Farewell to summer

Fall may be here, but our memories of fun summer adventures with the Little Miss are still fresh in our minds. Since our trips were packed so closely together, it felt as though we were living out of suitcases for weeks on end…

…But all of the trip planning, bag packing and toddler corralling were SO worth it. Because as I see it, you can’t beat the simple joy of sitting on a beach while you watch your beloved child delight in splashing through a wave, digging for seashells, or tottering after a seagull.

Our summer ended with one last “hurrah” to the shore, thanks to my sister (Ashley) and her family. The week together was not only a great opportunity for seaside fun and family bonding…

(Annabelle’s Uncle Joe was there too! Just stuck behind the camera…)

…But also a great opportunity for the cousins to share some important life skills.

Like how to conquer the mighty waves by singing “sand in my pants, now do the boogie dance”…

How to track seagulls using all sorts of creative “angles”…

How to get your grandmother to do just about anything for you by simply flashing a sweet little smile (even if “you” were throwing sand at her just a few minutes before)…

And how to sport a comb-over, and look ridiculously cute in the process…

Our travels may have come to an end (for now), but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming about all the great adventures we can take with our Little Munchkin next summer. Now if I could just finagle a way to let us spend the winter in Hawaii, we’d be set…

Ode to Summer Vacation (Part III…San Diego!)

In spite of my mile-long list of worries about air travel with a spirited 14-month-old, in late August the Little Miss and I boarded a plane to San Diego for 2 weeks of seaside bliss. Thank the Lord, Nena (my mom) offered to travel with us…and even convinced a sweet old lady in the adjoining aisle seat that she “would be much more comfortable” if she moved to the middle seat a few rows back…the one in between two very large men. Good thing she did because after sitting on the tarmac for 45 minutes, my nap-deprived Little Jet-Setter lost her cool and digressed into an arm flailing, voice howling meltdown. You know, the kind of meltdown that is so bad that all you can do it close your eyes, hold on tight, and pray over and over again: “let it end, please let it end!”

And it did. Eventually. Praise God.

After surviving the theatrics of our flight, we made it to sunny SD and launched into a fantastic vacation. Hosted by Nena and Pops, my Little Chatterbox and I spent the first week catching up with dear friends while we enjoyed the beach, the park, and all things outside (we LOVE San Diego weather!). And then over the second week we were joined by Daddy Mike, Uncle Will, and the Little Lovebug’s fabulous Godparents, Martha and Jeff.

We had a blast!!!

Our daily visits to the beach were so refreshing. The Little Miss is a Little Fish, and she would charge right into the water…no matter if waves were coming! Suffice to say, swim classes will be in our future next summer.

The only UN-fun times were when a certain Little Someone, who will remain nameless, was restrained (against her will). If looks could kill…

Playgrounds are our Little Daredevil’s new best friends, especially since she learned how to go down the slides all by herself. Revelation!

The beach and the playgrounds were also where our Little Crawler officially graduated up to being a Little Walker. And boy oh boy is she excited about it! (And with each more confident step, this Mama made a mental note of all the items she still needed to baby-proof at home…yikes!)

Spending time with Annabelle’s Godparents, Martha and Jeff, was a special treat. They live in Tucson now, but made the trek out to Cali to spend a few fun-filled days with us. They even got to partake in the Little Merrymakers’s first carousel ride!

We also got to spend one WHOLE day with Uncle Will, and celebrate his birthday. Will is a true jet-setter, and we like to live vicariously through all of his many adventures. Hopefully one of them will bring him to NC this year for a visit (hint, hint!)!

It was a great trip…one that we will definitely repeat again in the years to come.
Thanks, Nena and Pops! We love you!

Ode to Summer Vacation (Part II…Delaware!)

Hello, all my adoring fans! That’s right, it’s me…the Little Miss. I told Mama to take a load off and let me fill you in on all the fun we had during our second summer vacation in early August.

After rockin’ out with my cousins, Haley, Emily, Caleb and Liam, in Annapolis (Ode to Summer Vacation, Part I), we drove to Grammie and Grandpop’s house in Lewes, DE for a week with all of the Wrights. And you know what that means, don’t ya? Even more crazy-fun-cousin-party-time, with Ethan, Luke and Madeline!!!

Madeline is the newest addition to our family, and even though she sleeps a lot right now, I can’t wait to teach her all of my tricks! …Like how to crawl on furniture, tackle sleeping dogs, and turn any sort of object into a stylish accessory! I mean, lookin’ this good takes work, people!

But I digress. Back to business. Momma, Daddy and I had such a fun week in Delaware!

We soaked up some rays at the beach…
(Momma was happy that I did not follow Daddy’s footsteps and shovel sand into my mouth…though I did like licking my arms after playing in the water!)

We swam and had big water fights in the pool…
(Thanks to Grandpop, poor Grammie got soaked!)

We sailed out to sea on a (windy!) sunset cruise…
(We didn’t see much of the sunset, but I did entertain everyone with a very passionate meltdown. In my defense, it was way past my bed time and a girl has gotta have her beauty sleep!)