Before the fun starts in Sacramento, we stopped in Fairfield, California, at the Jelly Belly factory.

Our Valentine's Day weekend started on a sweet note: a tour of the Jelly Belly factory. It was on our way to Sacramento, so we decided why not stop. Once there, we donned silly hats and walked around the factory. We didn't get to see the jelly beans in motion because employees have the weekend off, but we did get to see how they make them and stacks on stacks on stacks of jelly beans awaiting their next step in the process.

After the tour, we of course had to go buy some jelly beans. We ended up with about a pound of them, which is so many. We picked our own, from cinnamon to orange sherbet. They made for a great snack in the car, as long as you didn't mix some weird flavors together.

So many jelly beans!

Cole checks out the jelly bean art.

For a night of fun, we visit Scandia.

On our first night in Sactown, we venture out to the Scandia Family Fun Center to play mini golf and any other fun things the place has to offer. I wrote a pretty extensive Yelp review on the pros and cons of this place and our takeaways. Besides all that, Cole won both of our 18-hole rounds of mini golf. That should be of no surprise to anyone who reads about our mini golf outings. Probably the biggest highlight was their giant, spinning ride: The Screamer. It basically looks like a wind turbine. You sit in this pod that is open on one side, and then, you go around in a giant circle. When the ride is moving, it's legit. You get a great view of the city and you flip around as you travel both forward and backward. But ... the unexpect part is the waiting at the top as they load the other riders. You are just kind of dangling up at the top of this giant pole. It wiggles in the breeze. Makes noises. And you have no idea how long this is going to take. It was a little terrifying, especially because Scandia isn't in tip-top shape. Good news though! We survived.

Cole takes on the batting cage, which I would not step inside. That thing was scary.

What a location. Right next to the road ...

Cole adds up our mini golf scores. He won, of course.

Cole practice his hunting skills in the arcade.

Is that a lightsaber?!?

All the Scandia vibes.

After all that fun, we headed back downtown to our fancy hotel. It turns out you can get quite a deal in Sactown on Valentine's Day because everyone else has gone to Tahoe or the beach.

For Valentine's Day weekend, we stayed at The Citizen Hotel in downtown Sacramento.

Gilded look inside our little hotel room.

Not a huge, impressive skyline, but still a decent view from our window.

Because we stayed downtown, the Capitol building was just a quick walk away.

We visited the California Capitol building.

Inside, the tour starts at this Ronald Reagan statue.

We joined a tour in the afternoon so we could learn more about building and the state we now live in. Honestly, I am not sure I learned a whole lot, other than the capital was moving around a lot and eventually landed in Sacramento. And then as they built it, they ran out of money a lot.

A decorated inner dome provides a pretty view from below.

The kiddos were really interested in this tour, asking questions and all.

Our the window, you could see all the way to the bridge that crosses over the river.

Eureka! We found gold (I wish).

Kids. Some can't get enough Capitol. Others can't wait to leave.

Outside, the grounds were in full bloom. They have lots and lots of flowering trees, and a few orange trees. This blows my mind because it is February, but hey, I like it! Let spring begin.

Oranges are just growing out in the lawn around the Capitol.

It's February, but apparently here that means blooming trees.

Pretty red blooms.

Others are white.

Some are even speckled.

Cole reads the history as we wander around the grounds.

Oh, hey :)

I'm all about this purple one.

I can't believe this is happening in February. California is pretty all right.

Petals all over the ground.

Happy Capitol visitors!

Our last Sacramento stop was the Sleep Train Arena, home of the Kings. This weird building out in the middle of nowhere is being replaced with a futuristic, circle building right downtown. I think it's safe to say that place will be more fun. Go, Kings!

This Kings fan got to go see where they play: Sleep Train Arena.

Go, Kings. Get it together!