So Easter was upon us and we were due a trip out of town so we packed up the crew and headed on down to California to visit the fam and some friends. Karl was able to book us a cheap flight but of course it was not flying out of Rapid City. We had to drive down to Denver but that trip is starting to turn into the ol' 'Seattle to Spokane' trip that we used to take in the days of yore. That is to say, we are getting pretty used to it! Of course, Rapid had it's claws dug in deep and was not willing to let us go without a fight so she hit us with another snow storm as we were trying to drive out. We were having none of it though and off we went. Things were going fine until I noticed a sign that said "Welcome to Nebraska". Now, those of you that have made this drive before (and I'm sure that is pretty much none of you) know that Nebraska is not on the route so you could imagine my displeasure in seeing such a sign. We were pushing it as it was to make it to Denver without either falling asleep or Preston freaking out so having to back track would not have been fun. Turns out that we could just keep pushing on and end up getting there in around the same amount of time so thanks to Karls navigation, we were saved. SO aside from my navigational blunder, we made it without a hitch.
After a quick flight in which Preston blessed us with good behavior on his part, we were back in sunny CA! We decided to make the most of our first day and arranged to meet up with Mandi, Bracken and Rowe; Heather, Zack, and Aubrey; and Gia and Bella at Chucky Cheeses'. We even drug Karley's Parents along for the fun! It was great to see all the kids (who are growing up so fast!) and our friends again. We managed to take over the Skeet Ball area for a while and the kids came up with some creative ways of playing the game. After we got thoroughly exhausted from chasing the kids around we headed out to see Cousin Christopher at his Tae Kwon Do lesson! It's amazing what Chris is capable of these days. Seems like only yesterday we were carrying him in a car seat! Pres and I ended up getting kicked out of the class because he was cheering too loud for his cousin. After Chris changed his clothes, we all went out for dinner to cap off the night. We missed Big Chris this trip, he was working in Indianapolis.
The next day was mainly spent getting things ready for Easter Sunday. I was under the weather that weekend and made the mistake of taking NyQuil in the morning so I was out. While I 'recovered', Karl and Pres went to visit our friends Traci, Jeff and little Tucker AND the newly arrived Asher!! Another beautiful boy to add to that family. They are quite the group! Once back at home, we were joined by Aunt Tina and Cousin Chris and dyed Easter Eggs and played outside. The weather was not quite what we had hoped but it was still FAR better than what we were used to. That night we all packed up and headed for all-you-can-eat Sushi!! Pres was a hit with the Sushi Chefs and he drank his weight in fruit punch. Pretty much the first time I have seen him that riled up on sugar! We finally managed to get him down for bed at 10 (that's 11 our time!). It's vacation though, you've got to live a little! Easter Sunday started with Pres getting his baskets from Grandma and Grandpa, and Aunt Tina and Cousin Chris. He was thrilled with the toys and candy. The neighbor kids and Rowe came to join the fun and we all had a Egg hunt in the back yard! Super cute to see the kids gathering eggs! The CA weather finally decided to show up though so some of the chocolate was a little on the runny side. The boys had a good time and it was nice to see all the big boys help the little boys out, they even played with them throughout the day. Preston loved it, couldn't get enough of chasing/following around, playing with planes, swinging and kicking.throwing ball. Bob and Carol cooked up some great food for everyone to eat. It was loads of fun. We got to catch up with Karley's Grandma Irene and Uncle's Bruce and Greg and we even got a visit from our friends Janice and Nathan! We really wished we had more time and didn't have to squish all the visiting into the short amount of time we had. We wrapped up the day with another trip to check on Tucker and Asher.
The next day we had to get up early to trek to the airport to get back to Denver. We could have ended up having the "Day from Hell" with all the traveling we forced Pres into that day but amazingly enough, he was an angel. To be honest, I don't think the poor kid was out of his car seat for more than 3 hours that whole day! We feel VERY lucky. The trip back went smoother than the way down as there were no missed turns and we got to have our Popeye's Chicken fix on our way out of Denver! All in all, the trip was a blast. Too short but the days we had were jammed packed. Now we get to relax and hope the weather holds for at least one more month to get us out of Blizzard season!
Hope all is well with everyone. Be sure to check out the pics as we included the ones from Preston's recent Easter photo shoot and they turned out really well. Hope to hear or see you all soon!
Take Care!
-Regan, Karley and Preston the Wonder Traveler
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