Very Good Friday

Began the morning with breakfast and Peter and the Magic Egg on YouTube. I went further into this charming and unique 1983 special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2024.

Spring Short Subject Special - Peter and the Magic Egg

Did a few things online, then headed out to run errands in Westmont. My first stop was the Great Clips at the Westmont Plaza...but the wait there was over 75 minutes! I wasn't hanging around there. I left my name with the young lady and headed back out.

By default, I ended up getting brunch at the Westmont first instead. This time, I had a waffle, a small cup of cantaloupe and fresh pineapple chunks, Pepsi Zero, and bacon. Oh, yum! The waffle was a huge brick, the approximate size of a life raft, crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside. It was topped with spicy honey butter and real syrup. The bacon was melt in your mouth crispy. It was even tastier than last time, even if that enormous waffle was too big to finish.

I got the 15-minute warning text for Great Clips just as I was heading back up the hill to the Westmont Plaza. This time, it only took 10 minutes to get a stylist. I just needed it cut a bit shorter. My hair gets so frizzy when it's too long! Considering the young woman who helped me had her own considerable curls, she knew how to handle them. I now have blunt-cut, very cute chin-length curls framing my face. They're still a little frizzy and dry, but nothing to the degree that they were.

The other reason I was in Westmont was to go grocery shopping. I didn't really need a ton of food at any rate. I got coconut milk, white chocolate-macadamia nut cookies, dried raspberry lemon mango slices from the bulk bins, and two cans of sparkling water at Sprouts. The cookies and Hint sparkling water were on clearance. The coconut milk is just cheaper at Sprouts. 

Rode past the Haddon Township Library, the Burger King and McDonald's, and the high school to the Westmont Acme next. They were surprisingly not that busy. Sprouts was actually a bit busier. Everyone must have come earlier - the carts were empty. I restocked blood oranges, apples, soda, yogurt, granola, and granola bars. Picked up lemon cake mix and white chocolate chips to make cookies later.

Took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. It was cloudy at this point, but not too chilly, probably in the mid-60's. It certainly looks like spring in the park now. Buds and new bright green leaves swell on the trees. Thick green grass and sunny buttercups carpet the shore of the lake. I pushed my bike on the path that goes over the hill to the Haddon Township Environmental Center, and it was thickly padded with green undergrowth and dusky pink and white flowers on the trees.

Made the Lemon White Chocolate Yum Yums when I got home. This is based on that Chocolate Yum Yums recipe from Christmas Is Coming 1987, with lemon cake mix replacing the devil's food mix, white chocolate chips replacing the nuts, and no sprinkles or chocolate bar topping. Yum! I tried one that fell apart, and they came out perfectly, light, sweet, and zesty. I'm going to give them to Jessa, Rose and her kids, and friends for Easter.

Checked my schedule when I got upstairs. In good news, I have Easter off, along with Monday and Tuesday. I took Tuesday off for a dental appointment. I work straight through the rest of the week from Wednesday onwards, including an 8 1/2 hour day on Saturday. I have no idea why the 8 1/2 hour day. I know the head bagger probably went on vacation this week, but couldn't they have gotten one of the college students or high schoolers who are on vacation this week to take at least part of the time? 

Watched Match Game '90 after I finished the cookies. Most of the episodes finished the run with Fred Travelena and Brett Somers. It's always good to see Brett again. She was technically retired by this point, but Charles had talked her into being on the show, and his instincts were solid. They were just as funny as they were in the 70's. Edie McClurg makes her debut on the show in the next week, joined by game show host Jonathan Prince, Ronn Lucas and Scorch, and Khrystyne Haje from Head of the Class. 

Finished the night with The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town. I went further into my favorite Rankin-Bass Easter special at the first Easter review for my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2019. 

The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town

Dolls and Harts of My Dreams

Actually, I began today with a phone call. The lady from the Camden County First Home Buyers loans was calling me back to do an online application. Awesome! She sounded really pleasant and interested, too. I gave her my information and explained why I'm doing this. I want to get out of this attic, and soon, preferably between mid-October after I get back from my vacation in Pittsfield and mid-January. 

After I finished with her, I had breakfast while watching Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies. The Easter Bunny is sick and can't make his usual rounds this year. Granny wants Bugs to do it, but he's busy making his shorts, so she searches for a replacement among the Toons. With a story that flimsy, this is less of an Easter special and more "Oscar-winning shorts from Termite Terrace." Among the shorts seen are bits and pieces of "Knighty Knight Bugs," "Hillbilly Hare," "Birds Anonymous," "Robin Hood Daffy," "Sahara Hare," and "For Scent-imental Reasons." 

Switched to Tale of the Bunny Picnic after I ate. I go further into this charming Muppet spring cable special from 1986 that introduced Bean Bunny at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Happy Easter! - Tale of the Bunny Picnic

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon dressing the dolls for the spring holidays. Samantha looks so pretty and grown-up in her pink and magenta Flower-Picking Dress with the asymmetrical lace collar. I'm glad I bought that outfit when I did. It's hard to find now. Josefina is in her Feast Day Finery ruffled camisa and turquoise skirt. Felicity is pleasantly salmon pink in her Birthday Dress and flowered Pinner Apron. Kit may not appreciate the ruffles, but she does look cute in her Candy-Making Dress. The soft fall colors on Julie's original Birthday Outfit look even better on redheaded Ariel. Jessa gets the original late 90's Girl of Today Birthday Outfit with the fruit-print purple jumper and t-shirt. 

Whitney, Molly, and Barbara Jean wear home-made outfits, Whitney and Barbara Jean's from eBay. Barbara Jean's minidress has a fashionable 60's pink, yellow, and brown geometric design. It's sleeveless, so she wears a white ruffled sweater over it. Whitney's white dress has pastel polka-dots, a wide skirt, and purple ribbon trim. I bought Molly's pink and red striped dress with the flowers and the smocking from a booth at a church book sale last spring. 

Listened to records as I finished the dolls, and later as I ate lunch. Dreamy Serenades with Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra are exactly what it says on the cover - dreamy ballads or songs about dreams, done in a soft, breathy style, almost Hawaiian. These lovely ballads make gentle background music for a soft spring day, including "I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All?," "I Had the Craziest Dream," "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," "My Isle of Golden Dreams," and "Girl of My Dreams."

