A Day With the Family

I had just gotten up when Jodie called. We'd drop by her stepmother's quickly to return a pair of good prescription sunglasses that Jodie mistook for her own pair, then head over to the Acme. I dressed and ate quickly, finally joining Jodie around 9:30. We did our errand in Mount Ephram, on the other side of the Black Horse Pike from the Acme, then headed to the store.

The Acme wasn't really busy...but it must have been over the weekend. They were out of a lot of items. I didn't see buttermilk, and they were so out of ribs, Jodie had to go get hers at Super Fresh. I haven't been grocery shopping in ages and needed a ton of food today - chicken, stock, Emerald Trail Mix bags, eggs, contact lens wash, flour, vinegar, canned fruit, soup (including restocking the Cream of Mushroom I used last night), tuna, tissues, Jello, powdered sugar, oat bran, sponges, cheese, mushrooms, bananas, apples, oranges, green beans, cauliflower, fish packs, a bag of spinach, and frozen vegetables. Even with sales and coupons, all that came to 90 dollars! I was shocked. I never buy that much food at once. I thought something had to be wrong. I couldn't believe I needed so much.

Jodie and I stopped by my apartment quickly to put everything away. I spent the rest of the day at Dad's. I figured, since I was out and about, I might as well get my laundry done, too. I crocheted on the front porch while the laundry was in the washer. It was a gorgeous day for it. The sky was blue. The sun was out. There was a nice wind, but it wasn't so heavy that I was cold. It had to be in the mid-60s, balmy for mid-November in Southern New Jersey. The trees around Dad's house are turning amazing shades of lime green, gold, russet, copper, scarlet, and flaming orange. Birds hopped and chirped among the seeds in the bird feeders.

We had ham and provolone sandwiches for lunch around noon. My nephew Khai arrived an hour later. My sister Rose had to take her boyfriend Craig to the hospital to have his back looked at. Khai and I played in the Eagles' Den for the rest of the afternoon while Dad and Jodie were in the living room. We watched movies while reading books (Khai loved the one about a little boy who makes a scary find in a trunk), doing a wooden dinosaur puzzle, and tossing small plastic and cloth balls in a basket.

The first movie in the queue was The Polar Express. Khai adores trains, and this motion-capture Christmas movie is right up his alley. A young boy who isn't sure he believes in Santa Claus finds himself on a magical train ride to the North Pole. On the way, he encounters a hobo who is riding to the North Pole on the roof of the train, and three other children - a lonely little boy, an enthusiastic girl, and an obnoxious know-it-all of a boy - and the eternally punctual conductor. There's trouble even after the kids arrive - they get caught in Santa's toy factory, and then the bag of toys. When they do finally meet Santa, the boy learns a lesson in believing in the things that can't be seen.

This sweet Christmas tale was the first of the Robert Zemeckis "motion capture" movies, and the first movie to be released simultaneously to regular and IMAX theaters. On one hand, as a firm believer in Christmas magic myself, I enjoyed the story, the stunning visuals, and the unusual look that went well with the original Chris Van Alsburg book. On the other hand, though Khai didn't seem to be bothered by it, some parts are a bit spooky for many young children. While the "motion capture" animation has improved somewhat since this came out in 2004, it's always been rather creepy. There's also an awful lot of filler that seems to exist just to show off the new medium, like several trips down roller-coaster-like hills or slides, or a ride across a frozen lake.

Probably a tad scary for younger kids who aren't as laid-back as Khai, but for elementary schoolers who are just beginning to have their own doubts about magic, this is still a really amazing ride.

We stayed in a wintry world, but moved back about 20,000 centuries to the original Ice Age. Sid the chatty sloth (John Leguziamo), Manny, a taciturn mammoth with a tragic past (Ray Romano), and Diego, a tough sabertooth tiger (Denis Leary) discover an abandoned infant human. Manny's all for leaving it alone, but sweet-natured Sid insists on bringing it back to it's family. Diego has his own intentions for the child, but as they travel across the frozen landscape, they all learn what it's like to belong to a herd....and have friends who really care about you. Meanwhile, Scrat the Squirrel spends the movie chasing after an acorn that ends up in the dardest places.

I can see why this was enough of a hit to spawn three sequels and a holiday special. It's an unusual story of one of Western animation's strangest friendships. Leguziamo was especially fun as ever-talkative Sid. I'm actually glad Khai's into these. I may have to get all four and the just-released Christmas special now.

We warmed up and switched to Shrek as Rose and Craig arrived, Craig with an ice-pack on his back. Like Ice Age, this is a one-off animated film that was such a smash hit, it was followed by three sequels, a spin off, and two holiday specials. The title character (Mike Myers) is a grouchy but good-hearted ogre who lives in a swamp, away from people who think he's a killer. When magical creatures are banished to his land, he goes on a journey to get his privacy back. The obnoxious and vain Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) sends him to rescue the fair Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon. It turns out, however, that the strong-willed Fiona is not what she seems to be...and neither is Shrek. It takes a lot of help from Shrek's friend the talking Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and the dragon they spared to show the lovers that it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside, as long as you love what's inside.

I went to see this in the theater when it came out in the summer of 2000. I loved it then, but I don't think it's dated as well as Ice Age. The references to turn-of-the-millennium pop culture seem out-of-place, and some of the comedy is on the rude and crude side. The characters themselves, the awesome soundtrack (I have the CDs for this and the second movie), and some nifty animation make up for the stale jokes.

We had dinner as Shrek was ending. Dinner was Jodie's incredibly tender barbecue ribs, corn, a cucumber-red onion salad, and roasted potatoes with fresh rosemary. Everyone loved it and ate a ton...except for Khai, who would not eat. He was tired and getting cranky. Not to mention, it took him hours just to get him to eat his peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.

After dinner, everyone took Khai outside to look for raccoons. Rose and Jodie put out bread for them, and Khai ran around the driveway, trying to see them. He must have scared them off. We never did see any raccoons. Jodie's son Jesse did bring their King spaniel puppy Helio around to visit. I finally got a ride home with Rose and her boys around 6:30.