As I write this post we’re enjoying our second visit to Emerald Isle, and final vacation for the summer (sob!).  We love this place!

(Note to self: Add “buy a beach house” to long-term financial plan.  Oh, and maybe actually make a long-term financial plan while you’re at it.)

But I digress.  We spent our first week in Emerald Isle in early July and had such a fun time.  You see, for the Wright kiddos the equation is quite simple:

Sand + Water + Wild And Crazy Freedom = PURE JOY

The Little Sir wasn’t totally sure what he thought of all the sun and wind, but he was a good Little Trooper (as always) and enjoyed some extra attention from Nena, Grammie, and Poppy over the course of the week (Pops Plaxico was away riding horses and feeding piggies in Arizona).

Beyond the hours of fun on the beach, the big “to-do” of the week was Hurricane Arthur.  This Mama may have barely blinked an eye through the many earthquakes I experienced in my California days, but this storm had me freaked out!  As I cowered in our little box-on-stilts it rained…it poured…it blew…it SHOOK!

Ay, caramba!

But in the end, all of my worries came to nothing (other than amusing my east coast Hubby) and we fared just fine.  And the beach was beautiful the rest of the week!

Oh summer.  Beautiful, freeing, rejuvenating summer.  I may not be your Biggest Fan in the heat and humidity of inland North Carolina.

But at the beach?  Man, you’re tops.

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…