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!

Sesame Place

The week before last we headed up to Pennsylvania to meet up with Sonia, Wil, Cat, Siena and Alana at Sesame Place. This was our first visit and we loved it! We went on a Saturday so it was fairly crowded but the longest wait we had was only 20 minutes (to ride this roller coaster).

Catalina - I just love her!

Siena sat with me on the roller coaster. The whole ride, I squeezed my eyes shut and held on to her for dear life. Then we stopped, I opened my eyes and Siena, cool as a fan, said "Why did we stop?" She was way braver than me!
Marino LOVED the swings. He had the hugest smile the whole time!
Daddy and Marino on the teacups. Later, Marino told me the teacups were the only scary ride he went on (Evan said he was spinning them really fast).
He loved the climbing nets.
Poor Daddy tore up his knees in these tunnels!
Uncle Wil and Siena
Daddy and Marino, waiting in line
Playing arcade games with Daddy
Cooling off

Lazy river - we all had fun on this

Ending the day with a fun parade. He loved it, especially Super Grover!
It was a really great trip and I'd like to go back to do some of the things we missed. The majority of the attractions there are interactive, so its more physical than your typical amusement park. Luckily, it is also smaller and less hilly, so you don't get overwhelmed just walking around. Hope to visit again soon!

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!

Sweet Sydney is 4!

This sweetie, our buddy Sydney, turned 4 last week. We had a great time at her birthday party at in Herndon. The kids ran around like crazies and everyone had a lot of fun, especially this guy (Noah).

This guy loved it, too. Anytime he gets to run, jump and throw balls like a madman, he is a happy little guy.
Jen and Noah
Throwing "snowballs" at the instructors and loving it!
Climbing the ladder to honk the horn - great incentive!


The birthday girl, blowing out her candle. Little brother was not happy!
Jen is so sweet - she made sure there were Marino-friendly treats available!

The zipline - all the kids LOVED this!
Limbo!
Can you tell he loves bubbles?!




Love these two! Happy Birthday, Sydney!!

At the Movies...

We took Marino to see Madagascar 3 this afternoon. We all loved it and Marino was amazingly well behaved in the theater. At the end of the movie, I asked who his favorite animal was from the movie. "I love all the animals in the movie," he replied. So diplomatic!

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I am loving my boy this week:

5. The other day, he fell asleep in the car on the way to Sydney's birthday party. When he woke up he announced "Mommy! I got some energy!"

4. One morning this week, he woke up and said "Mommy, I was rescuing animals with Diego!" "in your dream?" I asked. "Yes, in my dream!" he said, still excited.

3. Summer camp has a new rule that we drop the kids off at the inside door (not in the classroom, like usual). I thought Marino would object to this, but he seems full of pride when he kisses me goodbye and goes to put away his things on his own.

2. We're seeing my BFF, Sonia, and her family this weekend.

At bedtime last night, I asked Marino "Are you going to give Aunt Sonia a hug when you see her on Saturday?"

"Yeah!!" he said.

"What about Uncle Wil? Are you going to give him a hug, too?"

"No, no hug. I'm going to give him a dap."

1. The other morning, I was sighing, getting frustrated helping him put on his sneakers while he acted crazy. He asked me "Mommy, are you sure you're up for this?"

"Am I up for this?"
"Yeah, are you up for this job?"

Birthday Party Marathon & Annapolis

As I mentioned in my last post, the weekend before last was a bit crazy. Saturday, we went to 3 birthday parties and had a playdate with my cousin and her girls. It was a very fun day and, thankfully, we had gorgeous weather all day.

The first party was Marino's friend Emilia. Her party was at Cabin John Park.

This is her on the left (sitting). Isn't she adorable?!

Marino chowing down on some eggless cupcakes I made...this was pretty much the last thing he ate for 5 days.

Our buddy Jace (who's birthday party was later that day)

Poor kiddos...the train was having mechanical difficulties, so we had to get off and wait for it to get fixed.
In the end, they got it working and everyone had a fun ride.

Singing to the birthday girl....

Marino and his buddy Alex enjoying the awesome playground at Cabin John...

After some rest, we headed to Marino's "best friend" Ike's birthday party at the Little Gym. This was the first party we've been to where the parents watched outside the room and the kids played on their own. They did great and the instructor even told me later that Marino was so polite the whole time.

Marino and Ike - best buds

Sophia (Marino's self-proclaimed girlfriend) and his buddy Alex

The birthday boy

Last stop on the birthday train was Jace's 3rd birthday. Jace loves firetrucks. A few days after the party, Marino told me "I love firetrucks and I love Jace."

The birthday boy, ready to blow out his candles.

School buddies: Marino, Rebone, Emilia and Sara.

After Jace's party, we headed to my Aunt Kerry's house to play with her, my cousin Miranda and her girls. Kerry's neighbor's kids came over too, so we all headed to the playground to burn off some energy.

Baby Addie, testing out the slide

Slide train!

Sunday morning after Super Hero class, we headed to Annapolis for brunch with friends and family and to see the boats. This is where Marino really started feeling sick, but he insisted he still wanted to see the boats! I t was my first time there and I am looking forward to going back soon.

Here's Aunt Chelle, Monique and Netta in Annapolis. Beautiful ladies!

My boy and I smiling...the calm before the storm!

Hanging out in Annapolis with the ladies...

Fun weekend (until the tummy trouble began)!