Hart of Gold

Started off a sunny, breezy morning with breakfast and the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Tubi. Lauren's favorite episode of that show is "The Three Musketurtles," and I like that one, too. Leonardo gets a bump on his head that makes him think he's D'Antagan, his brothers are the Three Musketeers, Shredder is Cardinal Richelieu, and April is the queen of France. Shredder wants a pink diamond Irma wears that will allow him to create an invincible force field around his body...but Krang wants it, too. The boys have to fight the duo, keep them from the jewel, and hope that Leo remembers who he is and gets off the swashbuckling kick fast.

Headed out around 10:30, after the episode ended. It was a gorgeous day for a walk around Collingswood and Westmont. The sun was shining, the sky was a hazy white-blue, and a soft breeze ruffled the green waters of Newton Lake. Though it was hot, in the upper 80's, it was also dry without a hint of humidity in sight. 

We started things off with lunch at the Pop Shop. It's now or never to eat there. They'll be shutting down for remodeling and a complete revamp of their menu at the end of the month. They were really busy when we arrived around 11 with a fairly large graduation party in their big dining area. Lauren and I passed the time watching the little kids at the party run around and their parents chase after them before the harried waitress finally brought us our meals. They were worth the wait. Lauren had a "Magill" grilled cheese with three types of cheese. I had a "Calvert" with provolone cheese, turkey, bacon, and avocado spread. We both enjoyed their crispy, salty tater tots, but decided it was too busy to stick around for ice cream.

Spent the next two hours strolling up and down Haddon Avenue. Clutter and Occasionette were fun to look at, but most of their wares were expensive and too hard to carry home. Lauren found a Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic toy for a friend at Time Lapses. I picked up the book The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and another small Care Bear. I Care Bear is a marbled blue-green, with a tummy symbol representing a rainbow connecting a heart and the Earth. I'm guessing he's for Earth Day. I'll dial his name down to Earth Bear and will keep him out as a spring decoration.

I did even better at Innergroove Records. While Lauren chatted about vintage wrestling with the owner, I dug three out of the $2 bin, plus one that was a bit pricey, but I'd wanted it for a while: 

Michael Nesmith - Compilation (This was the expensive one at $17.99, but I've been looking for more of Mike's solo work.)

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook and Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook

After we got out, we moved along to Secret Comics further down Haddon Avenue. There was nothing of interest for me here (other than some really cute Bluey books), but Lauren loves comics, especially Batman and Nightwing. She didn't see anything she really wanted, and we moved along.

Our next stop was Samaritan Thrift in Westmont after grabbing sodas at WaWa. The tiny shop was packed with older women looking for good deals before the store closed at 3 PM. Neither of us found anything we could live without and got out of there quickly.

Primo's Water Ice across the street was also busy, with long lines of kids and parents hoping to get cold treats. I decided I had too heavy of a lunch for ice cream and went with chocolate peanut butter water ice. Lauren had soft-serve raspberry ice cream. Yum! I didn't taste much peanut butter in there, but I sure tasted chocolate. Lauren said she really enjoyed hers, too.

Our next stop was Phidelity Records on the next block. Once again, Lauren didn't get anything, but I made a few finds. Fished three records out of the two-dollar bin and a $15 CD set featuring the Billboards Top Hits collections from 1985 through 1989. I've had 1989 for more than 20 years and gave the new copy to Lauren, but kept the others. The records were:

Tale Spinners for Children: Robin Hood

Anne Murray - Anne Murray's Greatest Hits

Spike Jones and His City Slickers - The Best of Spike Jones and His City Slickers

Next up was a long walk down Cuthbert Road to Sprouts. There are no Sprouts in Lauren's area, so I had to introduce it to her. She bought five sodas and energy drinks for the week along with banana chips from the bulk bins and a cute little stuffed cherry. I got coconut milk, yogurt, three sodas and a fancy tea, raspberry-lemon mango slices and small bars of bitter dark chocolate from the bulk bins, and white chocolate macadamia cookies on clearance. 

By the time we got out of Sprouts, it was past 4 PM. Not only were we tired of walking, but it was the height of rush hour, and we had heavy bags of groceries. I called Uber to get us home. He arrived within ten minutes, not bad for rush hour on busy Cuthbert Road, and got us back in less than 5.

I put on Remember WENN while we put everything away, relaxed, and had dinner. "A Capitol Idea" introduces brash new station manager Scott Sherwood, who claims Victor sent him as his replacement. Scott gains new sponsors by weaving the ads into the stories until he basically invents infomercials...which makes the shows all sound alike. Betty says she'll resign, Mr. Eldridge won't come in at all, and Ceila ends up getting hired to do promotions. The others mix up the shows in the hope of getting Betty and Mr. Eldridge back.

Scott's "Popping the Question" when he comes up with a rigged game show over a decade before Barry and Enright produced their first quiz. Mackie, Hilary, Jeff, and Betty work together to prove that shows work best when they're honest to their listeners. Meanwhile, sweet lawyer Doug Thompson is waiting (and waiting) for Betty to remember their date.

"World of Tomorrow" has Scott and Betty coming up with an imitation Wizard of Oz fantasy story for a big show at the 1939 World's Fair. Betty would love Jeff Singer to be their Voice of Tomorrow, but Jeff has been called to London by Victor Comstock to broadcast with him. Scott finds a way to make Jeff a part of the program anyway...but then a bomb falls on the studio where Jeff and Victor are broadcasting, and their feed is cut off...

We find out what happened to the duo in the second-season opener "Radio Silence." Jeff sustained injuries, but lived, to Hilary's delight. Victor wasn't so lucky. Betty is taking his death badly, writing script after script where nothing bad happens and regretting having never told Victor her feelings for him. Fed up with her hiding and her insisting on a moment of silence every hour for Victor, Scott finally flat-out tells the despondent young woman that you can't honor anyone by wallowing in grief.

Watched Match Game on Buzzr next. Caught the tail end of Match Game PM, then Match Game '91. Loved hearing Sally Struthers talk about her role as the voice of Rebecca Cunningham on Tale Spin. That was one of my favorite cartoons around this time (and I still love it). 

