Palm Springs – A Weekend of Cheer

When Kim invited me to Palm Springs I wasn’t sure at first if I should go since it fell on the weekend of Matthew’s birthday… but since he likes to give me a gift for his birthday he told me to go and enjoy the time with the girls.  My sister so graciously paid for everything but the airfare and even that I got free from a voucher. 

Matthew dropped me off at the airport bright and early.  I took advantage of that time to work on my support letters for my trip to Mexico.  Nothing better than starting my weekend meditating on my mission trip and spending the rest of the weekend hanging out with family.

 

I met up with my sister in Ontario, California.  Our first stop was the Texas Roadhouse for lunch.  The food was delicious and I was able to get to know some of the other cheer families.  We then continued on our way to Palm Springs.

Working on Support Letters at the airport... 

Shrimp and Steak for lunch... yum

Of course, the girl’s favorite part of the hotel was the pool.  I on the other hand enjoyed the hot tub.  I went down with the girls multiple times and Elizabeth was excited that I took her swimming even though it was raining.  

Musicland Hotel in Palm Springs

Enjoying the sun at the pool... 

Elizabeth relaxing in the hot tub... 

I loved watching the sunset... 

Our first dinner out we decided to go to the local IN-N-OUT.  It was packed but thankfully we were able to find a couple seats to sit down and enjoy our meal together.  

Kim and the girls at IN-N-OUT

Enjoying my meal... 

Saturday we spent most of the day at the cheer competition.  Since Amanda’s team had to cheer so early we did leave for a couple hours in the afternoon to relax and go out to lunch with my cousin Dawn and her family.  I loved being able to hang out with John, Dawn, Katie, and Parker.  We definitely don’t get to see each other enough. 

After lunch we went back to the competition.  In between watching other teams from Amanda’s team cheer we walked around and hung out.  The girls were excited to do one of the trampoline activities and Amanda was even brave enough to do flips.   We got back together with my cousin in the evening and even got to watch Katie’s team cheer… which was the last one of the night.  They were excited to get first place.  We also found out that my niece Abby and friends Jessica and Abby all won first place for state in cheer back in Washington… it was a full weekend of cheer all around.  

Amanda in her cheer outfit... 

Ready to do some flips...  

Katie and Amanda at the competition... 

On Sunday, Elizabeth and I hung out at the hotel relaxing… since we were both sick.  Kim and Amanda had to return to the competition for a couple hours.  They made it home in time to head out to lunch.  Kim and I were excited to try fish tacos at The Fishermans, a popular restaurant in the area… the girls were excited to have pasta with cheese melted on top.  After this little excursion I was exhausted from being sick and took a nap before watching the Pro-bowl with Kim.  

Kim and Elizabeth enjoying the food... 

Amanda was exhausted at lunch time... 

On Monday morning we checked out of the hotel and started our trip back to Ontario.  We stopped to kill time and watch Kung Fu Pandas 3 in the theater… or in reality watched Amanda doing stunts in the theater. Our next stop was lunch at Red Robins before finally making it to a hotel a couple miles from the airport.  The girls were bummed that the pool was out of service.  Instead they watched cartoons in the hotel while I watched shows on Netflix.  It was a relaxing way to end the weekend away.  I was excited to head home the next day and see Matthew… especially since I missed his birthday.  

Cinnabon for breakfast... yummmm