Left, right, left, right LEFT!

So, the plan was to take the kids to the Crocker Art Museum today, because they often have interactive stuff for kids and because, hey, art museum! There are worse ways to spend a day out of school, right?

But I had plans to take Darrin the Triane's Son books-- his daughter appears at the end of the fourth one, and you can't read them out of order, so, yes, entire set. Yikes! That's no big deal-- Old Sac is really close to the art museum, but as I drove down 5, I had a bright idea.

So I put it to a vote about ten miles before we hit the exit. "Okay, kids-- do you want to see the art gallery or the railroad museum?"  See, the museum is in the same little square as Candy Heaven-- and, I might add, several places to eat lunch.

Zoomboy: The railroad museum!

Squish: Uh...

Zoomboy: C'mon, Squish, the railroad museum!

Squish: Uhhhhh...

Zoomboy: Oh, please, the railroad museum?

Squish: Uhhhhhhh....

Zoomboy: The RAILROAD MUSEUM!

Squish: Uhhhhhhhhhh...

Me: Look, guys, one's a right and the other's a left right off the freeway-- you need to decide before we hit the offramp!

ZB: RAILROAD MUSEUM!

Squish: I don't know, Mommy, what do you want to do?

Me, at the exit: HOLY FUCK, LEFT!

So, uh, the Railroad Museum it was.  (In case you are wondering, this process is how the kids find consensus on, well, everything. Every. Thing. This is not the first time I have made a last minute decision based on whim and which kid wanted it most.)

Anyway-- the Railroad Museum it was-- and we enjoyed ourselves very much there. But OI! was it long!  You forget how long a museum tour can last until you've just climbed three flights of stairs and you're looking across a vast warehouse full of trains going, "Wait-- we've got toy trains and tech simulations to look at?"

It didn't matter-- the kids had fun. We at at a very overpriced Italian place-- but very tasty! And then journeyed to Candy Heaven.

When we got there, Darrin wasn't there, but I did make two delightful discoveries.

A. The girl at the counter had read Candy Man (I had it printed out as it's own book and gave it to Darrin before Bitter Taffy was even written.)  She loved it--and she made it a point to let me know that the young lady stocking the barrels from the flight of stairs was her wife.  Heather (*waves* Hi, Heather!) was sweet and kind (I say this because I am a nightmare of social disorder when I walk into this store. I can't even explain it. It defies description) and she didn't make me feel too foolish. In fact, she seemed to like the idea of the books as a whole, which made me happy.

B. The young man who helped me at the chocolate counter was named... ADAM! And he was Hispanic. And he had neck tattoos. When I told him about the similarities--and the differences (yes, my Adam is 6'4", brown-eyed, with lots of hair) he was tickled and agreed to pose for a photo. Bless him! I was just so tickled. There is an ADAM working at Candy Heaven!  *happy sigh* Yay!

Anyway we did a little shopping on the way back to the car, but mostly we had to hurry because, well, traffic was heinous, and we were all ready to go home.

But the kids felt good about the trip, and given that, besides a trip to Coloma with my parents, their other activities this week have been video games, bickering, and getting emotionally ready for the series finale of Gravity Falls, I have to say it was a win.  (BTW, Zoomboy is holding the crocheted "Bill" from Gravity Falls in his hands-- Chicken made it, and he watched the entire last episode with Bill held aloft.)

And my big event (besides finishing Licorice Whip) has been to finish this scarf for my friend (and Editor in Chief of DSP ;-) Lynn West. It's the Baker Street Scarf from Geek Knits--and I have to admit--while it looked pretty good on Neil Gaiman in the pictures, Squishy almost looks more evil with it on ;-)

But the scarf turned out great (seen here blocked, where it's more like a rectangle and less like a tube noodle) and I can claim to be a knitter once again :-)