Worked on Land of WENN as I watched. Jeff is Victor's contact...and he's horrified to find that Pavla is holding him prisoner in the office, chained to a chair and drained of his air magic. Jeff agrees to marry Pavla to avoid further damage to Victor, but the bound king knows that the Candy Witch has no intention of keeping her end of the bargain...

Finished the night at The Roku Channel for Hart to Hart. In the second-season finale "The Blue Chip Murder," the Harts return home one night to find their house robbed. Turns out the thieves were looking for something specific. The Harts find a secret room under their house, a room where the previous owner was said to keep a fortune in bonds. They ask an older lady who knew the owner of the house about the bonds...but it's a young stockbroker who is ready to cash his discovery by any means necessary.

I Get Around

This time, we watched a little Family Feud before we started out. I had to stop quick at the kiosk two blocks down to drop off a book there. Cut through the park after that on our way to Collingswood. It remains gorgeous here, sunny, dry, and breezy. We stopped to watch a turtle poke his head out of the green water to enjoy the warmth, and then saw his baby do the same, before moving on down Beechwood.

I needed money, so our next stop was WaWa. I got cash and a Grape Propel. Lauren got two bags of snacks and an iced coffee with milk and vanilla she claimed was like drinking a coffee milkshake. They were pretty busy, so we ducked out fast as we could.

Headed across the street to the farm market after leaving WaWa. Needless to say, they were also busy on such a perfect June day. Lauren initially said she didn't want anything, until I spied a table selling the first cherries, raspberries, and New Jersey blueberries of the season. I bought cherries and blueberries for me and raspberries for her, along with a pretzel ring for my own treat.

Next up was Time Lapse, the collectibles store a couple of blocks down on Haddon Avenue. They're basically a smaller version of The House of Fun, with books and records along with the vintage toys and games. I found two Hello Kitty Happy Meal toys and a genuine vintage She Ra (missing her accessories) in two bins featuring loose action figures 3 for $9.99. I'll give them to the daughter of a friend of mine. Lauren picked up a Cabbage Patch figure, an Inspector Gadget figure, and a GoBot, a bagged wrestling figure, a copy of Cracked for her dad, and two tins of Golden Girls mints. 

Went a few doors down after that to Clutter, which specializes in more elegant antiques, but we found nothing there. I didn't buy anything at Haddon Culinary, but Lauren picked up a container of cocoa-dusted pecans. She didn't find anything at the Library's book sales, but I got Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends: The Complete Season 1 and Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin. 

We decided to move on after that. Since we weren't far from the PATCO, we opted to take that to Haddonfield. They were surprisingly full for noon on Saturday. I guess a lot of people were going out to lunch in the small towns along Haddon Avenue.

After we got off the train, we made our way straight down King's Highway to The British Chip Shop. Thankfully, unlike last year, it was open when we arrived. In fact, it too was busy. We had to briefly wait for a table. I was surprised to see the Phillies playing the Mets on their TV...until I remembered they were in London. We celebrated Bryce Harper's and Edumundo Sosa's home runs while she had a Beef and Cheddar Melt with "chips" (fries) and French onion soup to dip them in, and I had a cold sliced chicken sandwich with lettuce, crisp apples, mustard, and Irish cheddar and a salad. 

(And the Phillies jolly well flattened the wayward Mets 7-2.)

I hadn't checked out Happy Hippo Toys in a while...and remembered why when I saw the prices. They had some great stuff, including a lot of Care Bears merchandise, but most of it was overpriced. Haddonfield shops tend to be expensive. Not to mention, there were a lot of families in the small store, checking out the rows of dolls, books, games, and stuffed animals. We bought nothing here and moved on.

RAM Arcade is three blocks down Haddon Avenue from Happy Hippo. They're pretty much the same deal as the arcade at the Nerd Mall yesterday, slightly larger and with pinball machines replacing the Japanese cabinets. The pinball machines weren't working and a few of the games were down as well, but there was enough that did work for us to spend an enjoyable hour. I got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to myself this time. Also tried Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Rampage, Space Invaders, Carnival King, Area 51, Tron, Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Dig Dug, Centipede, and Frogger. Did best at Ms. Pac Man, getting to the fifth level. I always did play better with the faster Ms. than her pokier hubby. 

Since it was such a nice day, we decided to just walk down Haddon Avenue to Westmont. Cooled off when we got in with Primo's Water Ice. Surprisingly, they weren't busy when we finally made it down there. Lauren had a root beer soft serve cone. I went with chocolate peanut butter water ice. The water ice wasn't all that chocolatey, but it sure had a lot of thick peanut butter. Lauren seemed to enjoy her root beer cone a lot more.

Phidelity Records is on the next block over from Primo's. Like Abbie Road, they carry CDs and DVDs in addition to records. Lauren said she mostly found instrumental CDs for her parents, but she did get a copy of the Goo Goo Dolls for herself and The Sunshine Boys on DVD for all of them. I didn't find any DVDs this time, but I did get two CDs:

Miles Davis - Nefertiti

The soundtrack from the Disney fireworks/light show Fantasmic!

And five records: 

The Care Bears - Adventures In Care-a-Lot (We had this one when we were kids in the 80's.)

Strawberry Shortcake - Sweet Songs

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Dave Digs Disney

The George Shearing Quintet - Touch Me Softly

The original London cast album for Robert and Elizabeth, a hit West End operetta on the life of Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. (And don't ask me how I keep finding British cast albums on this side of the Atlantic.) 

By the time we went across the street to WaWa for a Mocha Brownie Smoothie and another vanilla iced coffee, we were hot, tired, and sore from a lot of walking. Not to mention, it was past 5:30. Rush hour on Cuthbert Road and Haddon Avenue aren't fun at any time of the week, but it's especially crazy on the weekends. I ended up calling Uber for a ride home. The girl came in 10 minutes and got us back in less than 5. 

When we got home, we got organized, then had dinner while watching Dr. Seuss On the Loose and Pontoffel Pock, Where are You? I go further into these two classic Seuss specials at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Seuss Short Subject Special - Dr. Seuss On the Loose and Pontoffel Pock, Where are You? 

I took a shower, then joined Lauren for Match Game '76. These episodes were from the hilarious week featuring Isobel Sanford and Martin Hamlisch. The latter managed to play the show's theme on his toy piano and wrote songs about Brett and the sweet contestant Farnicia. Charles joined him to put over the latter two.

