Family Fun Saturday

Began a gorgeous morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Daniel and Miss Elainia get into a "Circle Time Squabble" when they both want to sit next to their older friend Chrissie. Teacher Harriet breaks things up before they get ugly and reminds them that, while it's ok to be angry with someone, it's never ok to hit them. Mrs. Tiger again has to remind her son that "It's Not Ok to Hurt Someone" when his little sister Margaret knocks over his block fence and he's upset.

Emily Elizabeth is also upset in the current version of Clifford the Big Red Dog that began last year. She and Clifford have "The Birdwell Island Blues" when her day starts off with her stubbing her toe and spilling juice on her parade shirt. Clifford's attempts to make her feel better just get him angry...and pretty soon, half the island is feeling the blues. It'll take Emily and Clifford sharing a laugh to remind them that bad times pass, and they can make things better by helping friends. When their friend Jack shows him his father's trunk of his travels around the world. Emily turns a ride on Clifford into "The Big Red World," taking a tour around the island to see the many cultures represented by the people who live there.

Worked on that letter and what to write in it for a few hours after breakfast. Rose called while I was looking up letter templates online. Did I want to go over her house for dinner and to discuss the letter and the move? Why not? I hadn't seen them since the Super Bowl, and Rose did want to go over the rent. It would be nice to talk to the family for a while.

Broke at 12:30 for lunch. Switched to Hulu for the original The Powerpuff Girls. This trio of super-powered, anime-inspired six-year-olds fight some of the most unusual villains in animation, as in the first season episode "Boogie Frights." Bubbles, the sweetest and gentlest of the trio, is terrified of the dark. When the Boogie Man and his minions blot out the sun with their giant disco ball, it's up to Bubbles to show that she can survive to bring back the light. When the oldest theater in town is torn down, it unleashes the zombie of disgraced magician Al Lusion. As "Abrakadaver," he tries to hypnotize sensible leader Blossom, but she has tricks of her own up her pink sleeves.

Moved to The Roku Channel for the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake. "Baby Takes the Cake" in the second season when Apple Dumplin' tries to help the older girls with their baking. The girls tell her that she's not old enough yet, despite her protests that she's a "big girl now." She eventually dreams that she's the older girl who has to deal with baby Strawberry and her friends and still make that cake.

Went for a short walk in the neighborhood after I ate. The weather was marvelous today. While still in the 80's, it was breezy and bright and nowhere resembling as humid as it's been the past couple of days. I'm surprised I didn't see more people out and about. There was a young couple sharing a Chik Fil' A lunch at the bench on the boat landing at Goff Avenue and a few kids on bikes, but everyone else must have been enjoying their yards.

Rose picked me up a little after 2. We had to make a few quick stops first. She needed hard taco shells for dinner at Dollar General and milk at WaWa. I waited in the car and messed around with my phone both times.

We went right in the back as soon as we got home. Rose and her husband Craig made up for not being able to go anywhere by setting up a sanctuary in their backyard. They bought the kids a large inflatable pool and created a makeshift patio with colorful vinyl beach blankets, heavy plastic Adirondack-style chairs, and their rainbow beach umbrella. Craig has a block set off for flowers, tomato plants, and herbs. (He mentioned rabbits keep getting into the first two.) My two-year-old niece Finley kept offering me her baby Goldfish crackers, then patted my broken arm and kissed it to make it "all better."

Moved inside while Rose went over the letter and the rent and called Jodie. Finley insisted on sitting next to me on the couch, but she kept trying to climb on my bad arm. Rose finally got her to cuddle me on my other side. We watched the last fifteen or so minutes of last year's animated Addams Family movie and two episodes of What's New, Scooby Doo on Netflix with Khai (who apparently is now addicted to Scooby Doo).

The verdict is...now I'm not moving until late June-July. Jodie can't get anyone to paint until mid-June, and Rose and Craig can only help me move on weekends. I understand why they switched dates again, but I'm still disappointed. I'm off work and am already half-packed. Rose says we still need to figure out what to do with a lot of my furniture that won't fit in the new apartment, especially if Goodwill and other similar places don't reopen. We're also going to finally drop pushing Willa about the furniture. As I tried to tell her, it's pretty clear in the lease that neither she nor her family want anything to do with the contents of this apartment.

The kids were so hungry, Rose made the tacos early. Khai devoured his one taco and bowl of peas and corn. I finished my peas, corn, and two soft tacos with home-grown cherry tomatoes pretty quickly myself. Rose is a good cook, and the tacos came out very well, just the right kind of spicy.

Watched Bubble Guppies with Finley for a little while after dinner. The Bubble Guppies do fantasy again, this time dealing with a dragon terrorizing the Land of Roses. The nervous king insists that they move, but one of the girls may have a better solution.

Rose and the kids drove me home around 5:30. Spent the next hour and a half writing. Charles finds Queen Betty in Malade's gloomy rock garden, among the many people the evil queen turned into statues. Charles admonishes the queen, who is posing as a marquess, to return to the castle and prepare to find the others. She wanted to go to the stables and see her beloved horses...but first, she wants to play with her gold ball, which she keeps with her at all times. It's the only thing she has left that her dear Allen gave her. She's tossing it over the deep well when Charles stumbles into her, and she drops it to the bottom. She's in despair, before she hears a certain croaking voice offering to retrieve it...

Moved on to Sheriff Callie again while I cleaned up from earlier. "Horseshoe Peck" doesn't think he's good at anything, until he discovers he's great at horseshoes...and then he brags and becomes a poor winner. Callie has to teach her wayward deputy that it's about how you play the game. When Peck and Toby lose "Callie's Gold Nugget," Peck has to think pretty fast to figure out how to replace it.

Finished the night online with Red Riding Hood. I go further into the last of the Cannon Movie Tales of the 1980's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Family Fun Saturday - Red Riding Hood (1989)