Birthday Weekend

Saturday was Sevak's birthday, so we took a little weekend getaway up north. On Friday afternoon we drove to Fairfield (less than an hour away) and visited the Jelly Belly factory. The kids were in heaven.

Love Rose's expression

Then we stayed in a Fairfield Inn (a freebie from our Marriott rewards Visa card). The kids were also in heaven there. They got to jump on the beds and watch actual TV (we don't have cable). They were also excited about swimming, but once they got in the cold water they lost their enthusiasm. It wasn't just the temperature, either. I think their winter hiatus from swimming has caused them to revert back to aquaphobia. We'll get over it, I'm sure. Anyway, still a fun time at the hotel. The next morning we drove a short distance to Napa and walked around their cute downtown. We discovered a firefighter's museum, and I think we made the docent's day. We might have been his only visitors the whole day. He couldn't stop telling us about firefighter history and fire safety, bless his volunteer heart.

In front of some firefighter memorabilia

Then we ate at Oxbow Public Market, a real "foodie" (a.k.a. pricey) kind of place. It was yummy, though.

Rose loved her cupcake from Kara's Cupcakes:

She also loved the gourmet ice cream Sevak got from one of the vendors. It gave her a brain freeze, though:

Rose has a humungous sweet tooth, by the way. A few days ago, out of the blue, she kept repeating, "Candy! Candy! Sweets! Sweets!"

Speaking of sweets, yesterday I made Sevak his traditional birthday paklava (or if you prefer the Greek spelling, baklava):

Do you like the obligatory birthday candle (in this case a champagne-scented one)?

His mom was here, too, so that was fun!