Racing and Swimming

The weekend before last was another busy one. I ran my first 5k! I had been training for almost 3 months (I'm someone who never ran a mile until last Fall). Marino and my sister-in-law, Rianne, were there to cheer me on (Evan and his friends went on a guys trip for the weekend). I was a bit slower than I was hoping but I did it and I was proud that my boy was there to see me do it!

Later that day, Marino had his first private swim lesson, which went surpringly well. Our first swimming experiences of the season were met with terror, but he was very comfortable with the swim instructor and kept asking her if he could dive in the deep end.

Sunday, we got together with family in Virginia. All the cousins got to swim together - so cute!
Pacey, Jamia, Kiara, Samantha, Addie and Erica
These three get along great! Little girls are the sweetest!





Fun times with family - we love it!

Swimming with Friends

The weekend before last, our buddy Dylan and his sweet mama Soley invited us to swim with them at their fantastic swim club. Some of Marino's other friends from school were there and they had a great time together.

Putting together dino "fossils"

Carter is the comedian of this crew

Marino in the water with Ike (his BFF)

4 amigos!

He's much braver in the water when he's with his friends. He told me "I want to swim like Carter!"

Such a fun day!

Myrtle Beach

The week before last, Marino and I headed down to Myrtle Beach. We had planned a trip with Jen and the kids but they have some difficult things their family is dealing with right now and couldn't make it. We missed them! But they very generously let us stay at their family's condo, which is just amazing. The resort where the condo is located is so beautiful and quiet. It's really just so peaceful there...you never even hear people talking unless you go to the pool (which is always stocked with playmates for the kids).

I don't have a ton of pictures from our trip (by my standards at least), since we spent most of our days in the water (pool and beach).

On Saturday, my friend Chandra and her daughter Hannah were able to come up from Atlanta and visit with us. Chandra and I worked together for several years in Atlanta and we hadn't seen each other since we both had babies (just a few months apart). It was great to see her and meet the adorable Hannah!

We had a rainy day on Saturday, so after swimming in the pool (in the rain), we headed over to Broadway and let the kids go crazy on the rides.

Marino riding the train with Chandra and Hannah.
Can you tell he liked this train ride?!


In this picture, he's showing me the "awesome" palm tree "with spikes on it".

Sunday was the perfect beach day. We went out early in the morning before the crowds and enjoyed the waves.
...and the sand



Marino kept telling me "the waves are kicking me!"


It was super humid (the whole time we were in SC). My camera lens kept fogging up!
Marino loved the tide pools.

Another early morning on the beach (our last day). Marino loved having so much sand to play in!
Most of our vacation it was just Marino and I and it was a good bonding experience.

He's good company!

Unfortunately, we both ended up with a cold shortly after we got there. This triggered Marino's asthma, and we ended up needing to go to the ER briefly because he was having chest retractions. I knew he just needed oral steroids, but it wasn't like I could just pop over to the pediatrician. The ER gave him a double dose of prednisone and a breathing treatment and by the middle of that night, he was breathing much easier.

Brothers

The weekend before last, Marino met his brother, Quintyn for the first time. Quintyn, my stepson, is 11 and lives in Iowa. I was initially concerned that Marino would be confused by the concept of having a brother, or not understand the importance of this family member. Those fears were unfounded. He seemed to intrinsically know that Quintyn was special and to be his best friend.

This picture was taken just a couple hours after Quintyn arrived.

Evan and his 2 boys.

Quintyn has a baby brother (11 months old) so he has big brother experience. For the most part, he is excellent with Marino, although at times he expects Marino to play on his level instead of vice versa (I heard them playing upstairs the other day and Quintyn saying "No, Marino. You need to come up with your own battle plan!") They definitely can get on each other's nerves, as brothers do, but for the most part, they are as thick as thieves.

On Sunday, we picked up my cousin Samantha and headed to North Beach. It was super hot (about 100 degrees) but that meant the water was warm and the beach wasn't packed. Marino has gotten significantly more brave in the water this year and was willingly dunking his head in the water and "swimming" around. Prior years he would cling to us like a spider monkey but he was "swimming" away from us on this excursion.

We saw some cool stuff on the beach - lots of (dead) crabs (all the better to pick up!) and when we first arrived, a man put in our sand bucket a small minnow he had caught. As an aside, I wanted to mention how amazing being a parent is...it connects you to so many different people...the love we feel for our children is universal. This man didn't speak English, but he knew this fish would make Quintyn and Marino happy, so he silently came over and gave it to them. The boys had lots of fun with it until I had mercy on it and let it go after Marino repeatedly picked the poor thing up.

We had a great time! Lots more brother adventures coming soon!