Late August Updates

August is the perfect time for walks downtown and ice cream treats.

After driving us back to Wisconsin, we took Grammy and Grandpa out for a stroll to stretch legs and to eat some ice cream from Ramon's.

We were reunited with Dan and everyone was very happy!

We love ice cream treats! 

There are so many fun bridges, statues, and sculptures to play on downtown.

All of these bridges have lots of pretty lights as well.

Lucy has a sweet little frame in her room that says 'Grandpa & me' and features a picture of her and Grandpa Glen. Lucy is 3 years old and she is eating a little breakfast pie with her Grandpa Glen at our dining room table in Rhinelander. Of course our observant 8 year old noticed that Grandpa was wearing the exact same outfit from 5 years earlier so she wanted to recreate the photo.

Lucy even styled her hair in the same way and found her same fork! Haha! Cheers to wearing the same outfit and hat 5 years later, Dad! I learned from the best. ;)

In other August happenings, these 2 enjoyed a Nerf gun war at their summer camp.

Lucy was ready to jump into the action! 

We enjoyed late summer walks in our neighborhood.

Roman advanced to his green belt in kyuki do.

Dan started taking some classes as well! Pil sung! (This is Korean for 'certain victory!' The students say it when they enter the studio and get on the mats - always doing their best!

One of our favorite parts about August is celebrating Roman and James' birthdays! I mean, look at this cute pack of cousins. James requested that everyone wear Star Wars shirts to the party and we quickly jumped on that fashion trend.

We had the best time in Roseville, partying in the Cihacek's backyard.

The little guys love the sandbox.

Uncle Brad was at the festivities as well.

This year Roman turned 7 and James turned 4.

Look at these best buds!

After cake and ice cream, the boys opened their gifts (Roman's shirt says Yo-Da Man).

The kids l-o-v-e Harry Potter these days so Roman was thrilled to get a Harry Potter costume from Grandpa Ken and Grammy Nola! What fun!

James received a Captain America costume! Both boys were so excited.

Uncle Brad and Lucy sported their Star Wars shirts and hung out with Harry. :) Thanks to everyone who made this birthday so special for our Romy!

We came home from Roseville and changed from Star Wars shirts to Star Wars jammies and even managed to find a few toads in the yard. Tis the season!

We continued to spend our weekends walking the Chippewa River trail. Here we are walking along the Eau Claire River. Leo is looking so big these days!

Here is the photo from the other direction looking over the river; downtown Eau Claire is known for being the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa Rivers.

We harvested veggies from our garden. Roman loves munching on fresh carrots. The children have recently started watching some old Looney Tunes shows so Roman often says, 'What's up Doc?' while chewing on a carrot. LOL! As a side note, that show is super violent!! I didn't really remember that from when I was a kid but yikes! 

I just love how big and beautiful plants look at the end of August.

Ranger spent a good chunk of the summer in training with our breeder. He worked on hunting skills and was used to father a couple of litters of pups. When he was back home with us the kids were so excited! Here is our pup enjoying summer. :)

Finally - behold this glorious sight! My first trip to a thrift store in many months. Haha! Man it felt good to go hunt for treasures! ;)

Summertime in South Dakota

When we wrapped up our Hoekman family vacation, the big kids and I headed back to Sioux Falls with Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Glen. August is one of our favorite times of year to visit South Dakota. :) 

Roman loves the tree swing in Grandpa and Grandma's backyard.

Lucy dug through some of my old treasures and found my prairie pioneer dress.

I wore this for the South Dakota Centennial back in 1989.

Lucy had to take a quick picture with Grandpa too. :)

Leo helped Grammy in the garden.

He enjoyed harvesting vegetables. :)

Nothing better than a big old August tomato!

Meanwhile, back in Eau Claire, Dan was harvesting tomatoes from our garden at home!

I spent much of the week working from Dad's home office but the kids had lots of fun adventures. They visited a playground with Grandma.

So fun to play at a new park!

Leo loves scooting through tunnels these days.

Everyone loves a picnic with Grammy and the cousins.

The cousins played outdoors.

The whole crew went to the Great Plains zoo!

The big girls took selfies.

 

Roman and I worked on a puzzle in the evenings. When we finished this 500 piece beauty, we had to take a celebratory photo to send to Dad.

The kids visited Grandma's house and found the facepoints. Check out these crazy clowns! ;)

Here are the big girls, looking lovely.

We visited Uncle Austin and Auntie Mallory's house where we played on a new swing set and hung out with Homer.

We took a little hike down the street to Good Earth State Park.

It was a beautiful day for a walk! Love this group + Homer!

We hung out at Austin and Mallory's house until the evening because we had a very special event to attend! Jules' 6th birthday party!! 

Check out this beautiful cake that Katie made! 

Happy Birthday kiddo!

Nothing beats a birthday meal of hotdogs, chips, and cake! Dinner of champions!

Jules wanted all of her cousins to play at her neighborhood beach and swimming hole for her birthday. Leo loved the sand!

The bigger kids had a great time in the water.

Here is the whole crew (minus Peter who declined to participate in photos on this night). That sweet baby is little Rhett who was just one month old at the party. So cute!

Just a couple of 6 year olds! For only 12 days a year, Roman and Jules are the same age. Look at those big August birthday smiles. 

We visited the best splash pad in Sioux Falls! With all of the summer pool closures due to COVID, the children have really been missing a local pool. I am not sure what makes a splash pad safer than a pool these days but we had a great time.

This little dude loved it too.

During our time in South Dakota we attended a benefit for Mark Mathieu's family. Mark passed away in early April, during the middle of the pandemic lockdown. :( His benefit event, originally slated for March, ended up being cancelled due to COVID. We were glad to see this event finally happen and grateful that we could attend in support  of Lisa, Mallory, Mike and their families. We had delicious food, participated in all kinds of raffles & auctions and spent time with family, neighbors, and friends. It was a good night. It was so awesome to see how many lives that Mark touched! He will be missed.

As part of a silent auction, our family won this 'movie night' basket with a blanket, movies, and treats. The children were over the moon!

The next morning we packed up and our chauffeur (aka Grandpa) drove us back to Wisconsin. Lucy snapped a couple of photos with my phone from Grandma's yard before we hit the road. I couldn't believe how beautiful they turned out! 

Until next time, South Dakota!