The Tale Spinners Aladdin is a pretty straightforward retelling of the original Arabian Knights story. It's even set in China, rather than the Middle East as in the Disney version, and Aladdin lives with his mother. This does cut the Genie of the Ring, probably for time, but otherwise, it's action-packed and actually rather charming.

Swashbuckler is a rousing original pirate yarn from 1976. John Addison wrote an appropriately lush score that works with the old-fashioned adventure and derring-do. In fact, the title of the second-to-last number is "Derring Do!" Other notable pieces here include the Main Theme, "The Coach Robbery," "The Pickpocket Monkey," and "The Incredible Chase."

Soon as I finished eating, I jumped on my bike and headed off to the Thomas Sharp School. We had far fewer children today, 22 younger ones all together, 6 at my table. They messed around a little in the bathroom, but otherwise, they were just fine. They're still getting too wild in the cafeteria after snack time, though. Pinching, biting, name-calling and then tattling about it, running around. Several kids pulled plastic eggs out of their class Easter bags when they were told not to. Two actually got them open, revealing Play Dough. One girl was really good about putting hers away. Her friend just got upset and had to be talked into it. I couldn't get the eggs back together, so I wrapped them up with plastic and paper towels and put them in their backpacks. 8 kids had to be held back by the head teacher while we got the ones remaining outside.

It wasn't as nice of a day to be on the playground. For one thing, it was windy and considerably chillier, barely in the 50's. For another, it was also cloudy and kept spitting lightly on and off the entire time we were outside. We also had to ban the kids from using the bouncy balls they got for Easter when they bounced them over the fence around the playground twice and the teachers had to retrieve them. The kids still had fun, though. They chased each other, played hide and seek, and gathered flowers that had fallen from the tree over their heads and made tiny bouquets. Others danced to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, "I Like to Move It," and songs from Moana, Moana 2, and Trolls. 

The sprinkles had picked up slightly before the kids started to complain about the cold. We finally got the remaining four inside around 5 PM. I spent the 15 minutes I had left sharpening colored pencils. I also discovered there was a reason the kids took their Easter bags home today. I thought their Spring Break started Monday, but it begins tomorrow. That means I get a full day off I hadn't planned on, as I'm also off of the Acme tomorrow. Sweet. I'll move my grocery shopping to tomorrow instead of Saturday and see if I can get some things done in Westmont that I originally planned on doing next week.

There was a package from Amazon waiting for me when I got home. My first birthday present to myself are the most recently-released Peanuts specials soundtracks. Apparently, Craft Recordings couldn't find the original audio masters for Charlie Brown's All-Stars, so they paired what they could get off the actual special with It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. I'll listen to it tomorrow or this weekend.

Watched Match Game '90 during dinner. Jo Anne Worley finished the previous week with a record on the Match Up mini-game, getting 7 matches in a row. Brett Somers turned up for the first of three weeks on the next show, sitting between Fred Travelena and his one-man White House and her old drinking buddy Charles Nelson Reilly. She got to flirt with a handsome young contestant who had no trouble choosing her for that Match Up game.

Finished the night with Hart to Hart. "A Couple of Harts" are on a picnic outside of Acapulco when the junker car Max loaned them break down. They walk to a nearby mansion to ask for directions to a repair shop, only to fall right smack in the middle of a conspiracy when the wealthy woman owner assumes they're the new butler and maid. Turns out the woman is the head of a group of revolutionaries who just assassinated a senator and intend to do even worse at a dinner that night...and a close friend of the Harts may be involved as well. 

Spring Foolin'

Began the morning with breakfast and The Pirates of Dark Water. "Andorus" is the first episode of the series proper, picking up where the original four-episode miniseries left off. The group's attempt to gather supplies is interrupted by Bloth, who chases them to the titular land. It's here that Tula discovers she's an ecromancer - she can heal and control nature. She and Teron use their magic to help Ren get to the treasure here before Bloth and his men do.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. It's just easier to take three Uber rides on my double-shift day than it is to try riding my bike. No trouble with any of the drivers here. The one going to work came in 6 minutes. I had a harder time getting one to Thomas Sharp, but they finally came in 9 minutes. The one going home took 11 minutes, not bad at the height of rush hour.

The Acme wasn't busy when I arrived. It picked up slightly later, but it was never overwhelming. I did have to put away a cart filled with cold items someone didn't want. Otherwise, I was mostly outside, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. It was hot, sunny, and breezy, in the lower 80's by noon. Most people are probably waiting for Easter weekend to do their shopping. 

After I changed, I grabbed two more Easter cards and a container of coconut macaroons on the Clearance rack before heading to the post office. I wanted to get the cards out quick as possible, so I set them up there and sent them out. I figured the post office would be busy during the lunch hour, but it was just me and the ladies behind the counter.

Had lunch at Tu Se Bella's next. I wasn't that hungry, so I just had a simple slice of cheese, slice of mushroom, and a Diet Pepsi. They surprisingly weren't busy either. I ate my lunch while listening to a show about excellent food trucks going in the background.

Since I had some time, I strolled across the street to explore the other stores. I dug through the Squishmallow bin at Five Below, but didn't get anything there this time. I did dig out a CD and four records at Goodwill:

The soundtrack from the 1976 pirate movie Swashbuckler

Tale Spinners for Children: Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (The United Artists version of this British children's album series)

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle (Disney children's retelling of the segment from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, plus another Washington Irving story.)

Sammy Kaye and His Orchestra - Dreamy Serenades 

Bette Midler - Bette of Roses was the one CD.

After Uber got me to the school, I went straight inside. Good thing I got there only slightly late. We had 24 kids, 10 of them at my table. It was the same deal as the day before. The ones at my table were just fine. We went to the bathroom second, so they had a little more time to play with magnetic tiles. A few of them were a little rowdy at the bathroom, but it could have been worse, especially after I explained that they couldn't block the hallway. The custodians have their offices in that hall, and the boiler room is there. They needed to get through.

