It is officially summer vacation, for almost officially everyone. Since we homeschool, day to day life has not changed much, except that there is no school. In it's place: swim lessons, family visits, and field trips. Yay, field trips!
A few weeks ago, my brave and adventurous mother, known forevermore, and to all, as Nana (Okay, maybe not to
all, but to all who matter. Me, my sister, our spouses, our kids.), offered to take us to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California. Yay, Nana!
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| Samuel, Baby Lucas, Tante Tricia, Me, Catherine, Jonah, and Nana rocking the mandatory paper hat before our tour. |
Have you ever heard of Jelly Bellies? They are gourmet jelly beans. They started with eight flavors and now have over fifty, like pomegranate, chili-mango, and buttered popcorn. If those flavors are too exotic for you (buttered popcorn is gross), they also have licorice, green apple, watermelon, and strawberry jam. My favorite is cinnamon. Yay, cinnamon!
President Ronald Reagan was a big fan when he was Governor of California, and took his passion national when he became President. A special jar was made for his desk in the oval office, and on Air Force One, just to hold his Jelly Bellies. When news of this spread, so many curious candy eaters ordered them, that the poor Jelly Belly people, caught unawares, were seventy weeks behind on orders. No fear of that now. They run a huge, state of the art processing plant. Tours are free and include a Jelly Belly Portrait Gallery, and samples. Yay, samples!
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| President Ronald Reagan made entirely our of Jelly Belly beans. |
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| Again, entirely our of Jelly Bellies. |
I brought my three kids, and my sister brought her one baby. That was a ratio of three adults to four kids. Baby Lucas was pushed around, strapped securely in his carriage. We knew we could trust Jonah and Sam to locomote and not wander too far (we had their sugar). But, Cate was a different story. We weren't taking any chances. We kept her on a very short leash. Yay, toddler leash!
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| They told me this leash was the latest in pre-school fashion. I was deceived. |
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| Yes, look closely. I am tied to a chair. |
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| I'm not going to let it stop me though. |
Of the four kids we took, only three had teeth. Now, only two do. It was like Halloween, and the Easter Bunny, came all in one day. Yeah, they were a little
hyper restless,
vomiting nauseated and
crying tired at the end. But, we had it under control. (See leash above.) And it was worth it! Yay, worth it!
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| So. much. sugar. |
Now for the moment you have been waiting for. The BIG Jelly Belly Give Away. Jelly Belly Jelly Beans come in fifty flavors, forty-nine* of which are featured in this box, and I am giving it away to you. Yes, you! Well, one of you. Just leave a comment here, or on Facebook, and you will be entered to win. The drawing will be held seven days from today. (Any longer than that, and I am likely to eat the prize.) Good luck! (Nana and Tante Tricia not eligible.)
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| *Forty-nine flavors, not forty-nine beans. There are a whole bunch of beans. |
To learn more about the family business that changed the jelly bean, you can go to the
Official Jelly Belly Website. They also make the most amazing candy corn, so book mark it for October, when you will be in need of just such a confection.
