Pony, what is best in life?"

"To play nicely with your friends, see sprinkles scattered on cupcakes
before you (which you will share nicely), and hear the joyous giggling
of their women."

The Contraption Captain and I both had to go to work today (Wednesday) but we wanted to eat dinner out with the kids afterwards at our favorite Palo Alto restaurant.  To accommodate this a little planning was involved.  In the morning we rode in with the kid-wagon and dropped it at Contraption Captain's work so I wouldn't have to pull that anvil all the way to Mountain View.

4:30pm and I flew out of work thirty minutes early.  A sleek bird (in my imagination) who pedaled along wonderfully fast, merging elegantly with traffic and making turns with the expertise of a cheetah.  Also I cleared both the Oregon Expressway light and the even more elusive Embarcadero light and every day that I make those two lights goes pretty well.  

The kids were dropped off at Captain C's place of work at 5pm.  I arrived at 5:03.  We loaded Rapunzel into the wagon and older daughter (also known as Sparkle Pony) climbed onto a pillow on the back of the big recumbent and we pedaled off to dinner in Palo Alto pausing for a pit stop at a toy store.

After a lovely dinner, and after polishing off the part of Rapunzel's creme brulee that she couldn't finish, we re-assembled ourselves onto our bikes and pedaled home which is about four miles.  Don't sniff at a mere four mile bicycle ride until you have to do it uphill in a high wind carrying Rapunzel and an anvil.  

Why is this so much better than driving?  

1.  There is Rapunzel's voice emanating faintly from the wagon as she sings to pass the time.

2.  There is Sparkle Pony riding on the back of the recumbent with a red flashing light clipped to her hood.  She rubs the Captain's shoulders as he pedals.  

3.  There is the soft evening air all around us and the sky turning to night.  There is being out in the world instead of confining yourself in a box that turns the world into a framed picture.

It was so good I made them pause so I could snap their picture.