Once again, the trouble was in the cafeteria after snack time. They were all running around, screaming, yelling, hitting each other, calling each other names and then tattling about it. The head teacher kept ten of them inside to talk to them. Once everyone was out, things generally went much smoother. We still had to argue a couple of them back into their shoes and put the kibosh on another "no shoes" party, but they mostly had a wonderful time chasing each other and dancing to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, the themes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Bluey, and PJ Masks, and songs from The Little Mermaid, Moana, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

By 5 PM, we were down to 4 kids, most of whom were complaining about being hot. It was still sunny and 80 degrees, breezy but also a tad humid. They were just taking the kids inside when I decided it was too hot to walk and I was too tired and called Uber.

When I got home, I went straight into Match Game '90. Most of tonight was devoted to the week with Jimmie Walker, Jo Anne Worley, and hilarious comedian Bob Sarlatte. Jimmie happily flirted with a female contestant, while Bob tossed out some darn funny quips.

Finished the night at YouTube with a lot of childhood memories. From the early 80's through the mid-90's, toy companies would debut half-hour specials devoted either to a new toy line or around additions to an existing line in the spring or summer. They generally turned up in syndication or as specials on Saturday morning, though a few rated prime-time slots. Most of these are all but forgotten today, like the Victorian-themed Rose Petal Place or the nature mythology of The Magic of Herself the Elf. Fairies is a unique rarity - it's based on a book rather than a toyline and looks more like the Lord of the Rings animated films. 

One has a special place in my heart despite being unknown today. Dad bought our first VCR in the winter of 1985. The first moves we took out (from a long-gone store in Rio Grande) were The Charmkins and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. We'd tape Willy Wonka off The Disney Channel in the late 80's, but I wouldn't see Charmkins again after that video store closed until it turned up on YouTube.

By the early 90's, tighter regulations regarding advertising and children's programming and a change in viewing habits had largely brought an end to the whimsical toy-based specials. One of the last was Peppermint Rose from 1993. I vaguely remember the dolls these were based on, but I never heard of the special until I was an adult. Too bad, because this is one of the better ones. I like how sassy Rose is, and that she genuinely changes throughout the special and learns to be independent and care about others. (Like most of these specials, it's also extremely of its time - check out the random rap battle mid-way through.) 

If you also can't remember a spring without caring bears, nature-guarding elves, singing flowers, and sassy Peppermint Roses, you'll want check out these specials for a blast of warm-weather nostalgia, too.

Fairies (1981)

Care Bears In the Land Without Feelings (1983)

The Magic of Herself the Elf (1983) 

The Charmkins (1983)

Strawberry Shortcake's Housewarming Surprise (1984)

Rose Petal Place: Real Friends (1985)

Peppermint Rose (1993)

It's Really Truly Spring, Charlie Brown

Began the morning with breakfast and The Bernstein Bears' Easter Surprise. I went further into this 1981 special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog for Easter 2023.

Easter Short Subject Special - The Bernstein Bears' Easter Surprise

Headed out to run errands after the Bears ended. For one thing, it was too gorgeous of a day not to. It was sunny, breezy, and warm as could be, in the upper 70's by noon. I strolled down Johnson and up to the big WaWa on the White Horse Pike to get money for the rent. Tried a Raspberry Chip Smoothie, too. It was delightfully tart and cooling, with real raspberry and chocolate chips mixed in. Stopped at Family Dollar on the way home to get Easter cards (and forgot two - I'll pick them up after work tomorrow). 

Put on Yogi the Easter Bear while I got the cards ready. Ranger Smith is incredibly nervous about this year's Easter Jamboree. The super-tough park commissioner is bringing his grandchildren, and he expects them to have the time of their lives. He's really furious with Yogi when he doesn't act "smarter than the average bear" and eats all the Easter candy. Yogi and Boo Boo go off to find the Easter Bunny so he can replace the lost eggs and candy and end up having to save him from a pair of truly bizarre plastic-obsessed villains who want to replace the Bunny's real eggs with their fake ones.

Watched It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown during lunch and as I got ready for school. Each of the Peanuts crew prepare for spring in their own way, from Peppermint Patty and Marcie's hilarious attempts to color eggs to Sally going shoe shopping and Snoopy getting Woodstock a new birdhouse. Don't bother with all the fuss, says Linus. The Easter Beagle does that. Sally's more than a little skeptical after the Great Pumpkin incident at Halloween, but Easter Sunday brings more than one surprise for the kids!

Despite the nice day, I called Uber for a ride to Thomas Sharp. Jessa was picking me up later. Considering how late I called, I surprisingly got a ride in 6 minutes. I even had a little time to rest in a little garden before I went inside.

Good thing, because it was crazy today. We had 24 kids, 10 at my table. My kids behaved just fine. They all cleaned up this time, and they weren't that bad in the bathrooms. It was after snack time when the trouble started. They were absolutely wild in the cafeteria, running around, screaming, calling each other names and then tattling on each other. Even worse, one of the teachers called out so late, they didn't have time to replace her. It was just the head teacher and me today. The head teacher had to gather a rather large group of them to tell them that name calling isn't nice, tattling is for emergencies, running around and climbing under things is for outside, and they need to remember that we're all in a small space without a lot of room for all of that.

Things went much better once we got outside and the kids were able to enjoy that hot weather. To be honest, it was too hot. It was almost in the 80's by 4 PM on the last day of March. I had to take several kids inside to use the bathroom, and then to fill their water bottles, but they behaved much better when there was only a few of them. When they were on the playground, they happily ran around, looked for tiny pinecones on the ground, and danced to "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, the theme from Bluey, "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from Lilo and Stitch, "Ghostbusters," and songs from The Little Mermaid, Moana, Tangled, Encanto, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

By 5 PM, we moved the remaining 6 kids to the blacktop to play with the 9 remaining older kids. I stayed slightly longer to help with them, since Jessa didn't arrive until 5:30. They were down to 3 older kids and 2 younger ones when Jessa arrived with a newly cleaned-out car.

