Ernesto's Mexican Food

This is the first post of many to come where I will feature restaurants in the Sacramento area that we try and either like, or dislike. I always love a referral for a yummy meal, so if you have a favorite place you think we should try, let me know. I love hole-in-the-wall places that surprise and delight. I love local favorites with a loyal following. I love up-and-coming restaurants with the power to exceed expectations ... I just love good food!

First on my list: Ernesto's Mexican Food at 1901 16th Street in Sacramento. Mexican food is always a crowd pleaser at our house and Ernesto's came through on so many levels. My favorite part about Ernesto's came right as we walked in the door ...

#1 the hostess gave Larkin some little dinosaur toys to play with instead of crayons and a lame placemat maze! If you have ever taken a toddler to a restaurant, you know the power of a simple kid-friendly gesture like this one! Larkin was entertained the entire time we were there with those little guys and even got to take them home with her when we were finished!

{You will have to excuse the lame photos. I had to use my phone to take these since the battery on my good camera was plugged into the charger at home ... yep I walked out the door with a camera minus the battery. Genius!}

Ernesto's had lot's going for it besides the kid-friendly toys.

#2 It was super easy to find. Two turns off the freeway and we were there. I suggest bringing change for metered street parking, but there was plenty of street parking, even on a Saturday evening.

#3 Our food came quickly {as in lightning fast}, and my glass was almost always full.

#4 The food was reasonably priced and the portions were not huge, but large enough to fill me up and then some.

On the FOOD: I ordered chicken enchiladas with a tomatillo sauce {pictured below after a few bites}. The green sauce was a little acidic, but overall the flavors worked well together. Scot ordered a combo plate with carnitas and enchiladas with red sauce. He was a little disappointed in his red sauce as well, but inhaled his carnitas, so it must have been yummy.

On the Ambiance: Ernesto's is on the smaller side, but has a fun atmosphere with paper flags hung from the ceiling, a little outdoor patio for dining and a bar with a big screen for watching the game if that's your thing. The music was modern and quite enough that we could talk over it comfortably {Don't get me wrong, the restaurant was noisy, but it was packed with people who chatted happily, and I kind of like that pleasant background noise- it helped to cover up my daughter's torrential dinosaur roars and screeches!}.

Scot and I both agreed that Enresto's is officially on our list for dining out when friends or family come to town!

Labor Day Time Warp

Labor Day weekend was a little bit of a bust at our house. I was deathly ill {that's an exaggeration} and Scot and Larkin had to fend for themselves most of the weekend. Finally on Monday I made myself get out of bed so we could say we did SOMETHING fun for the holiday.

We decided on Gold Rush Days in Old Town Sacramento.

It was so fun! They have people dressed in period costumes who play instruments in the street, act out gun fights and fires, and sell root beer among other goodies ... such fun! I had never been before, and I have to say ... this is a must next year!

This picture's for you Grandpa Rice!

We watched firefighters put out a fire in one of the buildings in Old Town. Of course the fire wasn't real, but I was reminded of how grateful I am for all those who labor to keep us safe and free!

Larkin loved any and all music at Gold Rush Days! She sat and listened to this man play his hurdy gurdy forever. He was very sweet singing "Old Suzanna" and "Yankee Doodle" completely off key!

We had to sit a few times for different musical concerts ... Larkin insisted, and I was grateful for the break. This girl loves to clap and sing along to almost any song!

Sometimes I love to look at the world through her eyes. She is so fascinated by life. I read somewhere recently that wisdom is the result of wonder. If that is true, it should be no surprise that our children give us a run for our money!

Happy Labor Day!

May we each take a moment to wonder at the many freedoms and pleasures we enjoy!

First Day of School

Larkin was so excited to start school this year! She loves everything about school, and I love to hear all about her adventures while she plays and learns with her friends and teachers!

She is in the same classroom as last year, but she has two new teachers who are AMAZING!

{this is what 6am looks like at our house ... Larkin woke up and hour and a half early because she just couldn't wait to get to school!}

Here's to a new year of learning and growing!

Sand and Surf and Seagulls

Summer has been too short at our house! I am not ready for school to start again! Scot is starting a new degree program at school this coming weekend and will be gone every Saturday for the next year (AAAaaaaHHHHHhhhhh!) so we snagged our last Saturday together and headed to the coast!

Have I mentioned how much I love the beach?

I LOVE the beach! I could spend every day for the rest of my life at the beach!

In truth, the heavy winter coat was a little overkill for this busy girl, but in northern California you have to head to the beach prepared for a snow storm (even in August)!

The water was so cold but Larkin could not stay away from it! She and daddy braved the icy waves, but I steered clear!

Larkin had such a great time chasing and feeding the birds, collecting rocks and sticks, and people watching!

It was a successful day with lots of family time and laughs!

Matching Mania

We love colors at our house!

Larkin is also getting pretty good at matching games, so we pulled some little toys and trinkets from around the house and played a color matching game this morning.

I wrote the color names on each of the papers for an added literacy component to todays adventure. I always like to combine a few areas of development into one activity to get as much bang for my buck when teaching and playing.

Next up on our list ... counting games. If you know any good counting activities, please share!

At The Car Wash!

Our cars were in desperate need of a bath!

It has been a little cooler the last few days (lets say 90 instead of 98), so we decided to spend our afternoon playing in some water and bubbles ...

I love washing cars with toddlers. It is always ten times the amount of work but also ten times the fun! Car washes are a great time to break out the bikes and wash them too, but this afternoon we decided to call it good with the cars.

Clean Mud

This project is not for the faint of heart. Maybe I should post a big WARNING message at the top:

WARNING This project is a big mess, but totally worth the sheer bliss on your child's face!

I love making messes with kids. So much of life is about order, and following directions for kids, that it only makes sense that more mess = more fun in a child's world. When I pick Larkin up from school and she is covered in goo it makes my heart happy because I know she had a blast that day.

Clean Mud is cheap and easy to make:

1 roll of toilet paper {tear into tiny pieces}

1 bar of white dove soap {use a cheese grater to get it into tiny bits}

warm water {add a little at a time until you get a thick mixture, anywhere from 2-3 cups}

The water needs to be warm enough to melt the soap, so in the beginning I do a lot of the mixing so that Larkin wont hurt her hands {she is pretty sensitive to things that are on the warm side, so know what your child is up for}. You want to add enough water so that the mixture is the consistency of thick whipped cream or thick waffle batter. Be careful not to add too much water. A little at a time will help you get the ratio just right.

The cool thing about this stuff is that the more you play with it, the fluffier it gets! The soap bubbles expand and work together to make this goop crazy cool to play with, and like I said before, messy! This goop gets everywhere and when it dries it leaves little toilet paper bits on everything it touched {Larkin's hair had little bits of toilet paper in it when I washed it later that night}. I recommend donning an apron or paint smock, but this stuff washes out of clothes easily and wipes off counters and floors quickly, so no permanent damage done!

This picture was taken after adding most of the water, but not all of it. Larkin wanted to play with it at each stage, and as it changed she got excited and made little observations like, "where the soap go? I smell it but it's all gone." and, "It's getting mushy and mushy and mushy." and, "It's squishy on my hand momma." ... my budding scientist! :)

I love good clean fun ... clean MUD fun!