Napa Vacation

Jackson was surprisingly good with his finger still bandaged up. Thankfully it is healing very nicely.

Kids love hotel rooms. It doesn't seem to matter what kind. As long as there is  a pool, the kids are in heaven. Oh, and a continental breakfast. So when Ben was staying in Napa for a conference last weekend, I decided I would join him with the kids. He was there for three days, so we just headed over there the last afternoon after Brooke got out of school. Even though I knew Ben would be gone the entire time, it would still be a blast for the kids. We got to have dinner with Amber and her new baby Jordan. The kids swam in the pool forever. And Ben even got done with his conference a little bit earlier than expected on saturday, so he got to enjoy the pool with us. It was so much fun. The kids loved it. I felt like I could totally enjoy my kids. There was no schedule, no friends to meet up with, just me and the kids reading books in the hotel and playing in the pool. They loved it!

Coming along...

Brooke is an extremely picky eater. Actually, she isn't that picky when it comes to "regular" food. She will eat noodles, cream of chicken casseroles, or lasagna like a champ. But since she is lactose intolerant and I am trying to cut back on the gluten intake, our meals are nothing of what she wants to eat. But we had a break through today. When I told her we were having rice noodles she didn't wine or complain. And I noticed. So at dinner I complimented her by telling Ben what a great job she did and told the story. She then said, "I really wanted to complain and tell you how much I didn't like them. But instead i just closed my mouth and swallowed the words." And then she demonstrated how big of a swallow it was. It was so cute and it made me so happy that we are actually having some break throughs! Hallelujah.

Made in China

Brooke was so excited when she was looking at her plastic sunglasses and gleefully yelled to Ben and I, "They're not made in China." Ben and I looked at each other and just started laughing. I asked, "Where is it made?" Brooke, "Taiwan." Ben chuckled and said, "Sorry to tell you Brooke, but Taiwan is basically the same as China."  I had no clue Brooke even realized where things were made. But now that she reads,  she really does read everything. And most things say, 'Made in China' somewhere on them. Maybe I should buy more things made in the USA and see if she notices. I should be doing more of that anyway.

Tooth Fairy

On the way home from the beach yesterday, Brooke was eating an apple and her tooth fell out. Of course, she wasn't able to hold onto it for too long before she dropped it somewhere in the car. We searched and searched, but couldn't find it. (I think it just blends in so well with all the other crumbs on the floor of that van. Sad, but true.) Thankfully she wasn't too distraught about it. She very confidently said, "I'll just write the tooth fairy a note." So she did. And I am so happy that the tooth fairy didn't forget this time. Whew! This morning when Brooke woke up and got the dollar from under the pillow she said the cutest thing.

Ben asked, "Did the tooth fairy write you a note about not having your tooth?"

Brooke, "No, Dad. If you loose the tooth you just write the tooth fairy a note. And then you think about really happy things so you dream good dreams and you are smiling in your sleep. And then the tooth fairy can see that you lost your tooth."

So cute!