Here's hoping you are having a great start to the new year. I don't know about you but I'm ready to leave 2021 in the dust. =0).
It's been a few weeks since we got back but I wanted to update you all on our trip to California for Christmas. In spite of all the omicron cases and the fact that we'd been to California twice already in 2021, we felt like it would be good to be there for a Christmas. Megan and I were doing the math and realized that we hadn't been to California for Christmas since 2017!
2018 - Went for Thanksgiving and did SoDak for Christmas
2019 - Jojo was born so we didn't travel
2020 - COVID was in full swing
We figured that waiting 5 years between Christmas visits was a bit much, so we made the trip! Here are a few blessings and lessons from our trip:
- Traveling at more convenient times is worth the extra cost. Instead of flying based solely on cost, we tried to take our schedule into account. This meant leaving a little bit later to Cali so we weren't stressed in the morning and leaving a little earlier on the way back to Omaha so we wouldn't get back so late. Friends, it was SO MUCH BETTER! The kids were in better moods, which meant that we were in better moods, and the flights weren't even all the way full, so Jojo (who now needs his own seat) could wiggle a bit. It was pretty great.
- There might be TOO much good food in Cali. When I go back to Cali, I have a list of places where I need to eat. There are really only 5 or 6 places on the list that are absolutes. This trip, somehow, I only hit ONE of them. Granted, it was my absolute favorite, so I'm OK but it was weird running out of meals! Of course, I still ate really well. We cooked at home a lot more and some folk treated us to meals for various reasons. It was a different eating experience for sure but certainly still an enjoyable one.
- It's ALWAYS beach weather, even when it isn't. My nephew turned 7 on December 31 so the Sunday before we left (26th) we had a surprise birthday party for him. His surprise? Playing flag football on the beach. Friends, apparently, you can still play flag football on the beach even when it's in the low-50's. Was it the most enjoyable experience? No. Did I have to keep Ezra from running into the ocean where he would almost certainly catch pneumonia? Yes. Was I pleasantly surprised at the fact that I didn't freeze my everything off at the beach? Also yes. =0).
- Family time is good time. The last time we were in California was for my sister's wedding reception. We were just there for the weekend and the trip was very full, meaning we had some time to be together but there was also a lot of action. This time, there was no real agenda. We spent a LOT of time together. It was so good to see the cousins interact with each other. It's nice that they actually do like each other. It was good to see my siblings and my parents. It was also good that we were the only ones staying at my parents' place so there was some time when we weren't all together too.
The next time we'll be out in Cali is probably November for Thanksgiving, which will be a while. But, that's OK. Cali will always be there and I'll always be happy to go back.
Have an excellent day!
~Adam
No comments:
Post a Comment