California Trip

Well, we made it back from our trip to Long Beach, CA this past Thursday. Robert and I had so much fun! It was really nice to get away for a few days without the kids, but it was nice to get back and see them too.

We flew in on Sunday to "sunny California"--it was cloudy and cold, but still beautiful. We settled into our room at the Hilton for a few hours. Later that night we enjoyed a CFA only concert by Nicole C. Mullen and we listened to Pastor Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven Life ).

On Monday, we had the general session in the morning, and we were suppose to go to Catalina Island but it rained so the trip was canceled--bummer. We did make our reservations that night at The Sky Room and it was fantastic! We made it there right as the sun was setting and the rain had stopped so the view was beautiful. The restaurant was the "fanciest" restaurant we have every been to. The food was fantastic, our waiter was great (even if he was a little "fruity", hey it was California after all), and the ambiance was perfect. We had a wonderful dinner together. A truly memorable night.

Tuesday was just a busy day of business sessions. During the morning session we got to meet Kirk Cameron (aka Mike Sevier)! He was invited to attend seminar since CFA was a sponsor of the movie Fireproof. So during the morning break, we ran down and got our picture made with him. Guess he wasn't ready for the picture because he closed his eyes?! Oh well, you can still tell who he is.

Wednesday afternoon, we walked/ran our first 5k in the Fit to Lead Challenge. We walked and ran on and off. Maybe next year we'll be able to run the whole 5k. After the run, we toured the Queen Mary. I really enjoy historical places so the tour was really neat. To imagine all the people throughout history who had sailed on the ship was pretty cool. I wish we had more time on the ship to explore, but our tour lasted a little long and we only had a short time to explore. Wednesday night (our last night there) we enjoyed burgers at Islands Fine Burgers with some fellow operators and had a blast.

Thursday, we made the long flight home and were greeted by Lauren, Luke and my parents at the airport--a nice welcome home. Lauren was so excited to see both of us but especially her daddy. Lukie was excited to and mesmerized with the airport. We missed them both and are glad to be home for now. We had a great time and are looking forward to the trip to D.C. next February.