We had no idea where we wanted to eat, so we drove around a little. Jessa originally suggested Freddy's, a burger-and-hot-dog fast food chain in Cinnaminson, but we spied something far better behind it. Hibachi Grill and Buffet's enormous size belies its location in a generic shopping center. It was huge and gorgeous in there. The bright center area with the food counters are between rows of warm dining areas hung with Japanese paper umbrellas and separated by graceful wooden trellises. I had sushi, a spring roll, salad, two pan-fried pot stickers (I gave one to Jessa), a meat skewer, coconut shrimp, two steamed mussels, a spring roll, fried rice, a little bit of baked white fish, chicken and broccoli, and for dessert, a slice of white cake with tasty vanilla ice cream.

After we got home, I watched the last episode of Match Game '90, then finished the night with Spring for Strawberry Shortcake. Strawberry is worried that winter is taking much too long to recede. If spring doesn't come soon, she won't be able to plant her berries, Orange Blossom's trees won't bloom, and Ginger Snap won't have grain and eggs to make her delicious cookies. Huckleberry Pie and Custard the Cat are more interested in goofing off than helping. Strawberry, Orange, and Ginger go in search of spring...and learn a lesson about putting duty before pleasure, the importance of spring's place in the calendar year, and that working together not only gets the job done faster, but is a lot more fun. 

Winds and Games

Started off the morning with breakfast and Pac Man. Pac-Man and his Power Pellet Pickers are up against the Packensack Packers in "The Super Pac-Bowl." The game hits a snag when the Ghosts chomp the Packers and take over for them. Super Pac wants to help, but he's more of a pain than anything else...until he helps make the winning touchdown! Pac Man and PJ go on a "Journey to the Pac Past" when PJ fixes his washing machine and somehow turns it into a time machine. They end up in ancient Pac-Egypt, on board ship with Christopher Columbus, and teaching the Pac-Wright Brothers how to fly a jet.

After breakfast, I took my laundry downstairs, then worked up enough courage to call the Camden County First Time Home Buyers program and ask for help and where their application was on their website. It was scary. I don't have anyone walking me through this. I'm doing all this alone. I finally left the woman a message and sent her an e-mail.

Cheered myself up with the Naked Gun remake on Paramount Plus during lunch and after I brought the laundry upstairs. Lieutenant Frank Drebin Jr. (Liam Neeson) is as oblivious, clumsy, and gung-ho as his dad was. He's investigating the suspicious death of a software engineer who created a machine that can rile people up to the point where they revert to their primordial instincts. The engineer's sister Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson), a crime novelist, thinks there's a lot more to this than a car crash. Turns out she's right. Richard Cane (Danny Huston), her brother's former boss, wanted the machine so he can revert the population to their animal instincts, leaving he and his billionaire buddies to take over. Frank has to find the machine and keep it from going off, all while navigating his growing feelings for the equally goofy Beth.

Oh boy, was this fun. I wasn't expecting much out of this, but it turned out to be hilarious. I've seen Pamela Anderson do comedy (sometimes even intentionally), but who knew Neeson had this level of straight-faced insanity in him? Huston's even funnier as the villain with the evil with a capital E plan. If you're looking for a wacky laugh or two and just need to turn off your brain after a stressful morning, you can do far worse than join the all-new Police Squad with Drebin and his co-horts.

Went straight to the Thomas Sharp School after Naked Gun ended. I rode my bike despite the gale-force wind. It's been a week. My knee is a tiny bit sore, but not stiff anymore. Besides, I'm tired of taking Uber all of the time. I'll take it tomorrow because Jessa is picking me up later and on Wednesday because of my double-shift (and we're supposed to have rain that day), but otherwise, I should be fine to ride.

Good thing I got there just in time. We had 28 kids today, 10 of them at my table. I need to talk to them tomorrow about not helping to clean up the Duplos. Two of the boys and I had to do all the work while the others waited in line. I also talked to them in the halls outside the bathroom about using their words when one of the girls reported several kids calling each other names. They were all pretty crazy in the cafeteria too as two of the girls ran around and tried to hide behind the dry erase board and two of the boys threw magnetic tiles everywhere.

Thank heavens we were able to get them all outside today with no trouble. It was just starting to cloud over as the kids ran around and chased bubbles. One of the mothers used to be a teacher and knows how to play with kids. She pretended to be a monster and chased the kids and her son around. They even put her in "jail" - the big old tree on one side of the playground. When we were down to six kids, we let them on the swings. I got to push them, but also had to argue them off when their friends wanted to ride. This was also when the clouds and cold, strong wind finally took over. By the time I left, the other teachers were just taking the remaining 4 kids inside. 

Stopped at CVS on the way home for cough drops. I'm almost out. They had huge bags on sale buy one, get one 50 percent off. I bought family-sized bags of their own honey-lemon and eucalyptus. It wasn't terribly busy. I was in and out with no trouble.

Took a shower when I got in, then grabbed dinner and watched Match Game '90. It's nice to see celebrities like Bill Kirkenbauer, Tom Villard, and Rebecca Arthur of Perfect Strangers whom I remember so well from my own childhood. I wish I remembered Ronn Lucas and Scorch - those two are some of the best things about Match Game '90. Slightly ditzy soap star Jacklyn Zeman can be a riot, too. 

Finished the night with games featuring children, parents, or whole families playing in honor of Easter next Sunday. Games featuring kids or parents go a long way back. The Parents Game was Chuck Barris' attempt to expand his Newlywed Game empire in 1972. Here, it's parents or newlyweds who want kids answering parenting questions. Basically, The Newlywed Game with parents. It is interesting to see how parenting has changed over the years...and how it hasn't...

The kids get to shine in the short-lived Child's Play from 1982. Adults try to guess words from descriptions given by kids. I have an earlier episode here with the original bonus round that had the champ trying to figure out six written descriptions of words from the kids. While the game play isn't easy, the kids themselves are often hilarious, and host Bill Cullen had real affection for them.

Family Feud is the defacto family game show champ. It started in 1976, and while the original run ended in 1985, the 2012 revival is still going strong in syndication today. I have two original daytime episodes here from 1978 and 1980.

Families had a lot more fun playing against each other in wacky stunts. Family Double Dare is the same as the all-kid game, but with parents and their children competing in stunts and daring each other over questions. Family Challenge from 1995 is more-or-less the same idea, but it's now an hour, and is all messy stunts, no questions. Family Game Night replaces the wild stunts with goofy mini-games based on popular Hasbro board games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, and Connect 4. I have an episode from the last season with the later format that called up many families to let them play various games, then see if they could keep going on the Monopoly number board to win a car.

