Our Day in the Sun

Last weekend, we decided to meet up with some friends at the beach.  So we loaded up the car with kids and swimsuits, and headed to North Padre Island.  It wasn't nearly as far as I thought it would be to find this:

The hotel we way over payed for stayed at on North Padre was right on the beach, so we spent Friday afternoon just hanging out on the beach, running from waves, and collecting shells.

I tried to get a picture of all three girls, but apparently they are insanely photosensitive.  It's very freakishly vampiresque.

These were Cora's very first steps into oceanic waters.

She hated the ocean.  

Which is too bad, because I feel that this is the first of many trips.

I just had to get a shot of those fat, sandy feet.

I can't tell you how many times we've gone places where strangers have cried out, "Oh!  Look how tiny those feet are!"  Seriously, she has the smallest, yet possibly the fattest feet, ever!  Size two, people.  She's 19 months old, and is still in a size two shoe.  Actually, I think these flip flops were classified as 6-12 months by Old Navy.  

I had a little fun with some sand art, and made good use of some shells.

While we waded through the water, our flip flops hung out on the beach.  I thought it was a cute picture with them all lined up.

The next morning, we met our friends out at North Padre National Seashore.  The water was warm and shallow, and the waves weren't too big.  Perfect for the kids.  Maryn spent most of the day walking out into the water, then letting the waves push back onto the beach.

Ailee loved her new pink bucket.  It was something we had picked up at the dollar store, so naturally it was broken within about an hour.  One less thing to take home, right??

She also loved digging in a big hole the older kids had made and covering herself with sandy mud.  Thank goodness we had a giant bath to wash her off in!

Even though she wasn't fond of the push and pull of the waves, Cora did enjoy the beach.  She liked walking through the sand, tasting the sand, and getting covered in sand.

Seriously, the cutest babe at the beach!

Maybe we will have a future life guard on our hands!

It was a fun, beautiful day for us.  I am so glad we discovered the beach was so close (about 2 and 1/2 hours for those who need a trip to the beach!) and I hope we get to go again, soon!

Some of the Many Talents of the Roundy Girls

A few weeks ago, there was a community yard sale down the street.  While Maryn scored a toy horse, Ailee got a sweet "new" guitar.  This girl really knows how to rock out!  I think I love it best when she makes the facial expressions to accompany her guitar playing.

 Our girls love music.  Some of the favorites around here include "Don't Stop Believin'," (listening to it now...oh yeah!) "Jessie's Girl," "Chariots of Fire," "Hey Soul Sister," "Poker Face," and of course, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."  We love a good dance session.

Maryn thinks it's a pretty great trick to do a head stand (up against the wall) these days.  Anything for attention, right?  But check out those abs!  I think this girl is .0005% body fat.

Maryn starts swim team this week.  She has been pretty excited about it, and I hope she really gets involved and does well with it.  I'm sure there will be pictures to come.

The Birthday Boy Celebrates Again

We really know how to party around here!  A few weeks ago was Kade's birthday.  I love having a reason to make an ice cream cake!

Getting' ready to par-tay it up!

 Maryn is really big into homemade gifts (just like her Momma...but her gifts are way sweeter).  This was her present to Kade.  Love it!

Opening Baseball cards...it's pretty exciting when you find a really good one!

The Party Goers:

Cora has been into giving me these cheesy smiles lately...

Little Ailee Bug...

Maryn striking a pose...

This is my pretty poor excuse for a Birthday cake.  Seriously, cakes are not my thing.  I'm just happy that it tastes good.

Again with the cheesy smile...enjoying some ice cream cake.

Now That It's Over

I really appreciate what a healthy family I have.  Sure, my kids get sick from time to time, but over all, they are pretty healthy, and I'm glad.  We did have a little scare starting back last Christmas.  On Christmas day, Maryn came to me complaining of pain in her feet, and when I looked at them (after ignoring her several times...bad mom!) each foot had a swollen area on it.  The good Doctor consulted with his Brain Trust (his brothers), and I, worrying that it was some sort of bite by some specie of bug here in San Antonio, took to vacuuming every corner of my house.  Over the next few days, little spots started to show up on the poor girl's legs, and the swelling got worse.  Maryn's pediatrician treated it as an allergic reaction, but when a round of steroids didn't kick it, we were sent to a dermatologist.  At this point it was about two weeks out, and her feet/legs looked like this:

Yikes!  Right?

It's funny because as I took this picture, I remember thinking to myself, Wow, this looks like something I've seen in a Pathology book.  Turns out, I had.  Maryn was diagnosed with HSP (Henoch-Schonlein Purpura), which gave me some comfort just knowing what it was.  However, the next day after the diagnosis, was spent surfing the internet reading horror stories of people whose lives had been turned upside down by this disease.  No good.

Luckily we were under the care of a good, caring physician.  We were very fortunate that all of Maryn's lab work has always come back normal.  I think at the height of the disease progression, those big red splotches covered her poor little swollen legs.  And even her hands and arms had red dots.  Her biggest complaint was the arthritic type pain she had, mostly in her legs and a little in her arms, and that her shoes wouldn't fit over her fat feet.  I always gave her the option to go to school or stay home, and she always chose school.  We must be pretty boring around here.  

Maryn was such a trooper, and I was very proud of her for being so tough and brave.  It lasted for about two months, then just as we thought she was over it, she had a brief recurrence.  We hope that all is healed, and her doctor informed us that we were lucky her skin was so fair, because darker skin tones tend to hold on to a bit of the blotchiness.  (Did I just make that word up?)

Maryn may kill me for putting this picture up on our blog.  I just thought that now that it's all over with, it would be a good way to remember how blessed we are to have a healthy family.

These Legs Were Made For Walkin'

So our kids are slow walkers.  I'm going to go ahead and comfort myself by saying that my kids make up for their lack of physical skills with mental skills.  Cora, is our slowest, yet.  17 months old...that's right, 17.  I have to thank my sister in law, Stacie, for motivating this little one.  Cora seemed to really like Stacie (I mean, seriously, who couldn't!) and she was the first person Cora decided to walk to.

Now, a few weeks later, she's getting around pretty well.

Ok, maybe think Maggie Simpson.

I guess now that's she's "mastered" walking, she's going to move on to improving her dance moves!