A couple of people have asked why we do states as well as countries? The answer is that most states are the same size as a county and each state is very different. They have their own dialect, flag, culture, and food; and when families move from state to state, just like when they move from country to country, they keep these things and pass them on to their kids.

Take California, which we did today. I learned today that if California’s economic size were measured by itself compared to other countries, it would rank the 7th largest economy in the world.  We also learned a lot about grapes, wine, movies, and the gold rush. I also got to tell the kids about how my parents moved us to California when I was about p’s age to start a vineyard, but because of red tape and bugs we ended up living by the beach for a year and then moving back to the east coast.

We started the day a bit late with coloring flags.

Then brunch, the girls tried grapefruit for the first time and really liked it.

Because of some things going on this weekend, the menu got modified a bit. We cut the cobb salad and the rolls, but kept the rest.

After Monte Cristo Sandwich, Avocado spread on Sourdough bread and raisins we drove some of the streets on Google maps and talked a bit about the climate and earthquakes. P was very interested in the plate tectonics. Uncle Chris and Chuck did a great job explaining it all to her.

Chuck and p spent the afternoon in true laid back California style.

What state or country would you like to see us do next?