Ready or not....

Avery & Austin are turning 4 and it is party time at the Maurer's house! The minute we got back from Port Aransas we kicked it into bday party prep mode and have been living in that mode all week long. Glad the day is finally here and I am hoping we have prepped enough so that we can truly enjoy the day with Austin & Avery. Their actual birthday is Sunday, the 15th and we are celebrating twice - once this morining with the kids classmates and then again tonight with family. It will be a long day for this momma, but worth it to see the excitement in their eyes throughout the day.

Dear Kelcie,

Thank you so much for taking a few days out of your peaceful summer to watch us. Mommy and Daddy have to work all summer so were full timers at St. Pauls, but you gave as a break from that routine for a few days and took us all over the big city! The first day was the best - park, McDonald's, ice cream at Must Be Heaven, Toy Story 3, AND skating. Mom thought you were a bit crazy to do this all on your own, but we sure had a good time! We had fun swimming on our most recent outing and of course we will never turn down the slip n' slide or popscicles. We have so much fun with you and thank you for wanting to play with us. You are the coolest, and don't tell Rocky, but we think he is pretty cool too. Mom said if college doesn't work out, you can come live with us!

Love,
Austin, Avery & Caleb

Port Aransas 2010

We enjoyed a few days at Port Aransas with Toppe & Grandpa. Everyday was a little bit of the same: sleep in, beach, down time, dinner, and card games. Every year I enjoy more and more the simpleness of the beach - spending the day in swimsuits and lounging by the waves. We did get to lounge a bit this year as A&A&C were safe in the shallow water. They played for hours and the adults pulled out the frisbee and volleyball and played a bit of our own. It was just what we needed!

y

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Beach time

Beach races

Kemper Va-Ca

We are in Port Aransas for a few days for the annual Kemper family vacation. Toppe, Grandpa, Steven, Candice and the 5 of us have a great beach front house on the beach.... though I do admit we have a huge dune in front of the house that blocks a good part of the view. I was not sure how the kids would react to the beach... the salt water, sand and grit, but they have LOVED it. We have had a blast, made sand castles, laughed 'til our sides hurt, and best of all made memories to last a life time. Lots of pics to come!
Special thanks to Toppe, Grandpa, Steven & Candice. You have made this a fun, yet somewhat relaxing vacation. Austin, Avery & Caleb have had such a GREAT time and love you forever. Wes & I thank you for the opportunity to get away from the everyday chaos and enjoy a few days listening to the wind and the waves.

3 of everything

It is a known thing in our house that when it comes to A,A, & C, there is no sense in buying 1 of anything. There must be 3..... 3 puzzles, 3 pairs of sunglasses (even though only 1 needs a pair), 3 swimsuits... yes, 3 is the magic number. Come home with any less and there are sure to be tears shed and comments like "Where's mine?"
Well, yesterday my lack in preparing for 3 bit me in the you know what and made for a pretty miserable swimming experience. A,A&C took a late nap and were told that if they took a nap, we could go swimming at the Aquatic Center. Sure enough the first thing out of Avery's mouth as she came down the hall after a 2 hour snooze was, "Can we go swimming now?" I wasn't very excited about going because our hay was getting cut which meant Wes was tied up and I'd be taking the kids myself, but if I didn't take them, an evening of nonstop "I want to go swimming" surely lied ahead. So, we quickly went into swimming prep mode - suits on, towels packed, flip flops and an extra change of dry clothes. We were set and out the door, or so I thought. As we drove into the driveway I saw goggles in the hands of Avery & Caleb. Crap! I forgot about goggles. There were no goggles in the hand for Austin and I immediately knew I was in trouble. The kids have become dependent on their goggles in the water and after a long hard nap, Austin was not in the best of moods so his shortage of goggles could bring tears. Tears there were.... lots of them. He almost didn't get out of the car so I carried him, tears flowing, to the pool. "I want my goggles. I want to go home and get my goggles. No, mama, we can't get in without my goggles." I managed to find a pair in the lost and found but they were no substitute for his blue goggles. 30 minutes he cried, 30 minutes! I felt like "that parent". I did my best to explain to him why we couldn't just go back home and get his goggles (the pool was only open another hour) and then I did my begging and pleading with him to stop crying. I even offered ice cream. When that didn't work all I could do was ignore his crying. Avery & Caleb needed my attention in the water so Austin clung close by pleading in my ears for his blue goggles. The tears finally stopped after Caleb to let Austin borrow his goggles, but even that took some major negotiating. Once Caleb's orange goggles went on Austin's head, tears were replaced with smiles and we were back in business.