Families took part in quieter shows, too. The original US version of Blockbusters had two family members or friends playing against a solo player. Bill Cullen would read questions from a letter on a hexagonal board. Whomever won would go on to the Gold Run, where they had to pick two or three letters on a hexagon and answer questions in a row. I wish this had lasted longer in the US! Maybe it would have done better as a trivia show for teens, like the far longer-running British version. (Look for host Tom Kennedy making a cameo to plug Password Plus in the episode I have here.) 

Have fun with your family watching these wacky parents, kids, and families get dunked, take on the Obstacle Course, and play the Feud!

The Parents Game (1972)

Family Feud (1978)

Family Feud (1980)

Blockbusters (1981)

Child's Play (1982)

Family Double Dare (1992)

Family Challenge (1995)

Family Game Night (2013) 

Take Me Out to the Matches

Began the day with breakfast and the vinyl soundtrack from Moana. I've listened to this so much with the kids, I figured it made sense to hear the whole thing. Moana's "I Want" song "How Far I'll Go" was the hit, but the kids' favorite is Maui's hilarious introduction "You're Welcome." We also have the giant crab's song "Shiny" and the opening number for Moana's tribe "Where You Are."

Moana had just finished when I called the Uber driver. Considering how late it was, I was lucky to get one who came in 8 minutes. I got to work just in time. The one going home took 9 minutes. No trouble or traffic either way.

No trouble at work, either. I had help from the Sunday morning bagger for the first two hours. Once he left, I was on my own. It was only really busy for the last hour. Otherwise, there were no problems whatsoever. Most people are probably waiting for next weekend, when we get to Easter and the beginning of the month, to do their shopping. Not to mention, it was too nice outside to be doing any kind of running around indoors. Though it remained windy, it wasn't nearly as cold as yesterday, getting up into the lower 60's. 

I went home, changed, made dinner, and finished the night with the YouTube Match Game marathon. America's national past time turned up quite a bit as questions, usually making jokes about what a ball player says in his sleep with his wife or what they do in the dugout. There were baseball questions in the episode where Brett's answer about what the ball players were covering was censored, in the episode where Charles first mentioned he'd be taking that hiatus to direct The Belle of Amhurst on Broadway, and another with that charming contestant who loved being a coal miner.

Though ball players made frequent appearances on the 1960's Match Game, only two turned up on the 70's-80's run. Don Sutton was a star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers when he first appeared on the show in 1976. He became the only semi-regular athlete, turning up occasionally until 1980. His laid-back charm that would later make him popular in the announcer's booth for the Atlanta Braves also made him a lot of fun on Match Game. Joe Gargiola was long retired when he made his only appearance on the show in early 1978. He was on the hilarious nighttime episode with the mouthy guy from the Bronx and the sweet lady who wanted a kiss from Richard (and got one, whether she won or not). 

Take me out to the ball game for laughs the Match Game way! You won't care if you ever get back from this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Take Me Out to the Ballgame Marathon

Cold Spring Matches

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and the 2018 Disney Muppet Babies. "Kermit and Fozzie's Egg-cellent Adventure" sends them around the back yard to find more eggs before the other kids. Fozzie keeps rushing ahead before Kermit can make a plan. When Fozzie loses two eggs, Kermit quits. Talking to Miss Nanny makes Fozzie realize just how important it is to take things slow and plan first. Animal puts off using the bathroom, then regrets it when they travel to the city of Ratlantis. Animal discovers how important it is to go when you need to when "Animal and the Little Accident" doesn't make it back in time. The others assure him that it's happened to all of them.

Switched to PAW Patrol while getting ready for work. "Pups Save the Easter Egg Hunt" when they color and hide eggs for Mayor Goodway after she breaks her arm. Alex contributes a huge colored egg, but an eagle steals the egg, the basket, and Rusty and Chickaletta in it. Turns out the egg was the eagle's baby, and she wants it back. The others have to rescue them and the basket without harming anyone, including the eagles.

Called Uber after the pups ended. No trouble here at all. The driver going to work arrived in 8 minutes. I got to the Acme just in time. The one going home surprisingly only took 4 minutes, despite it being the height of rush hour. 

It wasn't busy when I got to the Acme or when I left, but it got really crazy in between. There were long lines for a lot of the afternoon. The head bagger took over a register during the second hour and would remain there for the rest of the evening. I had a hard time keeping up with the carts until things finally died down in the last hour. It didn't help that, though it was sunny, it was also cold and windy, barely in the upper 40's. 

There was a package waiting for me when I got home. That was a surprise. I hadn't ordered anything. It was my Easter gift from Mom. She sent me scones and a big jar of blueberry preserves from Wolferman's Bakery online. There were twelve varieties of scone, two each. I tried Apple Cranberry. Yum! Nicely crumbly and not too sweet. And I was worried about what I'd take for lunch at work tomorrow. 

Took a shower and grabbed leftovers for dinner, then finished the night with today's Match Game marathon. When 1978 began, Match Game was just starting to slide in the ratings, thanks to ill-advised schedule changes and more conservative tastes. Richard Dawson had noticed, too. He wanted a bigger salary and either equal billing with Gene Rayburn or to be let go. He was by far the most popular of the regular panelists on the show, and he was hosting the huge hit Family Feud. Goodson-Todman said yes to the salary, but no to the build-up or letting him go. 

That and his burnout from working on two shows with frantic schedules didn't improve Richard's mood. He spent most of mid-1978 acting like a grouch. Gene Rayburn did not appreciate his behavior at all. At one point, he even tried to push at Richard's face to make him smile. He did laugh, but the whole incident was disturbing. 

The arrival of the Star Wheel was the last straw. Richard had always been the go-to panelist for the Head to Head bonus round. The Star Wheel was supposed to assure that all of the panelists would get a turn on the Head to Head. Richard saw it as encroaching on his territory and was furious. Ironically, it landed on him the first time they used it, prompting everyone but Scoey Mitchelll (including Richard himself) to walk out. Richard lasted a few weeks after the set was revamped, but the writing was on the wall. By late June, he was barely reacting or doing much of anything. His wearing glasses during his last two weeks to cover an infection (he wore them on Feud during those weeks too) didn't help matters. After June 25th, he left and never looked back. 

