Blevins Family Zoo: Trip to Cali- Part 2 (Sept. 20, 2014)

The next day, we slept in until 8 am. It was really nice being able to sleep that late without kids waking us up. We got dressed and went down to eat breakfast. We were not in a hurry to get to Wendy's house because she had a late night and would not be getting up early. As much as we missed the kids, it was nice not having to rush to get things done and to be able to sleep in. After eating we went back upstairs and got ready for the rest of our day. I took a shower, then made sure I had everything needed for the day since we probably would not be coming back to the hotel. We headed towards Walmart again to pick up a few things for Chirstopher's and Isaiah's birthday party and a few other things we forgot. Then Joshua wanted to go to the Barstow Mall to see if his old karate teacher was still there. After looking around for awhile, we found him. Joshua had so much fun catching up with him. The guy was real friendly and showed Joshua that he still had his sword that Joshua fixed the handle on. I took some pictures of them together and then I made Joshua practiced some of his moves that he had learned. Of course I took a video. Joshua did rather well and I think it will make a great memory for him. On our way out, we passed someone that had run out of gas and was asking for help. So Joshua and a few other people went to help them out. By the time we reached Wendy's house, it was almost lunch time. Cathy and her new boyfriend were there. Joshua got to meet him and would have liked him if he was not dating his mom. Soon after Bill, David, and Daniel arrived at the house. You could tell that Bill was uncomfortable, which can you blame him? I was busy talking to Wendy that I didn't notice, but Joshua did and came over and said that he was going to take his dad out of the house. I was so proud of him for thinking of it himself! I told him that I would be fine and that I thought it was a great idea. Cathy and her new boyfriend left soon after that. Then Cathy came back in and was showing Wendy some engagment rings. I was sitting by Wendy, so I could not help but notice, plus she was not trying to hide it from me. I was so surprised. I had not heard about her being engaged. So I asked her and she said yes. I knew that I had to tell Joshua. After Cathy left again, Daniel came over and sat with us and was talking with us. It was getting around time to go to the party if Wendy was up to it. Joshua and I had offered yesterday to either take the kids or help get her to the party if she was up to it. Wendy wanted to go and was not in as much pain as she was that morning. So I called Joshua about the party and about getting up something to eat. We were leaving late to the party, but better late than never. Daniel, Bill, David, and Joseph left earlier so that they could head by Aaron's gym. Wendy wanted to be able to talk to me more, so I drove her car. Joshua took J.B. and Rebekah in the mustange. Can you believe it? I drove on the freeway in Barstow! She really wanted me to drive her, so I did it. It seemed to take a long time to get to Esther's house, but we made it without any problems. I helped get the kids in and J.B. helped Wendy get in. There were alot of people there, family and church friends. I didn't really know anyone outside the family. Cathy was there for awhile, then left to be with her boyfriend. I sat down to talk to Grandma Jean for awhile and then decided to see if I could help Esther out. I decided that I could just sit there and not talk to anyone or I could see what I could do to help Esther out. At first she said everything was fine, then I asked her if I could take pictures for her. I had to take pictures on her cell phone beacuse I had forgotten my camera at Wendy's house. I was so disappointed. So I busied myself taking pictures, helping clean up from the pinata, helping serve the cake and ice cream, and then cleaning up after the party. I did have fun because the people from Esther's church are very nice, so helping was not a total waste of time. It was starting to get late and we wanted to see the ranch that Bobby and Janice had before we left. We said good-bye to everyone before we left because we would be going to church with the DeKeyrels and then heading to Norco before our plane took off. I rode with Grandma so that I could have some extra time with her. Bill rode with Joshua and Daniel and David followed us. It was nice having that time with Grandma; we talked alot. The sun was starting to set as we got there. The ranch is just beautiful. They have horses, a cow, chickens, and a rooster. Grandma had fun driving me around showing me the place. We didn't get to see Bobby and Janice because they were at a meeting held at their house. We didn't go in the house, but what we did see was amazing. They had a zip line set up at their house and Joshua and Daniel went on it. It looked like fun, but was alittle too wild for me. It was getting dark so we decided to head back to the hotel. We ended up loosing sight of Bill, Daniel, and David so we just followed Grandma a certain time and then took off. We ended up passing them. Joshua and I felt bad for not bringing Wendy home, but as it turned out they ended up staying for dinner at the Dekeyrels. So it all worked out. I wanted to get my camera tonight because we were going to be getting up early to get ready for church and we were meeting some of his family for breakfast. I didn't see any time to go by there to get it and I didn't want to wake up Wendy if she was resting. So Bill came over and opened up the house so that I could get my camera. Then we all said good-night, for we were seeing them in the morning, and went our seperate ways. Joshua and I went in In-n-out Burger to eat dinner. The food was okay. Then we headed back to our hotel and go in the jacuzzi tub in our room and just relaxed. It was really nice to sit there and relax. Soon after we went to bed because we were going to have to get up early tomorrow.
Joshua and his old karate instructor: