To California and back

Lauren and I flew out on the 24th. We had an easy flight from Killeen to Dallas, we ate some dinner and found the kids play area at the airport, and then she fell asleep for the first half of the three hour flight to Palm Springs. We got in and got some dinner and went to sleep. We spent the first few days of the trip at Dad and Jessica's house. Lauren got along really well with Jackson and she loved to follow Carson around the house. We went down to Las Casuelas and she danced to her grandpa and the band. Then Wednesday the 30th, we got a rental car and drove to Mom and Joe's house. Lauren liked going up and down the stairs and she liked calling Allie to follow her around. I spent about six hours scanning in old pictures from the late 70's and early 80's. I got a lot of pictures of myself as a baby and toddler, and some of my mom pregnant with me and a bunch of my dad playing in different bands.

After seeing so many pictures of me at this age, I think Lauren looks more like Ben than she does like me. I scanned in around 300 old photos and there's a lot to go through and edit and get prints of, and that was only from the first box we went through. I have a feeling there will be more trips that include a lot of scanning in the future.

Rachelle's birthday was the 3rd. We went out to a Tapas bar in Temecula. The food was so good. There wasn't one thing I tried that I didn't like. Everything was so delicious. I think she had a nice birthday.

We drove back on Monday and returned the rental car and then flew out on Tuesday. The entire day of traveling was very humbling for me as a parent, and a good chance to learn patience. Our flight out of Palm Springs was delayed by quite a bit. Before we boarded we got moved to a later connecting flight. Lauren took her nap and woke up at the airport before the plane was even at the gate. She was squirmy and unhappy for a good portion of the flight and then she threw up all over me about half an hour before we landed. The flight attendants resat the man next to us, and I was able to clean Lauren up and get her in a new outfit, but I was nicely stained for the rest of the day. We landed, got dinner, found our gate and went to the children's play area again. We went back to our gate to board after the flight was delayed several times, and the last half hour before we finally boarded was the worst. Lauren finally had enough traveling, enough of airports and airplanes and just wanted to be home. Her exhaustion got the better of her, and she ended up throwing herself on the floor of the terminal, her face in her hands, and just sobbed. She didn't want me to pick her up, she didn't want anything to do with anyone. Finally she let me pick her up and I took her to the bathroom to wash her face and try to calm her down, and eventually she put her head on my shoulder and went to sleep. She slept through boarding, the flight, the drive home, and the rest of the night. Originally we were supposed to get home at 6:30 pm, but after all the delays due to technical difficulties and bad weather, we didn't get home until after midnight. My checked bag didn't make it on the flight we were on, but it was delivered the next day to the house.

It was a good trip aside from the last day of traveling, and I'm so glad we went, but it is so good to be home!