(Oh, and though Richard apparently tried over the years, Gene was so offended by how Richard acted in those last weeks, he never spoke to him again.)

At any rate, see how all this went down for yourself in these hilarious and heartbreaking episodes!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Richard's Downfall On Match Game & Exit Marathon

Trouble In the Spring

Began the morning with breakfast and the second season of Pac Man. "Here's Super-Pac," and he's...well, he's not the brightest Power Pellet in the forest. He still manages to get the job done with Pac Man's help when Mezmeron creates a huge Ghost Monster robot to attack Pac Land. "Hey Hey, It's PJ," Pac Man's super-cool cousin. This Pac-Fonzie wants drop out of high school and live in Pac Man's garage. Unlike the Cunninghams when Fonzie moved in, Pac Man is able to talk PJ into returning to school (and clears out his groupies). 

It was getting late, but I really did have grocery shopping I couldn't put off. I called Uber. They took 12 minutes to arrive, not bad at noon, and 8 minutes to pick me up at the Acme. No trouble on Cuthbert, thankfully.

I started with lunch at the Westmont Bagel Shop. I didn't know they made such delicious blueberry pancakes! They were the lightest, fluffiest pancakes I'd ever had, with big, juicy blueberries. The bacon was melt-in-your mouth crispy. Unfortunately, I got blueberries on my good Lands End paisley shirt and tried to use all-purpose cleaner in the bathroom to get it out...not realizing it had bleach in it. Of course, I ruined a shirt that cost me a bundle. 

Grocery shopping went slightly better. I didn't really need a ton of Sprouts anyway. I was mainly there for golden raisins from the bulk bins and because their coconut milk is cheaper. I like their cookies better than the Acme's, too, and they have flavors the Acme doesn't, like snickerdoodle. Got two cans of soda on a good sale.

It was cloudy, chilly, and blustery when I hiked down the hill and back up past the Haddon Township Library, McDonald's, and Haddon Township High School to the Westmont Acme. They were even less busy than Sprouts had been. I had no trouble restocking soda on sale, yogurt, cheese, chicken, and granola. Two slices of carrot cake roll were cheap compared to every other treat in the bakery. I had online coupons for granola bars and strawberries. 

I had just enough time to put everything away when I got home before I had to call Uber again. They arrived in 12 minutes. I thought I had enough time, but...of course, they went in the wrong direction because I pushed the wrong button. Again. They were going to the Acme. This time, I caught the mistake, and the guy was able to turn around and get me to the Thomas Sharp School right on time. (And yes, I gave him a big tip for that.)

Things went a little better inside. I only had 6 kids at my table, and they did clean up fast once they found out they had to hit the bathroom first. No trouble in the bathroom, either. Things were wilder in the cafeteria after snack. We only had 20 kids all together, and it still got kind of crazy. One poor miss was upset because she lost the bag with the toothbrush and bubble wand she'd gotten from the "tooth fairy." (If the papers in the bags were any indication, I suspect a dental office in Voorhees talked to them about dental hygiene.) She did find the bubbles, but we never turned up anything else, no matter how much we looked. 

Despite the chillier day, we did manage to get onto the playground. They generally had a wonderful time chasing each other around, dancing to "The Wiggle Dance," "The Jungle Dance," the themes from PJ Masks and Bluey, "I Like to Move It," "Try Everything" from Zootopia, and songs from Moana, Tangled, The Little Mermaid, and Frozen. There was some arguing over swings later, once it thinned out enough that the kids could use them without running into anyone else, but most of them loved it when I gave them "big boosts!"

This time, it was too cold to stay out all day. When we were down to six kids, we went back inside. They built with Duplos and played with the older kids while I sharpened colored pencils. We were down to four younger kids and five older ones when I headed out.

It was still nice enough by 5:30 to walk home. I stopped at Speedy Mart for a treat, then continued down the White Horse Pike. It was chilly, yes, and breezy, but frankly not all that out of the ordinary for late March. The sun tried to break through the clouds, leaving an eerie golden glow on the rippling waters of Peter Creek as I passed near the CVS.

Watched Match Game '90 as I ate dinner when I got home. It started with the last two episodes of that wild week with Marines in the audience and as contestants. Karen Wittier of One Life to Live proved she was no dumb blonde by getting the Head-to-Head right twice in a row. Fiona Hutchinson spent the week flirting with Ronn Lucas and his dragon puppet Scorch. Charles stuck around for the next week, joined by veteran voice actor Joe Alasky and Sally Struthers. (Sally mentioned playing a dog on a cartoon. That would be Tail Spin, where she was the voice of Baloo's boss Rebecca Cunningham.) 

Got my schedule at this point, too. It's...pretty much the same as this week with more and earlier hours next Saturday. This should change once we get to Easter week, when I suspect a lot of people will be on vacation. 

Finished the night with another 80's cartoon, The Secret of Nimh. Widowed farm mouse Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) is horrified when she learns her little son Timmy (Ian Fried) is sick with pneumonia. They have to move out of the fields soon, as the plow will soon be coming through, but he can't get out of bed. The Great Owl (John Carradine) directs her to the rats who live in the rose bush near the farm house.

Turns out these are no ordinary rodents. They're a highly developed society of extremely intelligent rats and mice who escaped from a government testing facility years before. Mrs. Brisby learns from the head of the group Nichodemus (Derek Jacobi) that her husband had been one of them. He gives her a special amulet and arranges for his rats to move her cinder block home, before they leave the farm to create their own home in a distant valley. Scheming Jenner (Paul Shenear) has no desire to upset the rose bush and causes the moving to fail...but he didn't count on Mrs. Brisby's courage or her strong devotion to her children.

This is one of my favorite animated movies, and possibly the best animated film of the 1980's and Don Bluth's strongest solo effort. The animation is stunning, Jerry Goldsmith's score is gorgeous, and the Paul Williams ballad "Flying Dreams" is one of the loveliest end credit numbers of the decade. Hartman stands out as the touching mother mouse, but the entire all-star cast is solid. Highly recommended for older elementary-school and pre-teen animal lovers who can handle the violence level and the mature themes of death, grief, and animal testing. 

