Today was a 200 mile day

Our homeschool co op had a long distance field trip today. We went to the town of Petaluma and visited Mrs. Grossman's Sticker Factory and the Petaluma Adobe. I really wish I'd had Paul's nice camera with me.

Squinting into the morning sunlight for the obligatory photo before the sticker factory tour began.

The group of 4 silver sticker strips that Brianna is pointing to was designed by my aunt, Lura Schwarz Smith, artist extrordinaire.

One of the other moms took a family picture for me. :)

At each of the stations we visited in the factory, the tour guide passed out sheets of stickers. Hannah shows off her ABC stickers in front of some giant sticker rolls waiting to be packaged into smaller quantities for retail distribution.

After the tour, we were taken back to the media room where we were given bags containing more stickers and background sheets to design our own scene.

Impressive "samples" from the tour. EACH of us was given all of these stickers (and there was a sheet of car stickers, too, but I'd already traded those to Brianna when I snapped this picture).

I was good and didn't even look in the front store area, but bypassed it for the "scratch & dent" section of discounted stickers in the back. They have a 12 cent rack and a couple of 50 cent racks. I told the kids they could each choose two items. We got out of there for under $4! Way more frugal than what I usually end up spending at the Jelly Belly Factory gift shop.

While the other half of our group was having their tour, we had some time to kill, so we walked along the lake across the parking lot from the sticker factory. Hannah saw the ducks swimming in the pond and asked me, "Mom, do the ducks have wheels?"

The children attempted the fine art of skipping stones. Which looks a lot like throwing rocks at ducks. Just sayin'.

I love this picture. Hannah was tired from the long walk, and her sweet ge ge, Sam, scooped her up and carried her a while.

Next, we drove over to the adobe, where we ate our lunches. Being a lovely historic state park, lunch quickly turned to tree climbing and stick fighting and leaf pile kicking for the kids.

Soon, the tour guide appeared and told us the kids really shouldn't be climbing the trees or kicking the leaves because of TICKS. Lovely. If any of my kids is sick in a week or so, remind me to consider Lyme disease, okay? Which reminds me, I meant to do a tick check on Hannah in the tub tonight, and I forgot. Bad mom.

At any rate, we started the tour of the adobe, which was similar to the California Missions or the historic forts we've been to.

Our guide was a bit flustered at first to have so many different ages together. Kids in school get California history at a certain grade, and that's the age group that usually visits.

Did I mention that it was an absolutely gorgeous spring day with a high of 74*?

Brianna got to go behind the barricade to learn to card and spin wool from the resident sheep.

And Samuel did me a huge favor by picking up owl pellets to take home and dissect. That big white lump in the background on the right is one of two ovens. Hannah is holding a piece of spun wool.

Not only did we learn about the 1830s ways of cooking and spinning and hide trading, we even learned about saddle making. Apparantly, all that information was exhausting.

Furby and Sam were the first ones to crash out, but eventually everyone but Brianna, my co-pilot, fell asleep for a bit. Brianna knit most of the way back, finishing up her project just before we got home.