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