What Could Be Better Than This?

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Donald, Daisy, Pluto, and Goofy have to find six eggs that lead to "Mickey's Springtime Surprise" Mickey and Minnie hid. Funny Bunny Pete is determined to hide the eggs and keep them hopping, but the others figure out how to get around his tricks and pranks.

Stayed at Disney Plus for Zootopia 2. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) have only been partners on the Zootopia Police Force for a week, but they're already showing signs of fracturing. Judy finds a snake skin during a smuggling raid and is convinced snakes are involved somehow, but reptiles haven't been seen in Zootopia for a hundred years. 

Infiltrating a gala ball celebrating Zootopia's 100th anniversary, they encounter white lynx Pawbert Lynxley (Andy Samberg), the nerdy runt of Zootopia's mafia-like founding family, and pit viper Gary De'Snake (Ke Hu Quan), who uses Pawbert's father Milton (David Straitham) to steal the journal with the notes on the creation of the walls that regular Zootopia's climate zones. Milton threatens to kill Gary to protect the journals, and when Judy won't destroy them, he frames her and Nick. Now Judy and Nick are on the run, searching through the lowest reaches of Zootopia for evidence that the Lynxleys aren't the big founders they claim to be, and that reptiles are more important to Zootopia than anyone wants to believe.

I can see why this was a huge hit last November. For one thing, this corrected some of my problems with the original. The villains are more menacing and not quite so obvious, the characters have more to do, and the story is more interesting and less obvious. Goodwin and Bateman may be even funnier and more touching here, and Quan's Gary is touching and hilarious. The real winner here is Samberg, who manages to make Pawbert both adorably awkward and almost terrifying, especially towards the end. Violence and some surprisingly dark themes make this for older elementary school mystery lovers and those who were huge fans of the first film.

Spent most of the morning doing more research on agencies that might be able to help me get a home. The big one is the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. There's also New Jersey Citizen Action and the Camden County First Time Homebuyer's Program. I'm way, way under the financial limit for all three, I have good credit, and I have two jobs, one of which I've been doing for 27 years. I'll start checking further into these and making phone calls next week.

Went for a short walk to briefly test my knee and enjoy the gorgeous weather. It was sunny, breezy, and ridiculously warm for March, probably in the mid-70's at 1 PM. I got a cheesesteak-filled pretzel, two soft pretzels, and a can of Diet Pepsi from A&A Pretzels for lunch, then headed back on home. 

Had lunch while watching two fruit-based episodes of Good Eats. In "Apple Family Values" (the very first episode to cover fruit back in 2000),  Alton shows how to make yummy baked apples, crisp Waldorf Salad, and how to use the microwave to make perfect applesauce. "Strawberry Sky" gives us a look at one of my favorite fruits, with macerated strawberries, strawberry pudding (which is really more of a strawberry bread pudding), and strawberries and cream.

Called Uber after the strawberry episode ended. Alas, I couldn't get a ride for 13 minutes, which meant I was slightly late to the Thomas Sharp School. I got in almost 8 minutes late.

That was the worst thing that happened all day. We had 24 kids all together, 8 at my table. They cleaned up pretty fast and weren't too bad in the bathrooms...because they wanted to go outside and enjoy this gorgeous weather, too. In fact, we weren't inside for more than 20 minutes after snack time ended. The kids spent the entire rest of the afternoon outside on the playground and had a marvelous time doing so. They chased bubbles and each other, dancing to "Pup Pup Boogie" from Paw Patrol, "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, the themes from PJ Masks and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the kid dance songs "Swab the Decks" and "The Checkout Song," and songs from Moana, Moana 2, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

Once we were down to 6 kids, they were allowed on the swings. I even got to push them, which they loved. I got some good out of hauling all those carts around! The remaining five older kids had just joined the four younger kids that were left when I finished my shift. I even walked home, so I could keep enjoying that lovely weather.

Put on The Unsinkable Molly Brown when I got home. I go further into this 1964 biography of the pioneering Colorado high society lady played by a game Debbie Reynolds at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Finished the night at YouTube with The Bernstein Bears Play Ball in honor of baseball season starting today. I went further into this and the Easter special Peter and the Magic Egg at my musical blog back in late March 2024. 

The Bernstein Bears Play Ball

Laughter In the Sunshine

Began the morning with breakfast and Little Bear. Father Bear wants to read his newspaper, but Little Bear's "Hiccups" keep making noise. His friends try to help him get rid of them. Little Bear is so excited about his "Date With Father Bear," he wakes him up early. They hike up to "Pudding Hill" together, where they go camping and befriend a beaver family.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. No trouble here whatsoever. The one going to the Acme came in 9 minutes. To my surprise, it only took 2 minutes for the one going to Thomas Sharp to arrive. The one going home came in 5 minutes. No trouble anywhere, and I got to both jobs well ahead of time.

Absolutely no trouble at the Acme, either. Or much of anything else. They were quiet all morning. I barely had any carts to push. It's the middle of the week and the middle of a month without a lot going on besides March Madness and the start of baseball season. Most people won't be thinking of Easter until next week. I was in and out with no trouble whatsoever.

Maybe everyone went out to lunch. Applebee's was a lot busier when I arrived, more than it normally would be on a Wednesday. I enjoyed their Grilled Chicken Bacon Ranch Sandwich, fries, and a Diet Coke while watching a family with the most adorable little girl who kept trying to run off. After lunch, I briefly returned to the Acme to buy travel hand wipes for my backpack purse and toothpaste before I called Uber.

Since I got a driver much faster than I expected, I arrived at Thomas Sharp early. Went for a walk around a couple of blocks before school began. Everything is getting much greener now. There's soft green buds on the trees, carpets of emerald grass, and bright yellow daffodils and purple and white crocus in every garden. Not a bit of snow or ice left anywhere, not even in that standing metal container in the shade. 

