Embroidered Placecards

One of my friends has already started her Thanksgiving cooking...I figured that I needed to get on the preparation wagon. After his field trip to the Cooper-Molera Adobe when we stepped back in time and ground corn, made tortillas, branded leather, and embroidered, Riley decided that he wanted to embroider the placecards for our Thanksgiving table. So, he paced himself and did one per day. He just finished this afternoon...and now Nonna has enough time to back them to hide his stiches on the flipside. He is so proud of these!

Great job, Riley-ball.

California History

I have lived on the Monterey Peninsula, on and off, for almost three decades. I know that Monterey was the first capital city of California. I have walked by most of the buildings along the path of history countless times. However, the number of things I know about this history-rich area is severely lacking. Sad, I know, especially so since I actually have a degree in U.S. History. But as Riley - and every other fourth grader in the state - delves into the history of California, so will I.

Yesterday I chaperoned his field trip to the Cooper-Molera Adobe. It shares a parking lot with my usual haunt, Trader Joe's; though I am there at least two or three times a week, I have only ventured into that state park-run building and garden two or three times ever. What an amazing experience with docents leading us in branding leather pieces, embroidering flowers on burlap, making sisal rope, and more! Riley has agreed to help me embroider a few things for our Thanksgiving table. It's nice that he seems to be enjoying learning about California history as much as I am.