California by the numbers...

Hello, friends! 

Last week, I told you about our wild trip home from California. That trip was too wild for me to not post about it immediately. 

HOWEVER, the original plan was to post last week about the actual trip to California. It was a long, wild, delicious, and really fun time with family. Even as I just write down all the things that we did, it's staggering. You know those vacations that are so full that when you get back you actually kind of feel like you need a vacation from the vacation? Yeah, this was one of those. By the numbers:

- 8 days in California (Wednesday to Wednesday)

- 5 trips to the beach, including one at night

- 3 sandcrabs that Ezra found on those various trips to the beach

- 2 birthday parties for my nephew (he's totally worth it)

- 2 dates with Megan (1 of which was a double date with my older sister)

- 1 trip on a train with the grandkids (my mother's dream)

- 1 set of matching jammies for all the grandkids (my older sister's dream)

- 2 trips on a roller coaster (1 with each older kid; Megan's dream)

- 1 pickleball tournament (we did not do well...)

- 1 delicious bowl of beef noodle soup (to go along with the soon du bu, chili burger, korean bbq, dim sum, In & Out, Chinese food, Dairy Queen, and bubble tea)

- 3 bedrooms taken up by my family at my parent's place (which was a HUGE blessing)

- $4.25/gallon for gas, which is just about double what it is in Omaha

- 75 degrees in the house because my parents finally got an air conditioning

- 2 nephews and 1 niece who needed my utmost attention (to go along with my kids)

- 1 dinner with Megan's uncle and family

- 1 InstaGram famous moment when the men in the family were featured on a site that sells Tshirts

That doesn't even include how good it felt to see family members, both immediate and extended, and to bask in the beautiful California sunshine.

It had been almost a year since we were out in California. We didn't do Thanksgiving or Christmas last year because of the pandemic, so it had definitely been a while. Thankfully, we'll be out again in October for my sister's wedding reception and possibly again for Christmas. My hope is that as more and more people get vaccinated, we'll be able to see more and more people with each subsequent trip. Until then, we'll always have the beach... =0). 

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

A Wild Trip Home

Hello, friends! 

This is a photo of us as we got ready to head out from Omaha to California for a family vacation. You can see that we are excited, we are relaxed, and we are ready to go! 

What you will not see is a photo of us on the return trip. That trip was a hot mess. Allow me to break it down for you. 

Tuesday, 2:50pm. I log on to check into our flight and see that I can't actually check it. After doing some Twitter research, I see that the Southwest Airlines system had a failure and the whole system was down ACROSS THE COUNTRY. Thankfully, we're doing family boarding so it's not a big deal anyway.

Wednesday, 9:00am. I have an idea. Maybe if everyone had the same trouble I had, I could go straight to the airport and check in early to get a better boarding number. I drive to the airport, check in, and our numbers are pretty much trash, so we stick with family boarding. 

Wednesday, 10:00am. I look and see that our flight has been delayed from 2:50 to 4:35. This is actually a good thing because it means that our layover in Denver is shorter and we can spend more time with my parents. 

Wednesday, 2:00pm. Oops. I get another notification saying that our flight has been move UP to 4:10. Now we have to get going so we can check in on time. 

Wednesday, 2:45pm. Literally, the moment we get to the airport, I get ANOTHER notification saying that our flight has been moved BACK to 5:00pm. Suddenly, we're early again but even more crucially, we now have only a 25 minute layover in Denver, which is tight. 

Wednesday, 2:55pm. Try to check in using the kiosks but for some reason, I can't check any bags. Our best guess is it's because our flight's original flight time had already passed but the system hadn't been updated. We get in line for a ticket agent. 

Wednesday, 4:55pm. We're on the plane. Everyone has their dinners and we're ready to fly! Megan and I are checking our flight status on the flight to see if we can gain any time to make our connection. 

Wednesday, 7:10pm. The plane starts its descent but due to wind shears, has to pull up and circle around again. We're certain that we're going to miss our connection. 

Wednesday, 8:35pm. Finally of the flight and walking to the gate in Denver. Thankfully, the plane was held for us and another flight coming in from San Diego. 

Wednesday, 9:30pm. Wheel's up in Denver. We made it! 

Wednesday, 11:30pm. Touch down in Omaha. Praise the LORD!

Thursday, 12:30am. Get back to our house, put the kids to bed, and find out that our internet is down...

Oy! 

The important thing is that we're home and we're safe. It was a wild ride, but we made it! 

Have an excellent day! 

~Adam