Watched The Lawrence Welk Show next. Welk and his musical family did at least two episodes themed around vacations. The first went way back to 1967. Cissy King is introduced here, dancing the Charleston with Bobby Burgess to the tune of "Ma, He's Making Eyes at Me." Lynn Anderson also makes her debut with "If I Kiss You." Jo Ann Castle is a piano-playing mermaid and Larry Hooper is the deep-sea diver looking for her while singing "Many of the Mermaid." (Jo Ann later reported that neither costume was especially comfortable.) Jo Ann also joins a trio of flappers and two tapping sheiks for "Thoroughly Modern Millie," complete with fringed piano. The show ends with everyone singing about "Cruising Down the River."

Their 1980 Vacation Show stuck closer to the theme. Guy and Ralna sang "Leaving On a Jet Plane," while Bobby Burgess and his then-partner Elaine Niverson dance "Come to the Mardi Gras." Kathie Sullivan wonders "Have I Stayed Too Long at the Fair?" Jimmy Roberts croons about going "Around the World." Arthur Duncan taps up a storm in "San Francisco." Anacani is more interested in heading to her native Mexico to visit "Acapulco." 

Go on under the sea and around the world without leaving home with Lawrence Welk and his orchestra!

Vacation Show (1967)

Vacation Show (1980)

(I also finally remembered to get my schedule at this point. Not only am I off, but they gave me Saturday off, the one day I didn't ask for. I guess they figured they had plenty of help without calling me in for one day. Good. I can do a farm market run and relax before going back to work.)

Finished the night with a short, late marathon revolving around big wins on Match Game PM. Indeed, some of the show's biggest wins could be found in the nighttime. There was the time David Doyle had to help the contestant with "__ Mountains" for $20,000 after he hit him on the Star Wheel in late 1978. Or when Richard was more than happy to answer "__ Richard" on the Audience Match, then help a contestant win $10,000 in 1976. Ken Olflson was extremely nervous in 1978 when had to help a contestant win $20,000. Gene wasn't too thrilled with the answer most of his panelists gave in 1980 as to what show would make its viewers sick! 

Let's keep winning in the wee hours with this short but sweet marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Big Winners on Match Game PM 

Angels of the Morning

This time, we started off a sunny, breezy morning heading through upstate New York towards Albany. We went around hairpin corners with fabulous views of the Graylock Mountains and through quaint farming hamlets and past small rural towns with lovely old libraries and hotels with wide porches. Pumpkin patches and baskets of apples line roadside stands; dried weeds waved in the breeze. Ran into no traffic anywhere, not even where they're repairing the road and you have to ride over graded highways.

Turned off the highway at 10 to have brunch at Cracker Barrel. Though the outside screams 70's, the inside is pure southern rural. The walls are lined with vintage tin signs, patterns, ads, and even a gun over a fireplace. We shared a cheese and bacon tater tot casserole and fried pickle chips. Lauren had Eggs Benedict, with the eggs over a biscuit instead of an English muffin. I had two big pancakes with scrambled eggs, bacon, and fried apples. Yum! The apples were a little gluey, but everything else was amazing.

We stopped at the gift shop on the way out. This sells basic toys and gadgets, but it also has holiday decorations, records, CDs (mainly for country stars), sweaters and shirts, and lots and lots of wooden rockers lining the front patio. I didn't see anything I wanted, but Lauren picked up a sweater.

It was twenty minutes to our ultimate destination for the day, the massive Crossgates Mall. Parked next to JC Penney, so we figured we'd start there. I found a coral tank top that was just $3.73 on the clearance racks. Lauren came up with two shirts.

Headed to DSW Shoes next-door after that. Lauren wanted new shoes for work. She had the devil of a time finding ones she liked. Either they were too narrow, or too big and slipped. We finally spotted a pair of slip-on loafers in the clearance racks that didn't slip with her wearing socks. And not only that, she got them for $40, 

We were in and out of a few stores next. We found nothing in their Burlington Coat Factory, Build-a-Bear, Jay Street Video Games, FYE, or a local toy store. Lauren spent nearly a half-hour looking for Lego people at the Lego Store and making her own versions of three Hogan's Heroes characters. She bought calendars at Go! Calendars and Toys for herself and her father and a pair of tweed pants for work on a really good clearance at Old Navy.

Spent the next hour at Dave & Buster's (once I finally managed to get my money into the machine). This is pretty much the same deal as Round 1, with no bowling, fewer crane games, and machines that use slightly less tickets. I spent the next hour running from skee ball to wheels you pushed under a lever to bean bag toss, ring toss, and Mario Kart (got Yoshi this time). Ended up with over 2,770 points. Indulged and got a little Charmander, the fire lizard Pokemon, with plenty of points left for next time.

Headed to Primark, the Irish department store, next. This Primark was not only a lot bigger than the one in Philadelphia, it carried a lot more plus size clothes, too. The plus sizes in the city probably get picked over quickly. I saw some sweaters I liked, but they were too heavy for me to carry in my luggage. GameStop yielded no finds. 

By this point, it was quarter after 5. We were way past dinnertime. Trouble is, most of the sit-down restaurants at Crossgates are expensive steakhouses. Finally went with the only one that seemed somewhat reasonable, Maggie McFly's. This is a sleek black and tan modern bar and grill with an aviatrix mascot. We opted for half of a pizza and salad. Lauren had barbecue chicken pizza and Caesar salad. I had a spring greens salad and Hawaiian pizza with ham, pineapple, and cheddar cheese. Oh wow, yum! It was more like a flatbread pizza, not crunchy like I expected, and it was amazing. Even the salad was good.

Finally headed home after that to show Mr. and Mrs. Miller our finds. After we got online, I finished the night with a third season episode of Charlie's Angels at Tubi. "Angel Come Home" brings back Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett) when she thinks her sister Kris (Cheryl Ladd) sent for her. Turns out she did nothing of the sort. Jill thinks she's going to drive a designer's experimental car in a big race. Her fiancee (Stephan Collins) disapproves of her driving the car and the man who created it, but he has his own demons. When tragedy strikes, Jill learns the car designer she admired wasn't as on the up-and-up as she believed, and that her fiancee may have been right after all...

