it's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights

so after that delicious lunch we shared at petit trois, we drove up the street to where the "that's from disneyland" was set up.  too bad for us, though, because the line was absolutely insane.  so much worse than what we experienced when we headed out during opening weekend.  this time, the line not only went out the door but wrapped around the building and even snaked down the street a bit.  posts i saw on facebook were reporting a wait time of close to two hours to get in, and as much as we wanted to get in there, we knew there was no way the kids would stand for it.  and so we scrambled to figure something else out, and dailygluttony mentioned the jim henson exhibit at the skirball center.  after looking at the map we realized we were just a few miles away, and so that became plan B.

even though it was already 3:30 and the museum closed at 5, there was a pretty good sized line to buy entrance tickets.  and once we got past that and made our way to the exhibit, we found ourselves standing in yet another line that took the better part of 15 minutes to get through.  it seemed that all of southern california was out and about that day soaking in some fun sights around the city.

we could catch glimpses of other exhibits as we stood in the line, and i made a mental note to make sure we returned with the old lady and her special friend one day so we could check out the rest of the museum.

as we waited in line, we came across a couple of cases displaying puppets from shows i'd never heard of.  didn't matter, though.  they were interesting enough to keep the kids occupied for almost the rest of the time we waited in line.

when we finally made it inside, it was kind of a mad scramble to try and squeeze in as much of the displays as we could in the time we had left.  i was bummed to see that the one shot i got of the bean with kermit was blurry.  and there were so many people crammed in there, it wasn't easy to get a decent shot of anything.

she did a better job on mine, though.  heh.

there were lots and lots of fun things to look at.  some things i recognized, but there were lots that i didn't.

i love that she's still willing to take silly pictures like this.

and of course, we had to do this.

even jim henson had a puppet of his own.

look, miss piggy's gloves!

and this wall was fun to watch.

there were a few interactive stations for the kids to play in.

and while i had to admit that i'd never seen it, the bean was stoked to see pieces from "the dark crystal."  she told me she'd seen parts of it via youtube.

david bowie and jennifer connelly's costumes from "labyrinth" were there too.

we managed to get them together for a couple of group photos:

and then they were pretty much over it.

we stopped to look in the gift shop for a minute, and then finally gave in and herded them into the car to head home.  they got a little silly towards the end of the ride, and it was funny to listen to them banter and bicker and joke around.

we may not get to hang out all together very often anymore, but when we do it sure is a ton of fun!

a real-life candyland...sorta

okay, so i've taken you through the museum of ice cream.  and then i shared the happy place with you.  after that i was on board to bring you into candytopia, which was scheduled to open back in december somewhere near downtown l.a.

but then the organizers of it couldn't get it together to clear a pretty important hurdle before opening:  permits from the city.  oops.  and so after a few social media posts and emails about having to postpone followed by radio silence for a long time, they ended up refunding everyone who'd bought tickets with a promise to open elsewhere in the near future.

what they ended up doing was packing up and moving to santa monica, where they were finally able to pull it off and open to the public.  and while santa monica is hardly a convenient place for us to visit, we decided to re-buy our tickets and head out to check it out.  why?  because we're gluttons for punishment.  heh.

we actually kicked off the day with a trip to the dentist and ortho for the bean, where she got her teef cleaned and x-rayed and found no cavities, plus picked up compliments from the hygienist on how well she was maintaining her choppers.

and then because it was st. patrick's day, we stopped at krispy kreme to pick up some green donuts.

she even had time to squeeze in her yoga class that morning, and then when her sister got home from work we hopped into the car and made the trek out to the west side.  candytopia is located in santa monica place, which is across the street from 3rd street promenade.

after a bit of a wait, we finally stepped through these doors and our candyriffic journey began.

just inside, this cart offered candytopia branded "selfie lights," in case you needed some extra lighting for all the pictures you'd be taking.

always take advantage of alllllll the photo ops.

 and then it was time to enter the first room.

after listening to a short speech about the rules (which really only consisted of "don't eat the candy on the displays" - and why would you want to anyway?), this clock gear thingy swooped down to offer us our first piece of candy.

there was a giant guest book in one corner with lots of signatures, but no pens to use.  luckily i always have a sharpie in my purse, and so we all took a turn signing it.

the next room was set up like an art gallery, with lots of candy portraits and recreations of famous works of art.  and here, our snack came in the form of a candy bracelet.

i took a closer look at "starry night" and found these creepy candies:

and was amused at the use of licorice whips for prince's "hair."

the next room had an "under the sea" theme, with a treasure chest full of pixy stix.

the next room was full of photo ops that were super random, but we posed at each one anyway and grabbed a few pieces of airheads from the giant bucket.

there was a tropical-y, beach-y vibe in the next room.

 the bean and i got photobombed as we plopped our butts onto the rope swings.

salt water taffy is my favorite.  well, one of my favorites.

and so are hammocks.

methinks the old lady prefers airheads to taffy.

it was warm in there, so the wind machine in the surfboard room offered a little relief.

through the rainbow beads:

uhhhh...

and then we followed this sign that took us through an inflatable puffy entrance to squeeze through to get to the "marshmallow" pool.

our shoes and bags went into a cubby and then we were free to hop into the pool for 45 seconds.  

and that was the end of our trip through candytopia.  the gift shop, of course, was right at the exit from the marshmallow pool room.

that's all.  get out.

and there you have it.  i just saved you the cost of admission to yet another silly pop-up non-museum.

you're welcome.