C.A.L.I.F.O.R.N.I.A

Starting June 21^st, we had a great week in California with our MarketStar Family. We flew in to Long Beach and stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel. The hotel was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a nicer hotel. We stayed up on the Club level. They had everything. A wall full of candy, Breakfast, lunch, a light snack at dinner time, and a huge desert bar in the evening. The hotel was on a cliff that went down to the ocean. Due to the June gloom, it did not get too warm the week we were there so we only spent one day at the beach. We did, however spend plenty of time at the pool.

We spent a lot of time with our MarketStar peeps. We did a big hotdog roast on the beach the 1^st night with about everyone. We had dinner with Todd, Shaun, Brent, Kirk, and Kyles families. And we also had dinner with Kyle and Kirk and then roasted marshmallows in the fire pit in Kyles room, which happened to overlook the beach.

We  had a good time checking out some of the beaches in the area. New port, Costa Mesa, Dana Point, and Laguna. It was a good trip, a bit different from the Disney trips we had been taking, but it was time for a break.

At the end of the week our family headed down to San Diego. We had a good time checking out the Mormon Battalion Historic site and walking around the temple on Sunday. Then we checked into the LEGOLAND hotel. The kids were in heaven. They had about everything a kid could want. From dance parties in the elevator, to our LEGO themed pirate room, to movies at night by the pool. This place is kid heaven.  We went to LEGOLAND on Monday and we were ready to hit the park hard. Because we stayed at the hotel, we got to go in with the early birds to the park. McCoy was selected to open the park along with one of the Ninjago guys. He was in heaven and we got some skip the line passes as a part of it. We hit every ride we wanted and did not wait in too many lines. In the afternoon Cass and Marshall headed back for a nap and I hit the water park with the boys. Then in the evening Cass stayed in the park to shut it down with the boys.

It was a great trip with exception of the ending. MarketStar got some bad news from HPE in the form of notice that they were shutting down the majority of our operation and my role would be changing along with a lot of our friends losing their jobs. This looks like the last fun trip we will be taking with MarketStar. It was great while it lasted. These last few years have been amazing for our family thanks to MarketStar and I have never had more enjoyment or satisfaction in a job in my life. We are looking forward to what life has in store for us next.