Dance Into the Holiday Season

Awoke to a ringing phone. It was my new counselor for Abilities Solutions, Karen. She wanted to know if I could meet her at 10 AM on Friday morning to discuss my resume and where I could be employed. I made it very clear that I do not want to be in retail anymore. I want something sitting down that involves writing or organizing. My current job is driving me insane, and I want out as soon as possible. She mentioned bringing my social security card, ID, the signed papers they sent two days ago, and a resume to figure out what my skills are and where they can place me.

Went back to sleep for an hour, then read A Deadly Feast for so long, I didn't get to breakfast until noon. Sarah Kennedy and Bobby Van join in for Match Game '75. Brett and Charles really got into teasing each other here, especially on the limerick question in the beginning and the Audience Match "Twinkle __."

The next episode was one of the funniest of 1975. Gene heard that the Germans read "Schnick Schnack" in place of "blank," since they have no word for blank in their language, and decided to try it himself. That led to a round of German accent jokes, especially from Richard Dawson, who worked with several real-life Germans and Austrians on Hogan's Heroes.  

Worked on my Christmas list during the second episode. It's not what I'm getting. It's what I'm giving. All I want this year is to have a relatively normal holiday season after what happened last year. I should be able to send out cards, and I'm hoping to make cookies and candy. Need to round up someone to get me to the storage facility to pick up my Christmas decorations.

Stayed briefly for Tattletales...because Gene Rayburn hosted it. It was one of those game show host weeks where Bert Convy sits in with his wife Ann. They tossed in a few Match Game-style "blank" questions, and Gene had a great time, really running with it. 

Headed out after the first question. Dropped a book at the kiosk in front of the Lutheran Church, then headed to Collingswood to do some Christmas shopping. I would be in and out for the next hour or so after I went to the bathroom at the library. Picked up a game for Lauren and her parents at the Educational Ed toy store and a stuffed gingerbread man toy for tiny Aurora at the new Occasionette Joy Shop, a baby store.

Dodged early rush hour traffic as I headed down Cuthbert Road to the Westmont Target. Had a brief lunch at Starbucks. Just barely missed the teens coming in from the local high school. Thankfully, by the time a long line formed, I'd sat down with my spinach, egg, and feta wrap and Peppermint Mocha Frappucino. After I ate, I found Christmas presents in the toy section for Anny's daughter Lilah and son Collyn. Went next-door to Dollar Tree for cookie bags and candy canes.

Put on the Peanuts Thanksgiving specials when I got in. In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie, and Franklin over to Charlie Brown's house for the big meal. Trouble is, he's going to eat at his grandmother's house. Linus, Snoopy, Charlie, and Woodstock make a dinner of popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans to appease them. Patty's upset, until Linus and Marcie remind her and Charlie Brown of the real reason for the holiday.

The Peanuts take the part of The Mayflower Voyagers, playing pilgrim children and pets traveling to the New World. While the kids and animals did survive in Plymouth, their parents had a rougher go of things. Many settlers died until Squanto and the local natives taught them how to plant corn and other crops. They're so delighted with their harvest, they share what they have in the first feast of Thanksgiving.

Worked on writing for a while. Debralee is impressed with the handsome old Nutcracker Gene found in an antique shop in Burbank. Bart teases her because he can't really crack nuts anymore, but she likes him anyway.

Broke for dinner with friends at 6:30. Came back up at 7 PM. Watched Match Game '77 while I went through Christmas books for baking ideas. Conny Van Dyke may have been obnoxious, but she did get a good zinger on Dick Martin and Gene Rayburn in the opening. The others have a harder time with "__ Matter." Charles ends up in a hospital gown Conny gives him in the second episode and spent the half-hour making doctor jokes.

Finished the night online with several unique versions of The Nutcracker. I love seeing how different countries and regions adapt the story to their area. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King on Kanopy is from Denmark. Their version is set around the 1820's on St. Nicholas Day. Clara's Nutcracker Prince isn't changed back so quickly. The "Land of Sweets" is inside a steampunk camera Godfather Drosselmyer created. There's a second mouse fight in the camera, and the Mouse King's designs are truly terrifying. The Sweets dancers mostly have a Greek theme (though they do retain the Russian trepak dancers and the dancing flowers).

A Russian animation company made a half-hour animated version of The Nutcracker in 1973. I remember seeing this in elementary school, probably sometime in the late 80's, and thinking how strange it was. Here, Marie is a servant rather than one of the household children. The Nutcracker is a neglected toy, and his story is based after The Hard Nut, but with the Prince being turned into a Nutcracker in infancy rather than a bratty princess. The story ends with Marie dancing off into a psychedelic "Waltz of the Flowers" with her prince and never being seen again, which I found quite ominous as a child. (Though the version I found is dialogue-free, I remember the one at school had a male narrator. Apparently, there are at least two US versions with English-dubbed narration. We must have seen the Hans Conried one. According to Wikipedia, Shirley MacLaine narrated a later dubbing.)

Even Hello Kitty played Clara in an animated Nutcracker from her 90's show. Her version follows The Hard Nut, complete with the cursed princess who rejects the Nutcracker after he in turn is cursed by the evil Mouse Queen. Here, she defeats the seven-headed Mouse King with a magical amulet, rather than by throwing her shoe at him.

Beautiful Sunday

I must have been really worn out after all the trouble yesterday. I didn't get up until almost 11 AM! It was closer to 11:30 when I finished with my journal and joined Lauren in the main room. Grabbed a pineapple date bar and blueberries, then lead Lauren downstairs. 

Got an Uber to Gloucester Premium Outlets within 10 minutes. When we told the cheerful young man driving that we were on vacation, he revealed he'd just gotten off vacation, due to his wife having a baby. That lead to a round of happy congratulations! Considering he took the expressway through Bellmawr and past Deptford, we ran into no traffic anywhere and were there within 20 minutes.

The Gloucester Premium Outlets are in Blackwood, just outside of Deptford...and they're gorgeous. Unlike the outlet malls in Atlantic City and Lenox, they're designed as a fully pedestrian mall. In fact, they remind me a lot of the Washington Street Mall in Cape May. Wide sidewalks with lots of seating connect the stores, rather than streets. The entrance sports a beautiful fountain that gurgled and splashed as we entered. Hardtop roofs provided shade and protection from bad weather on the narrower side alleys. 

