Home from vacation

Wish I was still enjoying the Napa Valley. But, it is good to be home. Last night when we arrived, I thought about unpacking the car, and getting the wee one ready for bed. I didn't think about not having milk for my morning coffee. Now that my princess is awake...we're off to starbucks so I can wake up too. Then grocery shopping so we're ready for the week to start. Happy Monday.

Counting Squares.

Boys don't need TP every time they pee, so it's amazing we can go through a roll a day in the 'girls bathroom'. On vacation, my mom was helping 4 in the bathroom and we caught her. I had explained that she was 4 and so she could use 4 squares (I'm not mean we buy one with extra plys). Well, she spun the roll....1 spin, 2 spins, and it was already to the floor. No wonder! Nana ripped apart the TP into squares...and 4 had a lightbulb moment. I'll have to see if this works. I just want there to be TP when I go into the bathroom.

Stickers anyone?

On Tuesday, we visited Mrs Grossman's Sticker Factory for the tour. We're the kind of family that loves to watch How It's Made, so the kids are in awe of the process. It's a $3 tour, so if you're ever in the area, it's totally worth it. You see how they take sheets of sticker and dye cut then ink and then package into retail products. During the inking process, the room smells like ammonia. Not overwhelming, but very stinky.

After the sticker factory, we were at a relatives house. That's when 7 began asking questions. He was still wondering about the ammonia. He wanted to know how it was made. Nana explained that it was a chemical. We've previously talked about water and how it's h2o. We've also had discussions about c2o, co, and o when explaining what was necessary to sustain life and how we breathe. So then, 7 decided he needed to know the chemical equation for ammonia. When we came home from the day out, he had me looking up the periodic table and showing him ammonia. He loved the look of the periodic table. I told him there's a poster of it I saw recently at Michael's...he wants one for his room.

7's mind is never still. I told him that in high school chemistry I had to memorize the periodic table. He's decided he'd like to try to do that now. I just have to write these things down so I remember these crazy things he comes up with.

BarBersQ

This totally isn't going to turn into a restaurant review blog. But, this place was so good I just had to mention it. Some of you are planning trips to CA. Some of you live close enough to make a visit to Napa. If you're ever in the area, you have to stop at BarBersQ.

On our vacation, my mom watched the kids so M & I could enjoy a dinner out. This place has been called the Best BBQ in the West by Sunset Magazine. It's just blocks from my Gramp's house, so we had to give it a try. The slick stainless steel style was clean and fresh.

The food was amazing! I had a BBQ chicken sandwich with potato salad on the side.

M had the Pulled Pork sandwich with a butter lettuce salad & citrus vinaigrette.

It was so good we went back later in the week with M's parents. If you're ever in the area, it's worth a stop. And if you're not in the area...plan a trip.

Knitterly

I got to visit a cute LYS in Petaluma, CA today. Check out Knitterly. It was so cute. I didn't have all the time to just sit in the store and take it in because I had a hubby and 1 kid waiting at the Smoothie Shop next door, and my mom had the other 2 at a relatives house. It was fun though. And the owner of the shop is super sweet. I bought some yarn to knit this. I bought GGH Aspen in a great Emerald Green. It's sooo soft, and a good bulky yarn. I got 2 bags of the yarn at really great price because the color is discontinued. 20 balls...I should have enough for the sweater and maybe something for my little one to match mom. I'm super excited to knit this for myself. I should have brought more needles with on vacation. Oh well, at least I can get something else into the FO category before starting this. I've knit 2 simple dishcloths so far while in the car. I've gifted both of them as soon as they were off the needles. The second one I didn't even weave in the ends, but the recipient has a large needle and LOVED the cloth anyways.