Day tripin'

Over spring break, I planned a few things for the kids- but not too much and I was very proud of myself for that! The one thing I was looking forward to was a day trip to Mrs. Grossman's sticker factory in Petaluma, Ca. I invited Hailey and her boys and off we went...

Petaluma is a little city that I LOVE! I think we could retire there. It is about an hour from here and when we visit, we usually go to a wine shop that makes the best Port wine. But not today, it was just for the kids!

I had heard that the tour was fun for the kids and I was REALLY looking forward to buying my kids some "scratch and sniff stickers" and some "oil stickers" too. Back when I was in elementary school, we all had sticker books and those two types were my favorite!

Get this though... when we arrived, what do I see stacked up in the lobby- piles and piles of wine labels-


So, back in the 1970's Mrs Grossman was a graphic designer and she started making stickers in her kitchen. This simple red heart (which sealed many valentines envelopes) was her first design-

In the 1980's business took off when scrapbooking started getting popular. But about 15 years ago her son, who now runs the company (Mrs. Grossman in still around though, visits often and is in her 80's), thought that the company needed to shift into something else if it was going to stay alive. Smart guy since scrapbooking is going digital now and kids don't have sticker books any more, do they?

So he had the brilliant idea to get into the market of wine bottle labels! While the sticker business is still strong- they are the only sticker company in America who actually still prints in America too- the wine label business is their future. We were not allowed to take pictures of the wine labels, but they make the labels for lots and lots of wineries- including all for Francis Ford Coppola. 

The sticker time line- I remember sooooo many of these!

Stacks and stacks of stickers on the factory floor-

After the tour, the kids were given a ton of stickers to create a card with-

We stopped at a park for a picnic lunch and there just happened to be a playground too!

But poor Bryton had broken his arm (and had surgery to put pins in) just 2 days before, so watching him not be able to play was breaking my heart. I had a special stop for him next...


Powell's Sweet Shop! This place blew my mind- and I am an adult! What are the kids watching??

Willy Wonka, of course! They play it in the store all day, every day. The manager said they have been through 6 DVD players and currently, they can't turn it off so they just mute it overnight when they close the store!

The kids chose ice cream over candy, thankfully-

and we enjoyed some sunshine before heading home...