We started at Go!Toys & Games to make up for the one that closed at the Cherry Hill Mall. They weren't as big as that one, but they did still have some interesting items. I didn't buy anything, but Lauren found a stuffed alligator who somehow managed to be adorable and menacing at the same time. 

There's only two restaurants in the mall, a Friendly's and a just-opened Caribbean place. While Caribbean sounds intriguing, Lauren's only Friendly's is hard to get to, and the other Friendly's in South Jersey have vanished in the last three or four years. This may be the last chance either of us have to enjoy Friendly's. 

It was past 12:30 at that point, and there was a long line of families waiting to get burgers and ice cream. We had to wait 10 minutes before being seated at a booth all the way in the back near the kitchen. It was worth it. We kept things simple and had the soup and salad combo with a plate of mozzarella sticks for each of us. Lauren had olive oil vinaigrette and chicken soup. I had honey mustard dressing and tomato soup. Oh yum! The salad was basic garden, but the tomato soup was rich, creamy, and so thick, it was more like marinara sauce soup. Those mozzarella sticks were fat and crispy and perfectly fried, with two containers of marinara sauce for dipping. 

Even after all that, we had room for dessert. I went with the root beer float I didn't have on Friday. Lauren had a scoop of her favorite black raspberry topped with her dad's favorite Swiss Chocolate Sauce. The float came in a glass taller than some children. I'm glad I only opted for one scoop of vanilla. It would have taken the whole carton to fill that glass!

We had even more luck in the claw game as you left the building. I wanted a red Beanie Baby bear, but ended up with a fat, cute little duck I named Ducky. Lauren got the bear, who turned out to represent Italy.

We were in and out of stores for the next two and a half hours. Lauren bought two shirts at The Loft; I saw nothing I wanted. She also got a plaid button-down shirt at Brooks Brothers for a good price. I found an adorable "Sun Day" yellow t-shirt at the Gap. Picked up three t-shirts, two short-sleeved, one long, at Eddie Bauer. 

I found buy one, get one 70% off wireless bras at Lane Bryant. (And later discovered one is the wrong size. I'll have to take a trip back here, possibly later in the week.) Likewise, Lauren picked up two cute gingham shirts at J.Crew, but they don't really carry my size. We peeked at Jockey, but didn't get anything. Lauren found a They Live Funco Pop at the comic book store Adventureland, but I saw nothing interesting. 

Didn't find any clothes at Columbia, but I did buy my own version of Lauren's string backpack. She's carried around a Hot Rod backpack with string straps for clothes finds all week. My blue planet Land's End backpack works for a grocery store run, but it's too bulky for mall runs. The red bag with pink markings is a lot less conspicuous. We also stopped in a hall to use the bathroom and the nifty Coke vending machine that had the sodas dropping down a chute into a plastic container. She got Sprite; I had a Diet Coke (since I had the sugary root beer earlier). 

Settled down on benches at the entrance as I called Uber. That took about 13 minutes, so we had time to sit back and enjoy an absolutely perfect day. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the breezes were cool and fresh, and it wasn't even as hot as yesterday, barely in the 80's. The Uber driver did hit some traffic on the expressway going home, but it could have been a lot worse on a Sunday. It was likely people heading home from the Shore.

Headed right upstairs after we got in. I put on a couple of early Match Game PM episodes that haven't turned up on Buzzr yet as we got organized and had dinner. Showed her the one with Richard's unexpected "Burns and Cuts" answer on the Audience Match. We did watch the similar episode with Richard's Admiral Color TV answer last year when she visited, but it went along so well with the other that I did it again. Ed Asner, Fannie Flagg, and soft-spoken singer Julie London joined in see Richard struggle with "Tony __" in the Head-to-Head. Lauren chose the hilarious show where Richard imitates Brett for a question and Betty White does Charles. 

Finished up the night online with more game show episodes on YouTube. I enjoyed those Canadian game show episodes two weeks ago so much, I did a full tribute to Jim Perry. Perry is actually a South Jersey native, having been born in Camden. He began his career up north as a popular host in Canada. His first show, the original It's Your Move charades series, seems to be missing, but I did find an episode of Bingo at Home, also known as The Money Makers, from 1969. Perry looks impossibly young and skinny as he leads contestants through a series of trivia questions to fill a bingo board.

He had his first major hit in 1974 when he took over the Hangman-style word show Definition, which proceeded to run until 1989. Alas, most of the early episodes, including all of the ones Jim announced before he took over hosting, aren't online. I went with another episode from 1986. Headline Hunters was a news-related quiz show that had Jim hosting for the full long run this time, from 1972 to 1983. He also had a long run hosting the Miss Canada pageant from 1967 to 1990. 

His first major hit in the States was the original Card Sharks. I don't know why Buzzr only runs the first two and a half years of the 1978-1981 show. The entire series does exist. I went with a later episode from close to the end of the run in 1981. Likewise, they only show the last two years and the syndicated version of Perry's other major US hit, Sale of the Century. I dug up a very early episode from 1983 that still has the original "use your points for shopping" bonus round. 

With his busy back-and-forth schedule jumping between Canada and the US, Perry didn't have time to appear on too many other game shows. He did turn up on Tom Kennedy's first week as host of Password Plus as part of an all-celebrity special with Nancy Walker, Greg Morris, and Judy Norton-Taylor. He had the funniest moment of the whole week when he and Kennedy argued over whether the Pyrenees Mountains are in South America or Afghanistan. Tom brought out an encyclopedia right before an Alphabetics round to reveal they're actually in France and Italy. Jim came out, grabbed the book, threw it offstage, and stomped away in annoyance. 

Check out the Canadian and American sides of this local boy makes good! (Watch out for an edited tape on Headline Hunters that's missing the first few minutes and a bad tape on Sale of the Century.) 

Bingo at Home (1969)

Headline Hunters (1979)

Password Plus (1980)

Password Plus (1980)

Card Sharks (1981)

Sale of the Century (1983)

Definition (1986)

Oh, and I finally remembered to check my schedule. My only work day this week coming up is Thursday. The bad news is, it's 8 1/2 hours of cashiering. I'm glad I asked for Friday off for a dental appointment and just got lucky with Saturday. 

