So what’s a family to do when Daddy is on paternity leave, and everyone is sweating bullets in the HOT North Carolina summer weather?

Why, go on vacation to DELAWARE of course!

That’s right!  In mid July we packed up our Sweet Ride (a.k.a. Mama’s new minivan) and headed north for a week at Grammie and Poppy’s (Wright) place.

It was awesome!  We spent as much time as we could kicking back at the beach…
(And by “kicking back” I mean chasing our Little Miss Independent around as she plunged into the water and sprinted after seagulls; and carrying around our Little Mr. Snugglebug as he took nap, after nap, after nap…)

When we weren’t soaking up rays at the beach, we filled our time playing in the pool…
(And by “we” I mean Daddy and the Little Miss.  That water was too cold for this Pansy Mama!)

Playing all sorts of games…
(Including “Tunnel” / “Where is ah-belle?” in the Little Princess’ new castle)

Throwing wild and crazy dance parties…
(Guess whose idea that was?!?)

Partying it up at Rehoboth Beach’s Funland…
(Mama’s “spin tolerance” ain’t what it used to be.  After just one turn on the merry-go-round I was dizzy!)

(As we led the Little Lady to the rides, her eyes grew wide and she looked like a deer-in-the-headlights.  We thought she might be scared or overwhelmed.  But oh were we wrong!  The Little Miss Daredevil was just soaking it all in.  She wouldn’t let us leave Funland until she tried out every ride, including multiple spins on the swings!)

And of course, spending oodles of time with Grammie and Poppy!  And Great Aunt Pinky and Aunt Laura too!

(Post-swim “reading time”.  If this isn’t love, I don’t know what is!)

It was a super-duper fun trip.  Well, other than the drive there and back with two (impatient) (cranky) (fussy) (crying) children.  But a little suffering in the car was worth a week of fun at the beach!

Thanks to Grammy and Poppy for hosting us!

Hey, folks.  It’s the Little Miss here.  I betcha didn’t know this, but my Daddy is OLD!  That’s right…today he turned 31!

(Daddy just loves taking photos right when he wakes up in the morning!)

Mommy and I had lots of surprises for Daddy this morning.  We woke him up singing the “Happy Birthday” song, after which I asked repeatedly for “cake?!”…because I know that when you sing the birthday song, cake always follows!  Then we brought him downstairs and gave him presents, yummy breakfast treats, birthday cake, and a sign that I colored just for him.  It was a Daddy-birthday-bonanza!

Mama tells me that she, in contrast to Daddy, is still a “spring chicken” because she will only be “29 and a bit” for the rest of her life.  I don’t really understand how Mama could be a chicken, since she doesn’t have feathers or say “bock bock” like other chickens do.  But oh well.  I gave up trying to understand that crazy woman a long time ago.

But I digress.  What I really want to say is…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DADDY!  WE LOVE YOU!!!

Big things are happening at the Wright abode!  Okay, so no baby yet…T-minus 2 weeks, and counting.  But we did just have a special visit from the Little Lady’s Uncle Will!  It’s taken a few years to get him to venture out east, but he finally came!

The Little Miss had two very fun-packed days with her uncle.  As we were determined to show him a good time, despite the recent influx of hot and humid weather, our visit together became what I will now fondly refer to as…

“Prego Mommy Sweat Fest 2012!”

So what did the Little Miss and her parents do with Uncle Will, you ask?

Well, we went swimming, strolled around Duke campus, chased ducks at Duke Gardens (betcha didn’t know ducks eat cereal bars…or they do when Mommies forget to pack bread), dined out with friends (a certain Little Someone wasn’t invited), chased Teddy around the backyard, and…

…hiked the Eno River trail!  And by hiked, I mean that Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Will juggled the (easily distracted) Little Adventurer, her (overly excited) dog, and her (somewhat cumbersome) stroller as we walked along a tree root- and rock-covered trail until we finally made it to a wonderful little waterhole where said child and dog could go nuts.
…And the exhausted and over-heated Mama could rest for a while on her keester.

Toddler mud-bath (because every gal needs to exfoliate!)

Puppy mud-bath (because this dog thinks he’s a pig!)
Well, more like the pup’s post-mud-bath-rest

And collapse of the Uncle
(he may be able to climb towering mountains all over the world,
but that doesn’t mean he can keep up with a hyper toddler!)

Despite all of the heat, we had a really fun two days.  We just need to get Uncle Will back out here after the Little Mister arrives so that he can chase around TWO Little (crazy) Ones!