Sunshine On Our Shoulders

Kicked off an absolutely glorious day a bit earlier than we have with a stroll to the Collingswood Farm Market. By the time we got there around 11, they were insanely busy with people buying food for weekend barbecues and college graduations. Saw zucchini for the first time of the year; picked up two of those, along with some plump strawberries.

Next up was lunch at an equally busy Tortilla Press, the Mexican restaurant about a block from the farm market. They have a tasty and very popular weekend brunch. I had the fluffiest omelet I'd ever seen, with spinach, mushrooms, and goat cheese, roasted potatoes and peppers, and a honey corn muffin. Lauren had a huge Smothered Breakfast Burrito with the potatoes and guacamole. I ate all of my omelet (which was fluffy, but not large), the muffin, and most of my potatoes, and I enjoyed them. The breakfast burrito was a lot bigger, but Lauren did finish most of it.

We strolled down Haddon Avenue to take in some of the small shops in Collingswood. Browsed around The Candy Jar, but decided we would wait to buy more candy. Lauren got a couple of shirts for her and her parents at Frugli Consignment; I don't really need much in the way of clothes right now. I did better at Innergroove Records, digging five out of the dollar bins. I met Lauren at the toys and games shop. Lauren bought a dice and card game, Roll With It!, for us to play at my house, and another dice game for her parents.

It was past 1:30 when we strolled down Haddon and across the always-crazy Cuthbert Road to Westmont. Our first stop there was Phidelity Records. Lauren bought CDs for her and her father. Along with five more records, I found two movies I was hoping to pick up soon. I loved The Apple Dumpling Gang as a kid. With Tim Conway's passing, I thought it was time I finally bought that one, along with it's sequel The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.

Incidentally, the ten records I bought were:

George Shearing Quintet - Deep Velvet and Here & Now

Hooked On Swing

The original casts of Carousel, Jamaica, Wildcat, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off, and Jesus Christ Superstar

Operatic studio cast of The Desert Song

Soundtrack for the Rita Hayworth musicals Cover Girl and You Were Never Lovelier

We were going to hit Rocket Fizz next, but...the sign was there, but Rocket Fizz wasn't. The building was empty. I swear it was open the last time I went to counseling and passed through. Just went across the street to check out Good Samaritan Thrift Shop early. Lauren bought shirts for her parents; I said "hello" to one of the Oaklyn Library librarians, who volunteers there. Primo's was so overwhelmed with kids and their parents, we opted for a Peach-Raspberry Mello Yello and Blueberry Pomegranate Smoothie at the WaWa on the corner of Cuthbert and Haddon Avenue instead.

When we got home after the long walk back, we went right into a couple of rounds of Roll With It! while listening to my new George Shearing albums and CDs. It's a pretty simple game. You roll six dice and see if any match the dice on three cards placed in front of you. Blue cards have two dice and are worth two points. Yellow have three dice and are worth five points, green have four and are worth ten, and purple have six dice and are worth 15 points. It takes a while to get all six! Lauren won one round, and I won two. We played again later in the night, and this time, I won one round, and Lauren won two, making us even.

Lauren played her Nintendo Switch while I made us Four Fruit Oatmeal Bars for dessert. I wasn't up for major cooking, and I'd forgotten to take the hot dogs out I was going to make for dinner. We settled for tuna salad on spinach. (All of which came out very well, though I think I put too much jam in the cookies.)

Finished the night with Angry Birds Star Wars. We actually may have done better on the later Death Star rounds than in Tatoonie, getting several two-stars and even a few three-star rounds, and beating my high score several times.

Tomorrow, we're taking it a lot easier after our long walk today. Lauren needs to get laundry done, and we'll likely get pizza and water ice around the corner.