Any Way You Want It

Began the day on the open road. Heavy dark clouds lingered among the rays of sunlight, and it was cold and windy, barely in the 50's. Even the horses wore blankets as we passed them grazing. Lauren took us over the border and into upstate New York, past lovely little hamlets and quaint farming communities with whitewashed churches and stately little libraries. We turned onto the highway, heading past downtown Albany and over to the off ramp for the Wolf  Road shopping area.

Crossgates Mall is one of the largest malls in New York State, and I believe the largest mall in Albany. Since we parked there, we started off at JC Penney. Alas, we didn't do nearly as well there as we did at Holyoke and walked out with nothing. 

Didn't find anything at Amazon 4-Star, either, but it's a neat store. This is Amazon's first shot at a brick-and-mortar storefront. Basically, they sell anything with really good reviews. I looked at the books, toys, and some of the electronics, but didn't see anything I really needed.

We were in and out of a few stores next. Lauren pointed out a yellow blouse with a pretty blue flower print at Macy's that was a plus-size shirt on the regular size racks. I loved the print, and not only was it the perfect size for me, but it was on a deep discount, too. Didn't find anything at the huge GameStop or the vintage game store shop Jay Street Video Games.

Uno Pizza and Grill just happened to be across the way from Game Stop, so we had lunch there. We thought the individual pan pizza and soup lunch special was perfect for us. I had a salty-but-tasty French onion soup; she went with broccoli and cheddar. Her thin crust Taco Pizza was a lot bigger than my deep-dish Farm Market vegetable pie. I finished all but one slice of mine; she didn't close to finish hers and ended up taking half of it home for a snack.

Returned to shopping to walk off that filling lunch. No luck at Burlington Coat Factory. This one was much smaller and narrower than the massive store at Holyoke. Even Lauren couldn't find anything. We did better at the huge Build-a-Bear Workshop. I bought a "love" t-shirt and long jeans for my tomboyish Cabbage Patch doll Carrie, and Lauren bought an outfit for her Cabbie Larry. 

Lauren didn't dig anything up at FYE, but I came up with a winner at the last minute. It took me forever to find the musicals in that large, overstuffed store. When I did run into them on the back of a shelf, they had the Criterion Collection Lubitsch Musicals Eclipse set I've wanted for years, but could never afford until recently. It has The Love Parade, Monte Carlo, The Smiling Lieutenant, and One Hour With You. Lieutenant and Love Parade have showed up on TCM, but I've never seen the other two anywhere. Also grabbed Supergirl: The Second Season and finally found Wonder Woman 1984 for a decent price. (I refuse to get HBO Max just for the DC media, and the CW only has the more recent seasons of Supergirl on their website.)

Hit up Dave & Buster's for an hour next. This is a huge arcade and bar that's pretty identical to Round 1, without the bowling and with tapping or inserting your card instead of swiping it. Fewer cranes, too, with less elaborate prizes. They also have more games that give you a ton more tickets. I did best with the spinning wheels that handed out tickets, including one pirate-themed wheel you spun yourself. Tried basketball and throwing balls into milk jug, but I have terrible aim. Had a lot more fun with skee ball and massive neon-lit versions of Centipede, Space Invaders, and Pac-Man, a faster-paced Galaga, and arcade versions of Crusin' and Mario Kart. 

Having amassed far more points than at Round 1 (Lauren had over 1,800!), we went to look at the prizes...and still couldn't decide what we wanted. We did better on the cranes. Lauren won a two-foot stuffed giraffe she named Jeffrey off one crane. We both got rubber ducks. She won a purple one. I got a peach duck and a duck wearing monkey ears. (I'll give the latter to Finley.)

Shortly after we left, I pointed out a small toy store a few doors down from Dave & Buster's. Heroes Hideout specialized in toys and games based after whatever's big in pop culture. One whole wall is covered in Funko Pops toys. Lauren bought four of those and a small Care Bears "mystery" figure in a box. I picked up a stuffed Cheer Bear in adorable anime-esque version based on the version of the show that just debuted a few weeks ago. Headed to Old Navy after that, but we didn't find anything there.

Running around that arcade throwing bean bags and skee balls really worked up a thirst. We made our way back down the hall to a small Orange Julius booth. The Orange Julius at the Cherry Hill Mall was replaced by Haagen Daas, and Lauren has none in her area. She bought a Tripleberry Smoothie; I got a Pina Colada Julius. Settled down on soft leather couches across from the booth with Jeffrey and enjoyed our treats.

At that point, we figured it was time for dinner, even though we weren't really that hungry. I bought a turkey, stuffing, and cranberry may pannini from a deli store, but could barely eat half of it. Lauren couldn't eat her second taco from Taco Bell, either. Plus, she'd been hauling a two-foot stuffed giraffe for over an hour. We packed up the rest of our meals and made our way back to JC Penney.

Once we finally remembered where the door we came in was, we had no problems. There was no traffic on the road going or coming. The mall wasn't busy, either, not even Dave & Buster's. The parking lot was very wet when we came out. It must have rained hard earlier in the afternoon, though the sun was trying to come out even as we climbed into the car. It showered a little bit when we were on the road, but nothing crazy.

We showed our finds to Mr. and Mrs. Miller when we got in and tried to find a place for big Jeffrey. (He ended up on a TV tray table.) While they got organized, I took a much-needed shower and did whatever packing I could. Along with my DVD finds, the Millers gave me Maude: The Compete Series, and I had to find room for that and the Lubitsch set. 

Finished the night downstairs with Lauren online after a shower. I was so pooped, I was barely up to more Match Game. Brett proved so popular during her first two appearances, by episode 26, she was officially a regular. Fannie Flagg, one of the most popular semi-regulars, made her debut a few months later. She became the first woman Gene welcomed with a kiss, albeit on the neck. 

Brett also figured heavily into two of my favorite episodes from 1974. Everyone went looking for her earring at the end of the show in one from early in the year. Later, she and giggling Kaye Stevens get to beat up on Gene when he accidentally yanks soap star Trish Stewart off her seat! (Thankfully, she was a good sport about it and laughed it off.) Meanwhile, Charles admires an especially pretty contestant in a very skimpy top in another episode. 

Here's still more of the early years of Match Game, to start off your week with a bang and a few naughty answers!

