Grandpa + Grandma visit Eau Claire

Grandpa Glen & Grandma Sharon came to visit and hold down the fort while Mom and Dad had work trips. Everyone had a great time. The crew visited Brunet Island State Park. Roman is always eager to find critters when he goes hiking. 

We have a longstanding family joke about my Dad getting so excited about a trail back in Colorado the 1990's and referring to it as the 'Use' trail as a place name instead of realizing that the sign was directing the general public to use the trail as a path. Hahaha! Mom snapped this picture for us - Dad on the 'Uce' Trail. ;)

These guys got a beautiful summer day to enjoy the park.

Nothing better than a picnic withe Grammy and Grandpa.

Of course they stopped for ice cream in Cornell on their way back. Superman flavor for the win!

They also stopped for a walk at Beaver Creek - what a great day!

The next day was a Leo day.

This kid loves the goats at Irvine Park.

He hiked with Grandpa and played on the jungle gym. 

One perk of a Grandpa and Grammy visit? A giant box of Cocoa Pebbles from Menards! 

They had cornhole tournaments every evening. 

Love getting 'Good Morning!' pictures in my text messages when I am on work trips. 

Gotta start the day with a cup of coffee and a brush through the hair.

The crew went to Carson Park.

He loves the little train.

Grammy even chauffeured Lucy to her end of the year softball party at a teammate's house. She had a great time in the pool!

The big kids went to the theater to see one of the movies in the Summer Movie series at Micon.

Since they were in Chippewa Falls they stopped at Lucy's Deli for lunch. ;)

While the big kids had adventures Leo finger painted with his friends at school.

You can't stop by Carson Park without seeing Paul and Babe.

Just a hot and sweaty carload of kids leaving the park. 

Our lil guy was looking very sharp with a new haircut.

After Grammy & Grandpa took off we zipped to Target and ordered a cake for Mr. Roman's upcoming birthday. He found this Jurassic World cake in their book and was so disappointed to see it was discontinued. The Target bakery lady was awesome and was able to make this work; she somehow found one last dino in their back storeroom to put on top. Yay! 

So grateful that Grandpa and Grandma were able to make the trip to Eau Claire and spend time with the kiddos this August. 

Farmers Market + Blueberry Picking

Our whole family had a free Saturday in August so you better believe that we prioritized a trip to the farmers market downtown. Gotta love Roman's socks and sandals look, right?! ;)

The balloon guy was there so we stopped to see him after getting all of our veggies.

Everyone got something!

A dino for our Jurassic loving Roman and a tiger for Leo.

And a lovely corsage for our beautiful girl.

After the market we drove to Blueberry Ridge. It was an ideal Saturday for berry picking (not too hot!)

This little guy ate his weight in berries!

We had a great morning of berry picking.

When we got home, these two pretended to be twinsies by putting Roman's growing mullet in pig tails. Hahaha!

Love these goofballs!

 

August Happenings + Butterfly Event

We kicked off August with a trip to the Fairfax Pool for Rachel's Place and Hope Lutheran Church night. Everyone was happy to swim!

We told Lucy that she could move downstairs and that we would swap spaces for my home office. It was definitely a win-win. I love having my window & being able to see the happenings at the front door; Lucy loves being the 'big kid' downstairs. Lucy had her bestie Harper assist in the moving effort. It was no joke!! ;)

Lucy is growing up! Her new room decor does not allow for unicorns so this is what the back of my van looked like on my way to make a donation at the thrift store ...

My big kids spent a Friday at Camp Brunswick - the Boy Scout property just outside of Eau Claire. It was a beautiful property! They zip lined, had archery competitions and enjoyed the day.

My little campers!

Roman had a sleepover with a friend so the L's and I visited the library in his absence. This was one of our last trips to their temporary location during the remodel. 

We also had lunch at the French Press. My favorite! ;)

On Sunday we had a picnic after church - love being on the shore of Chippewa River!

After our lunch we went to Beaver Creek for their annual butterfly event.

We love visiting their nature center - there is so much to see!

There are live critters and stuffed ones too.

The badger is everyone's favorite (of course!)

We saw brand new butterflies and explored pretend caves.

We posed with bears and got butterfly tattoos.

We did crafts and found antlers.

There was even a special treat from Culvers.

You can't see any in the pictures but there were gummi butterflies in the mix.

Last but not least we popped into the butterfly house.

We saw some beauties!

It was such a good afternoon at the Reserve!