It wasn't too bad when I arrived. The 9 kids at my table cleaned up quickly and behaved fairly well in the bathrooms. Three of them even gave me hugs in the hall when I told them I loved them. This time, the trouble started during lunch. One of the boys knocked over his bottle of Gatorade, and we're out of paper towels. We had to go get them from the bathrooms. The kids tried to clean up or play in the Gatorade, neither of which were terribly helpful. Four of them were so wild after we cleaned up and the kids were drawing and playing with magnetic tiles, the head teacher kept them in the cafeteria briefly to talk to them while we took the others outside.

Things improved once everyone got out in the sunshine. The clouds had been in and out all day, but by quarter after 4, it was sunny as can be. Two of the boys bonked their heads on the slide equipment, but they seemed to recover quickly once they got ice packs. I talked to one girl who got upset because one of the boys had already shared his toy with her and wasn't giving her another turn when she'd already had two. Otherwise, they all had a great time, chasing each other and dancing to the themes from PJ Masks and Bluey, "I Like to Move It," "Swab the Deck," "The Gummy Bear Song," and songs from Moana, Moana 2, KPop Demon Hunters, Trolls, and Encanto. By the time I had finished and called Uber, they were down to two younger kids and five older ones, and they were all outside, running around and pushing each other on the swings.

Went straight into The Price Is Right when I got home. Alas, I came in just as the lady got the final red X on Three Strikes. The Showcase Showdown went a bit better. The lady bidding on a spa and dining room furniture went way over. The one who bid on the "How to watch movies at home"-themed car, TV, and projection equipment Showcase got so close, she just barely missed getting both showcases.

Started off with Match Game Syndicated for the first hour. They were on the week where Marcia Wallace, Joyce Bulifant, and Betty White all rotated taking over for Brett Somers when she was out doing a play. Joyce commented that she could finally understand how everyone on the top tier kept taking everyone else's answers - she could see them clearly from Brett's usual seat!

For some reason, the second hour flipped way ahead to Match Game '90. Betty and Charles stuck around, joined by Joe Alasky, Vicki Lawrence, and game show host Johnathan Prince. Ross Shafer asked the questions and led everyone through the Match Up mini-game that had contestants doing quick matching with the celebrity of their choice. I'm not overly fond of the Match Up game, which slows the pacing, but otherwise, I seriously regret that the Philly ABC didn't run this when it came out. I think I would have gotten a kick out of it as an 11-year-old.

Finished the night with an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in honor of Women's History Month. Angels Revenge is just about the most 1979 B action movie you can possibly imagine. Six gorgeous women (and one really pretty teenager) stop the drug cartel that has been selling its wares among the students of one of them. Needless to say, Mike and the robots are very quick to point out how absurd this is, how none of the women can act, and how genuinely good actors like Peter Lawford, Jack Palance, and Jim Backus ended up here for paychecks. Definitely not recommended for anyone but true aficionados of really, really cheesy B action movies of the 70's and 80's. 

It's a Sunshiny Day

Began a late morning with breakfast and Pac Man. Mezmeron gives "The Pac Mummy" a medallion that allows him to control it. Pac Man has to save Pepper and Pac Baby from the Pac Pyramid when the Mummy makes off with them. It's "Nighty Nightmares" for the Ghosts when they accidentally turn their nightmare machine on them and have wacky bad dreams about Pac Man and the other Pac-landers chomping them.

Switched to Murder She Wrote while looking up the website for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency. Private eye Harry McGraw (Jerry Orbach) may think "Tough Guys Don't Die," but someone killed his partner when he was out on assignment. He believes it had to do with one of the three cases the guy was working on, but Jessica thinks he's got the wrong one. While he pursues a man who may be two-timing his wife, Jessica looks at a murder who may have had the wrong man arrested and the female editor of a magazine who suddenly retracts her intention of running for public office.

Switched to The First Easter Rabbit while having a really quick lunch and getting ready for work. I went further into this Rankin-Bass special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2023. 

Easter Short Subject Special - The First Easter Rabbit

Thankfully, no trouble getting a ride to the Thomas Sharp School, other than I made the call late and had to pay a bundle for it. At least the guy arrived in 5 minutes, and I got there in plenty of time.

We started with reading two books in the library, since the music class was still using the cafeteria. I had 10 kids today, and they were a little antsy in the bathrooms and waiting in line. I had to remind them not to block the door to the halls. The boiler room is right across from the boys' bathroom, and the custodians have their offices between the two bathrooms. They need to get in. Snack time and playing afterwards was even crazier. One of the girls spilled applesauce on herself, and I did my best to clean up her shirt front. Another one threw colored pencils at me until I got mad and put her in time-out. (Her mother did get her to apologize to me before she left later, and I had a talk with her.)

It was too beautiful outside for anyone to be angry for very long. I'm so glad we spent the rest of the afternoon outside. In fact, after it was down to four younger kids, the remaining older kids joined us on the playground. It couldn't have been a more perfect day in mid-March, mid-upper 50's, sunny, and breezy. I pointed out buds on the trees to the kids, another sign that spring is truly here. They happily chased each other and danced to "The Floor Is Lava" and songs from Frozen, Trolls, Moana 2, and KPop Demon Hunters. They even got on the swings, once their numbers had dwindled enough that fewer people were likely to get hurt around them and there were less of them to argue about who would go first.

Jessa picked me up around 5:30. We had a light dinner at Honeygrow at the Ellisburg Shopping Center in Cherry Hill. I'd been wanting to try that place for ages, but there's so many other restaurants in the area, I'd just never gotten around to it. It's basically the same idea as Cava or Chipolte, only with stir-fry and salad in bowls instead of Mexican or Mediterranean food. Jessa had the Chicken Shawmara and strawberry-guava drink. I had sparkling water and a make-your-own bowl with whole wheat noodles, shrimp, vegetables, and garlic butter sauce. Oh yum! It was a wonderful melding of flavors, perfect after all that running around with the kids.

We had dessert at the Rita's Water Ice on the other side of the shopping center. It was getting a little chilly by the time we finally got down there, which is probably why we were the only ones there. Jessa got a butter pecan cone. I couldn't decide and had a gelati with mint chocolate chip water ice and chocolate ice cream. Since it was getting chilly, we ate our treats in Jessa's car.

Finished the night at home with The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town. I went further into my favorite of the three Rankin-Bass Easter specials at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog way back in April 2019.

The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Tow (plus Here Comes Peter Cottontail)