Match Game '73 - Brett Becomes a Regular

Match Game '73 - Fannie Flagg Debuts

Match Game '74 - Where's Brett's Earring?/Allen Ludden Answers "President Arthur"

Match Game '74 - Clothing Is Optional

Match Game '74 - Gene Goes Fishing

Parties and Parades

A lovely, sunny morning began with breakfast and The Bernstein Bears' Christmas Tree. Much like Clark Grizwauld, Papa Bear is determined to bring home a real, special tree direct from the woods. Unlike Clark, he keeps choosing trees that are the homes of forest creatures. They chase Papa and the cubs away...until Papa spares a bird family and finally realizes what's really important about the holidays. The cubs think they'll never get their tree, but there's a wonderful surprise at their own treehouse when they get back.

Rushed out at ten of 10. Thankfully, I was only about 15 minutes late for the Collingswood Christmas Parade. This is the largest holiday parade in the Camden County area. Mummers, string bands, and local groups from miles around participate in this community event. I hurried along Haddon Avenue until I found an empty spot just to the right of the city offices at the old school.

I missed the first few minutes of the parade, but I did manage to catch most of it. For some reason, there were a lot of luaus this year. Two of the schools and Parkview Apartments had Hawaiian themes, with kids and residents sporting leis and grass skirts over warm pants and ski jackets. Another school did a sweet Toy Story float. As cute as Ovations Dance Studio's routine to "Jingle Bell Rock" was, the Irish step dancers in their traditional costumes were just having so much fun doing jigs to "Christmas In Kilarney." An Irish bagpipe group showed off their traditional kilts and spats. A group of mini-flag bearers, waving flags that were bigger than they were, danced to "Let It Go" from Frozen. One mummers group was dressed as golfers in glittering black and white argyle. Another were the Pirates of the Caribbean, with a genuinely spooky Davy Jones (complete with octopus makeup) leading. Stilt walkers dressed as an elf and a toy soldier did juggling tricks. Costumed characters, ranging from Frosty and Crystal to gingerbread people to the Grinch, high-fived the kids in the crowd. At least the wind had died down since Thursday, allowing the high school flag groups to do their routines with little trouble.

Someone on the parade route handed me a paper that advertised a train show at a church a block from the Collingswood Library. Since I wasn't far from the library and they mentioned cookies and hot drinks, I thought it might be fun to check out. Something different, anyway. I followed the crowds across the street.

The church was already fairly crowded by the time I made it there. I got into line and grabbed chocolate chip and white chocolate cookies and a cup of hot chocolate, then joined the crowds around the train display. It was huge, taking up most of the back half of the small auditorium. Kids and adults alike oohed and ahhed over the meticulously detailed landscape, with trains riding over hills, a small town with barns and farmhouses, a city with skyscrapers and a big fancy train station, a green countryside, and even a wide train bridge over a "gully."

After I left, I picked up my bike and headed back towards Oaklyn. It was a beautiful day by quarter after noon, bright, sunny, and chilly. Despite the nice weather and the light sparkling on the bottle-green waters, I was the only one I saw out riding in Newton River Park. Everyone else must have still been back in Collingswood.

I needed to stop and pick up a birthday present for my stepbrother Jesse on the way home. Grabbed a 15 dollar gift card for Dunkin' Donuts at CVS, but couldn't find a card I liked. I finally decided choosing was taking too long. He would live without the card.

Hurried straight home in time to make a quick lunch. Watched "A Scooby Doo Christmas" while I ate. In this episode of What's New, Scooby Doo, Mystery Inc find themselves stranded in the town of Winter Hollow on Christmas Eve after the nearby bridge washes out. Every year around Christmas, a Headless Snowman attacks residents, destroying their chimneys and their warmth and forcing them into a local inn for the holidays. The kids do everything they can to solve the mystery and bring a real Christmas back to the townspeople.

It was way past 2 when I finally made it to the laundromat. I couldn't put off my laundry anymore. I had a huge load, including the three towels I used to mop up the water from the freezer defrosting. Next week, I'll try to go much earlier. They were mobbed when I got in. I got one of the last two washers; had a far easier time with the dryers. Worked on story notes and half-listened to college football and the chatter around me.

Even hurrying back as fast as I could didn't make me on time. Jodie said to meet her at Dad's. I went past her on the road as I was riding over to Dad's, ten minutes late. I quickly dropped my bike at Dad's, then jumped in her car and headed off.

Even with all the trouble, we were only five minutes late for Jesse's big 30th birthday party at the Uno's Grill in Maple Shade. As it turned out, we,  Jodie's older son TJ, and his lover Eric were the only ones from Jodie's side of the family who went. Everyone else was from Jesse's biological father's side of the family or his wife Dana's. It was kind of boring. I mostly hid in the back of a table and messed with my cell phone, though I did chat with TJ, Eric, and Jodie. Watched Auburn play Alabama on the big-screen TV over the roaring fire - the former barely won, 48-45. Blue and white balloons, including a shower of white balloons with a metallic "30," hung in front of and to the side of the fireplace. Photos from Jesse's childhood were hung in a banner over the table with the cake, cupcakes, and candy.

At least the food was good. We enjoyed Caeser salad, celery and carrot sticks, baked ziti with breaded chicken strips, and pepperoni and cheese thin-crust pizza. Those who were brave enough had saucy hot wings...but one whiff of those were too much for me! They were really, really pungent. Just standing over them made my eyes water.

The cake and cupcakes had a flower theme; Jesse loves working in the small garden between his and Dana's apartment and the main house. The chocolate cupcakes were a little bland, but the buttercream frosting and vanilla cupcakes and cakes were amazing, creamy and moist and sweet.

After I got home and finally put the laundry away, I finished out the night with the 1997 animated Babes In Toyland. I go further into this holiday tale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Babes In Toyland (1997)

You're the Top

I was jolted awake this morning by the phone. It was Rose. She and her family had apparently gone down to Cape May County yesterday. Mom is clearing out most of her linens and furniture. They won't fit into her new, much smaller house. Did I want anything? Sure! I'll check out the furniture after they get it sorted out, but she'd be willing to bring the linens they didn't want to Dad and Jodie's to see if I needed any of it.

