A Family Affair

Rose said she'd pick me up between 9:30 and 10 today, so I got up early. Had breakfast and did some chores around the apartment while watching Sabrina. The title character (Julia Ormand) is the shy daughter of a Long Island chauffeur. She's had a crush on the son of her father's employer, the playboy David Larrabee (Greg Kinnear), all her life. After she goes to Paris to study photography, David finally becomes engaged to the pediatrician daughter of the owner of an electronics company. David's workaholic brother Linus (Harrison Ford), who runs the family business, is hoping their union will help with a major merger he's planning. When Sabrina comes home a Paris sophisticate, she turns David's head...and convinces him he's in love. Linus doesn't want this deal to fall through, so he "takes Sabrina off his hands." Everyone thinks Linus is married to his job, but to his surprise, Sabrina helps him discover his hidden romantic side.

As much as I enjoyed the 1954 version, I really like this one, too. Ormand is no Audrey Hepburn, but Kinnear is at least on a par with William Holden. The biggest improvement is in the leading men. I love Humphery Bogart, but he's out of place in a romantic comedy and looked uncomfortable with Hepburn.  Ford's rugged sweet-tough guy fits in much better. He worked well with Ormand and was absolutely hilarious with Kinnar and Nancy Marchand as their mother.

This is one of the rare times I equally recommend both the original and the remake. If you love rags-to-riches romantic comedies, both versions are just as much fun.

Rose finally picked me up around 10. It was her, me, and Khai heading down to Cape May County for our oldest nephew Skylar's birthday party. Khai played games on Rose's iPad...until he started to complain about being car sick. Rose had to drive off the highway and pull in at a bank. Thankfully, he was fine; napped the rest of the way.

Rose reminded me that I really need to talk to Dad-Bruce. I haven't been over there in a while. I come home, and I'm dead tired. Not to mention, it's been too hot for a ton of running around. Though his cancer's in remission, there's still a distinct possibility that he may only be around for a few more years. I'll try to get over there tomorrow or Friday.

We got into Cape May County around 11:30. My sister Anny, her sons Skylar (12) and Collyn (7), her baby daughter Lilah (1 1/2), and her boyfriend JJ live in a tiny square-shaped house in the Villas. For a dwelling that would be barely big enough for me, much less five people, it has a good-sized back yard. They have two baby pools, a fire pit, a small patio table, a picnic table, and a nice shed. Our brother Keefe got leave from the Navy and is visiting, too.

Anny found a really cute idea on Instagram - sponge water bombs. You cut cheap dollar store sponges into strips, tie them together with floss, and fill them with water. Voila! You have a way to get wet without the mess (and potential choking hazard) of a balloon. The kids loved them. We got a nice sponge bomb war going for a while. Even I got in on it.

After the kids finally got out, we ordered pizza. Anny lives just a few minutes' walk from a local deli that doubles as a popular pizzeria. JJ and Keefe didn't even need to drive to bring it home. They got cheese, pepperoni, and bacon pies. Yummy. Maybe more delis should sell pizza. I had a slice of the cheese and two slices of bacon while chatting with Keefe, Anny, and the kids.

(And I did give the boys the Charlie Brown books. Turned out Collyn already had the animal one, so that went to Khai by default. Khai also got the "people around the world" book. Collyn and Skylar will share the Earth and space book.)

(Collyn mentioned that a kid who used to live across the street from my family in North Cape May had a crush on me in the 90's. Aw. Considering I thought most of the boys in Lower Township outside of my family hated me, I'm very flattered.)

(I can't believe how big Anny's kids are getting. The last time I saw them was at Thanksgiving. Lilah was just learning to walk and talk. Now, she talks very well for her age and walks fine on a her own, though she still needs help with steps. Her brothers are getting taller, too. Skylar is looking more and more like an adult every time I see him.)

We headed over to Mom and Dad's around 2. They had the 1983 version of Annie on when we arrived. While we watched and sang along, they got the cakes they bought from their local Acme out, along with Blue Bunny chocolate and vanilla ice cream. The boys played with their iPads while Rose and I watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Miles from Tomorrowland with little miss Lilah. Lilah just wanted to jump on the inflatable mattress Mom had for Keefe in the den/laundry room.

It was about 3 when we sang "Happy Birthday" to Skylar and he got to open his gifts. They were all video games of one kind or another, or video game tip books, or controllers, or a gift card to Game Stop...because his big present was a new XBox 360, one of the latest systems on the market. He was absolutely thrilled and swore he'd set it up as soon as he got home. I gave him 10 dollars - he can save up for another game, or a Diary of a Wimpy Kid book (his favorites).

We finally left around quarter after 4. Khai wasn't very happy about it. He wouldn't say good-bye to anyone or hug anybody but Collyn. He must have been pretty tired from all the running around with his cousins. He and I both passed out shortly after leaving the Villas. I didn't get up until we were just going by the exit to Deptford. He got up 20 minutes later.

Rose cheered Khai up by promising to take him to the Audubon Game Stop for a new video game of his own. I was just happy to do something to keep me awake. Khai finally chose Lego The Hobbit for the Wii U. I considered Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, but decided to save my money for vacation next month. We made a very quick stop at Tu Se Bella's next-door so Khai could go to the bathroom before they dropped me off at my place.

I spent the rest of the night playing Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures. I had a lot of trouble with both "The Temple of Kali" and "Freeing the Slaves." Some of the puzzles here were really hard, and there was a LOT of jumping involved, especially in "Temple." And it took me forever to figure out you had to free Short Round in order to defeat the big slave master at the end of "Freeing the Slaves."

Oh, and I finally updated to Windows 10. I originally upgraded last year, but it kept causing my computer to crash. I returned to Windows 8.1 and decided to wait until Microsoft addressed the bugs. It's been on 10 for a few hours now, and there's been no problems, so, hopefully, they've worked everything out.