birthday Anna! We love you.
We also had to meet the newest 4 legged member of our family - sweet Cleo.
It was a perfect July night for supper outside.
Dinner of champions - also the MVP of this supper was Auntie Lois' potato salad. Five stars for sure! She put sweet potato in it which took it to the next level.
Both Auntie Lois and Elaine were at the party - so fun to see them! It had been a long time since we were last together.
Here are the big girls - reunited again.
Here's the whole crew.
It was a July night so of course we had to do fireworks!
Kevin is like the pied piper of fireworks - look at all of those kids gathered around him!
The big kids stayed over with their cousins which meant that I had only one kiddo along to the Farmer's Market. We had a great morning. Leo loved the mushrooms and he enjoyed a cool kombucha.
Back at Hoekman manor the girls worked on painting projects outside.
My littlest guy and I enjoyed some time at the Sioux Falls.
I am so accustomed to seeing this view in the winter with all of the twinkle lights - it looks great in the summer too!
We hopped on the Downtown Sioux Falls trolley bus and cruised to the shops downtown.
The OG Hoekman crew was on the bus - Dad, Lois, Elaine (+Uncle Ray).
Leo had the best time on the sculpture walk.
He was a big fan of the eagle and loved standing with 'the kids'.
We popped by the Stockyards Ag Experience at the Falls on our way out of town.
Not quite as tall of a corn stalk yet...
On Sunday Leo and Mama headed East to Wisconsin.
Lucy and Roman stayed in Sioux Falls for the week with Grandma + Grandpa. They spent Sunday evening with my cousin Garth's girls - Helen and Anna.
Gotta have a goofy pic too!
I dropped Leo off with Dan and continued on to a work week in beautiful Crandon, Wiscsonsin.
Lucy and Roman were living their best lives in South Dakota with the cousins.
The whole crew was treated to a day at Wild Water West!
No better way to spend a July day!
The boys had great time in the pool.
The girlies did some lounging as well!
Dan kept me posted with pictures of this little nugget.
Grandma Sharon took a bunch of the kiddos to Good Earth State Park.
They had a good hike and a picnic.
I had a little fun on my work trip too - Jessica and I went to Duck's for a Fry Bread Taco - these are the yummiest!!
My big kids got to watch big cousin Paul work his magic on the baseball field.
The cousin pack attended some Storyland Theater in the park.
They had to collect some autographs afterwards!
Roman got to zip up to Brookings with Austin and Mallory to watch Paul play ball. He was very impressed by the Storm Sewer! Haha!
He had a lot of fun exploring his Dad's (+Grandpa Ken, Uncle Austin, Uncle Kevin & Auntie Katie) alma mater. Roman even went to the top of the bell tower at SDSU.
He collected all kinds of foul balls and made some money at the game - which was promptly spent on concessions! ;)
A good week was had by all! Thanks again to Grandpa Glen, Grandma Sharon and the Uncles and Aunties for a super South Dakota getaway! Love that the kids will have these childhood summer memories!
