Big Girl Adventures

Got up late and spent the early afternoon running errands. I rode to work and got my paycheck, then went to FYE and bought the just-released Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1 Volume 1 and headed down the Black Horse Pike. On the way to the Mt. Ephram Walgreens, I discovered there was a PNC Bank branch on the Black Horse Pike just a few blocks down from the Acme and deposited my paycheck. I finally found the other two WCares WebKinz of the Month at Walgreens, the Lil'Kinz Horse and the Lil'Kinz St. Bernard. I got the Horse for myself and bought the St. Bernard as a thank-you gift for Lauren when I visit her in September. I went for a brief ride through Mt. Ephram before heading back to the Acme for the few groceries I needed, then home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Tiny Toon Adventures. For those who weren't around in the early 90s, Tiny Toons was Warner Bros.' answer to the syndicated Disney Afternoon cartoons...but far hipper. Rather than being "babyfied" versions of classic characters, the Tiny Toons are essentially pre-teen versions. Bugs, in fact, technically gets two characters, laid-back Buster and mile-a-minute-impressionist Babs Bunny (no relation). We also have Elmyra Duff (who literally loves her cutie-pie buddies to pieces), Fifi the Lavender Skunk, Sweetie Pie, Shirley McLoon the new-age psychic, hapless Furball, bratty rich boy Montana Max, Hampton Pig, and my personal favorite, eternally mercenary Plucky Duck. Like the later Freakazoid! and Animaniacs, the show is a potpourri of 90s spoofs and manic comedy, with some of the best writing ever in any animated program. Any cartoon whose second episode is a bang-on spoof of Star Wars heroics (Spielburg taking a jab at his buddy George Lucas?) will get my attention.

I did end up going to the ball game tonight. I joined Dad, Jodie, Jessa, and Jessa's friends Alexis and Brittany at Campbell's Stadium for a Camden Riversharks game. The game wasn't very good or very full (the Riversharks were just starting to catch up when we left), but it was still worth the trip. The team may be terrible, but Campbell's Stadium is a beaut. It's on the Camden Waterfront and has a stunning view of the Philadelphia skyline. (You should have seen it as the sun was going down.) I spent a few innings just strolling along the second level, watching the people and the game, admiring the skyline, and checking out the merry-go-round and the souvenir shop. I didn't buy any actual souvenirs (as with most athletic venues, they were overpriced, and I'm saving for my vacation), but I did do one of those pressed-penny machines.

When I wasn't strolling, I was sitting in the Executive Box, having dinner or chatting with Dad and watching the game just outside the box. The night was a Campbell's outing for employees and families. There was a small buffet of barbecue foods - chicken, ribs, roast beef, corn bread, baked beans, cole slaw, and watermelon. The girls spent the night chatting and playing with a kid who brought his Pokemon card collection. Jodie mostly talked to her fellow employees and played with their kids.

We had a bit of a scare going home. Despite the map system in the van Dad borrowed from Uncle Ken for tonight, Jodie and Dad got lost going home. Jodie wanted to use the way she takes home from work; Dad wanted to go a different route. They weren't lost for too long, but it was a little scary, given Camden's reputation as one of the nastiest cities in the US.

Oh, and meet Ramses the Lil'Kinz Horse! Named for the son of Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson in Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series, this talkative, taciturn little fellow lives with his mama and papa Amelia the Brown Arabian and Emerson the Gray Arabian in their Explorer's Room, which will be made up of parts of different Curio Shop ancient world themes when I finally buy them.