The Mad Scientist and the Impromptu Christmas Party

Since my wife was still very upset about the loss of her friend, and Troy wouldn’t stop bugging her, I decided to take him out to see the geese, which ended up being ducks. I had promised him that I’d do it after lunch, if he’d just let me eat and rest for a little while. It was a little depressing for Troy, because the ducks wouldn’t let him get nowhere near them. So, he chased them until they flew off, and then we were left with an empty pond. In fact, the most interesting thing about the entire encounter was a fake coyote that the church had set up on one side of the pond to keep the geese from attacking church goers.

So, I decided to let Troy drive around the church parking lot for a little bit. He was in a crazy mood, so I gunned it while he jerked the wheel back and forth, doing a slithering snake pattern across the lines. He was laughing mischievously the entire time, like some kind of evil scientist. We did this for a few minutes until the sun finally set, then we headed to the toy store to look around.

I took Troy to a little shopping center near our house and was caught off guard when a horse-drawn carriage crossed the street in front of us. I had no idea what was going on, but we parked and headed into the bookstore, so Troy could check out the toys. After a good amount of time and at least one play-through of every single toy on every single aisle, we finally heard to the real toy store. We walked out of the back doors and were greeted by an enormous crowd!

There was a stage set up off to one side with someone singing a Christmas song on it. There were booths set up, selling hot chocolate and offering cookie decorating. There was a giant Christmas tree, where Santa Claus was holding court. And there were the horses pulling people around in carriages (now it made sense). Troy and I had stumbled upon a Christmas party. I called my wife to see if she wanted to join us, so while we waited for her, we headed to the toy store.

It took my wife a little while to get ready (she was already in her pajamas) and meet us, so we had plenty of time to do multiple rounds on every single toy in the shop. The lady at the counter offered to show Troy how one of the toys worked, and she made an instant friend. After that, Troy was running around finding random toys and taking them back to her, so she could ooh and aah over his discoveries. I somehow managed to make it out the door with only having to buy one fairly-cheap, rubber cobra, and we joined my wife at the Christmas party.

We spent an hour, walking around and listening to the various musical acts, which ended up being all high school and junior high school kids. We bought some hot chocolate to warm us up, since it was very cold outside, although I think Troy enjoyed eating the cup of mini marshmallows more than the warm drink. We tried to meet Santa and take a carriage ride, but the lines were way too long, and it was too cold to stand still waiting in them. Ultimately, we had to leave when Troy decided to let his “pee flag” fly, rather than tell us he had to go. It was a strange and yet enjoyable evening.