Carsyn's 1st Birthday

Our baby girl has turned one!  I still can't believe how quickly this year flew by, and now our gorgeous girl is heading into year 2!  Carsyn's a curious, intelligent, loving, sweet, delightful little girl with an adorable laugh.  We love you so very much!  Happy 1st Birthday Carsyn!

We put together a ladybug themed party for Carsy the weekend before her birthday.  We went with a smaller low key party which was much more relaxing for everyone, especially the birthday girl.  I was thrilled with how everything turned out, especially the smash cake.  ;)  

Head on over to mymomsmemos for a full recap.  Click here to view to all the pictures on FB. 

Happy birthday to you!

12 Months Young 10/28 - 20 lbs 4 oz, 2 teeth

smash cake

Ready for Halloween!

Spidergirl and Bumblebee are ready for action...and candy!

Bring on October!!

 

Family Traditions - German style pictures!

Last weekend we took Ry to JCP for our family's traditional German pictures in Lederhosen!  My mom's side of the family started this tradition with us (and my cousins) and now it's up to us to continue it with our kids!  The Dirndle and Lederhosen are authentic outfits from Germany.  :)

I can't wait to get our images from JCP (beginning of Oct).  Here's a link to the album, although it expires after 3 months.

Below are a few photos I took with my phone as well as the pictures of my brother and me.  :)

Ry, 3.5 yrs old.  9/21/2014

My brother / Uncle Steve

me

Registered for my first Marathon!

I have a great group of running buddies in my neighborhood (all females and 1 male) and about two months ago they all started talking about training for marathons.  A few of them decided to run the San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon in Dec.  Running a marathon has always been on my bucket list, I've had many aspirations of actually running one, but would usually sustain an injury (from running, :sigh:) that would smash those dreams.  However, I figured this may be my last shot to try as I'm only getting older and I would have several running buddies to help me through the training.  I have run 3 half marathons and figured as long as I trained slowly and listened to my body that I just may be able to do it!

I started a 20 week training plan towards the end of July and so far so good!  My most recent long run was 13 miles and I ran it without any aches or pains.  :)  As of Monday 8/25, I officially registered for my first marathon and booked my hotel!!!  I  also registered for the refund fee just in case something happens (fingers x'd, knock on wood).

I'm actually really excited about this marathon and training.  My desire and motivation to run this race has really surprised me.  I AM COMMITTED!

The race is in Dec so I'm hoping it will be much cooler, you just never know what the weather will be like in Texas.  I've been getting up at 5am to run just to beat the heat, TX summers are brutal!  I also purchased myself a Nathan hydration pack (HPL #020) for my long runs and a new Garmin Forerunner 310XT (20 hrs of battery life!).  My trusty 305 has severely reduced battery life and only lasts about an hour instead of the advertised 10hrs (which is not conducive for marathon training), RIP Garmin 305, you will be missed.

Cozumel!

The hubby and I decided to take E&E on a trip before Evan started college.  So we got the kids their passports and at the end of July we spent 5 days/4 nights in Cozumel at an all inclusive resort!  The kids had a blast.  We rented a car and toured the island, went on a snorkel excursion, and enjoyed the amenities at the resort.  Man was it tough to come back home!  COZUMEL!

We have arrived! 7/28

View from our room, great spot!

minigolf

snorkeling

our ride

Carlos n Charlies

Bob Marley bar

nice dinner pants

dirty monkey - the drink!

Entertainment - Emma onstage

Last day - bye bye

Annual Beach Trip

This year we went back to Port A and rented the purple house for our annual family beach trip.  We didn't leave as early as we had hoped Tues morning and we had a slight bumper snafu backing out of the driveway.  :sigh:  Otherwise the trip down went smoothly for having an almost 8 month old in the car.  I only had to squeeze myself between the two back seats and sit on a watermelon for 1.5 hrs of the drive, hand feeding my two kids snack after snack until Carsy fell asleep. 

It's hard work riding in a car.

We arrived a little after 3pm, unpacked, got the kids situated and prepared for dinner.  By the time everything was said and done it was too late to hit the beach.  It really takes a lot longer to do stuff when dealing with 3 young ones, two of them being less than 8 months old!

Ferry rides are fun!

We had really good weather the entire trip.  It only rained on us one morning, so we went to a sports bar to watch USA in the world cup, then hit the beach after lunch.  The water felt great but the seaweed was everywhere!  The bulldozers were pretty good about clearing the sand, but the first 5 ft of water was still jam packed with seaweed, it was like walking through a stew!  Ry didn't seem to mind, and as long as you could get past those first 5 ft then the water cleared up.  We only went out to eat a couple times during our stay.  We had one nice dinner out at Virginia's On The Bay, a lunch at Kody's sports bar and our last night there we had an awesome tempura shrimp dinner at the house.  Later that evening the grandparents watched the kids so we could hit up a few bars.  Sharkey's was a dud but the Salty Dog was a blast and the karaoke machine was rockin!  All in all a good trip, we only managed to get sunburned on our first day (ouch!).

Breakfast before beach 6/25

My nephew Mason!

1st time at the beach! 6/25/2014

Ry loved climbing the piles of smelly seaweed

building sand castles 6/25

Uncle Steve and Ry in the sand 6/25

all clean 6/25

Nice dinner out - Virginia's On The Bay

happy as a clam

Dolphin rider 6/25

Kody's sports bar and soccer/FIFA! 6/26

Ah the sea....6/26

beach babes 6/26

We like it under the pop up

Morning! 6/27

JAWS! 6/27

Mason finally liked the beach on the last day

cheesy grins

ready to surf the wake

Last day at Port A 6/27

beached babies 6/27