We Love Visitors!

At Hotel Wright we are always excited about visitors. Especially those who love on our kids!

In May we hosted crazy Uncle Will and got to meet the lovely Miss Laura Rose.

In July we had a blast with super-fun Cousin Haley and Nena.

In September we enjoyed a visit with Great Aunt Marjorie and Mr. Duane.

And in October we hosted our beloved Nena and Pops!

And by “hosted” I mean that Mike and I dumped (I mean…lovingly left) our kids with them and high-tailed it for a fun weekend getaway in the mountains of Asheville.

But don’t you worry about the Little Miss and Mister. They were spoiled everyday with TONS of fun outings, including visits to playgrounds and ice cream shops, as well as trips to TWO different pumpkin farms!

Yeah, they fared just fine.

Picking some sweet lookin’ pumpkins…

Going on hayrides…
(The Little Mister, we hear, boasts quite a fine “parade wave.” Homecoming court, here we come! Lord have mercy.)

Seeing the sights on pony rides…

Having their faces painted…
(What did the Little Miss choose, you ask? Why a snake and a black football, of course! That’s my girl. Sweet and graceful, and tough and athletic…all in one adorable Little Package.)

Getting up close and personal with the farm animals…
(Real and otherwise)

And playing on all sorts of fun rides!

The Little Miss and Mister had so much fun. And so did their parents! Three cheers for Nena and Pops!

And three cheers for fun visitors!

So keep this in mind…Hotel Wright is always open for business! Particularly for those (stalwart) guests who like to babysit.

Ain’t no party like a west coast party…

Okay, let’s be honest. Raising small children can be tough. And traveling with said children, particularly when planes and long distances are involved, is downright ridiculous. One might even say crazy. But you know what? It’s all worth it when your destination is…

SAN DIEGO!

My hometown. My happy place.

Determined to soak up a little lovely weather and beautiful scenery before the end of summer, we packed our bags in August for two weeks in sunny SD (which, admittedly, was a wee bit difficult when certain Little Stow-aways kept stalling my efforts).

No surprise, the trip out west was long, stressful, and exhausting. But we made it! And then we crammed our days with as much outdoor fun as possible with our Little Miss and Mister.

We went to the beach (a lot!). Let’s just say I’m not the only one in the family who loves the Pacific.

We checked out the local wildlife. Betcha didn’t know San Diego has a cove dedicated solely to sea lions!

We also said “hello” to all of the animals at the zoo (in our own special ways).

I’m not a big fan of bugs, but the ones at the zoo were particularly interesting…and cute!

We visited with lots of great friends, including Peggy (my second Mom), Kelly (childhood pal and publisher extraordinaire),

AND the Little Missy’s amazing Godparents, Martha and Jeff! They traveled from Tucson to spend a few days with us, and we loved getting to see them!

We also visited with my oldest and dearest friend, Kristy, and her sweet boys. Kristy and I joke that we have been pals “since the womb” because our moms first met at lamaze class. She’s one of the best mommies I know!

We got our sillies out on the rides at Balboa and Belmont Parks.

And we made sure to play everyone’s favorite game of “how many child-sized rides can we squeeze prego Mama into?!”

“Steer Mama!”
“Yes Ma’am.”

Thanks to the fabulous hosting of Nena and Pops Plaxico, it was a fun two weeks. We love you both so much! And we love San Diego!

Now to figure out how to dump the plane and teleport the family for our next big adventure…

Our Adulthood Experiment (a.k.a. Beach Trip!)

It was June and the Hubs and I were clamoring to get OUT of Durham and TO the beach. Convinced that it was time for us to “act like adults” by planning and carrying out our own family vacation (i.e., without the help of grandparents) we dared to take on our very own…

ADULTHOOD EXPERIMENT

(or “Tryst with Crazy” as I like to think of it now).

Inspired by our new “grown-up” and “self-sufficient” selves, we booked a beach house located on the fabulous Emerald Isle, packed up the van with a ridiculous amount of STUFF, and headed to the white sands (after taking a quick jaunt to Duke Urgent Care, but that’s a tale for another day…).

Long story short, the beach was beautiful. The house was great. The kids were, well, kids. They were great too…and ridiculously cute, and funny, and entertaining. The trouble was, despite all of our “adult” decisions and accomplishments, they were still kids! They were needy, and messy, and tiring, and prone to meltdowns… Shocker!

And yet, determined to have a fun “vacation,” Mike and I carried on like good little “adult” beach troopers. We worked hard on behalf of our Little Miss and Mister to ensure that they had a GREAT time.

And they did.