As soon as I got off with Rose, I went right back to sleep. I was online late with Lauren last night. Read Return of the Jedi for a while after I got up for good, then wrote in my journal and had breakfast. This is the first time in weeks I've actually been able to have my Sunday pancakes on Sunday morning, and I enjoyed every bit of my blueberry-chocolate chip concoctions. They were slightly burnt, but not to the point that they weren't edible.

Listened to the soundtrack from the TV show Smash while eating breakfast, and later while getting organized and going through old photos and journals in the back room. I had this on because Smash was a two-season series that revolved around the creation of a musical about Marilyn Monroe, and the final chapters of Moviola revolved around Monroe and her tragic life. I haven't seen the show yet, but if it's as good as the music on this CD, I'm going to have to look for it. There's some absolute gems here. "At Your Feet" is a nice number for young Norma Jeane and her mother (Bernadette Peters) as she encourages her daughter to fit her feet into the prints at Grauman's Chinese Theater and dream of stardom. "History Was Made at Night" is a lovely ballad for Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio during their courtship.

My favorite number from this is the touching "Second Hand White Baby Grand." Marilyn recalls how playing the piano was one of the few times she ever really connected with her mother. She cherished those memories so much, she tracked down the actual piano later and brought it with her wherever she lived. Her sad memories and the gentle, bluesy song always makes me cry.

Bored and tired of sitting around, I headed out after the CD ended. My first stop was The House of Fun. They were as overloaded with action figures, DVDs, and pop culture paraphernalia as usual. The arcade games were even on. Street Fighter vs X-Men and Xaxxon accompanied me as I browsed. I finally ended up with a loose Poe Dameron Funko Pop figure to finish out my Force Awakens Funko Pop group. The guy behind the counter tried to contact his boss for ten minutes to see how much he was (he wasn't labeled) before finally giving him to me for five dollars.

My next stop was originally going to be Dollar General for sugar and a drink...but they were dark and quiet. The sign on the door claimed they were closed due to "electrical problems." An old lady arrived at the same time I did, and she wasn't any happier about it. Oh well. I moved down the road to CVS. Their sugar was too expensive, but I did buy a Cherry Bubly sparkling water.

Rose called as I was setting Poe with the other Star Wars Funko Pops. She and her kids were at Dad and Jodie's. Did I want to join them in the pool? Sure! I just had to have a quick leftovers lunch and change into my bathing suit. Listened to my 1962 off-Broadway original cast LP of Anything Goes while I got organized. Like the TV version, this one includes several songs from other Porter shows, including "Friendship" and "It's DeLovely." Unlike the version I watched yesterday, it also uses the original plot, with Reno and ingenue Hope Harcourt as two separate characters, and keeps the 30's setting.

When I pulled in, Rose immediately took me to her car. Evidently, she couldn't use two towels, one a lighter sage green than mine, one coral red, a beautiful summer-weight quilt in white and soft blues, beiges, and pastels, a green floral comforter and pillowcases, and a huge neon and black pillowcase that can be filled with five pillows. I took everything but the green comforter and pillowcases. Not only is the green kind of ugly, but I don't need another comforter. I do need a new summer weight quilt, and had actually been thinking that when Rose called this morning. The one I bought at a yard sale years ago was really made for a child and is much too small. I've had my towels since college, probably for almost 20 years now. They're due for replacements. (I may not keep the pillowcase. The neon is a bit much.)

Finley and Khai were already in the pool when we were checking out the linens. Rose joined us shortly after I climbed in. Finley's such a good swimmer! She can swim quite well on her own now, with little help from her mother. (As long as she wears her inflatable arm floats!) Rose tossed her into the air, and we splashed each other and shot each other with water guns and squeezable Bubble Guppy toys. (For some reason, Finley kept putting her mouth on the brick patio around the pool. Either she was that bored, or brick tastes good.)

We headed inside to get the kids a snack. Finley had a (little bit) of pizza; Khai had pasta with butter. Finley and I watched an episode of Team Umizoomi while her mother and grandmother talked and her brother played with his mother's phone.  This cute toddler show has two tiny beings and their mini-robot and car helping out by using math and geometry to get around obstacles and solve puzzles. Today, they were helping their Umi Car, whose birthday present was stolen by a pair of mischievous troublemakers and their gray truck. They have to build a gorilla from shapes to eat giant bananas and dodge an increasing number of rolling garbage cans.

As soon as I got home, I changed and put my new quilt on the bed. It took a few minutes to get to lay right, but when I did, it looked nice. The colors were perfect for my room; in fact, they really brightened the dull whitewashed walls and thin gray carpet.

I wasn't up to cooking and just opted to go around the corner for dinner. Phillies Phatties wasn't busy at all, despite it being 6 PM and the dinner hour. I enjoyed a tomato-basil-mozzarella ("margarita") pizza and mushroom pizza with a can of Wild Cherry Pepsi while watching the Red Sox play the Dodgers on ESPN. (The Dodgers killed the Sox, by the way, 7-4.)

Went straight into the bathtub when I got home. Ahhh. I hadn't had one in ages. My side is really sore, along with my elbow and middle finger on my left hand. I must have pulled muscles. I soaked while reading books about Broadway musicals. I'll see if I can get an Icy Hot patch tomorrow.

Ended the night with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga. I had to look up how to get the last pieces  in "Retake Theed Palace" and "Jedi Destiny." The latter involves having a high-jumper leap onto the upper ledge over where the Jedi raise each other, then running along the ledge until you get to the piece. With "Destiny," I forgot you have to use a bounty hunter's bomb to blow up the walls before you can get the piece. "Bounty Hunter Pursuit" is more complicated. You have to shoot ten long rainbow-colored tubes to get one, then shoot certain areas in the second holding area to get the other.

Since I had plenty of time, I also completed the remaining bonus rounds. The original version of "Gunship Calvary" was a lot easier with all the extras, allowing me to finish the round in less than ten minutes. "Lego City" and "New Town" don't use extras. They involve knocking down buildings or building items or flowers in a regular Lego city set. I got them both in around a half-hour, pretty long but better than my last try at "Lego City." "Bounty Hunter Pursuit" gave me enough money to buy the x10 extra, the last one I didn't have. Tomorrow, I'll do the bonus rounds for the specific movie titles.

Make Your Own Kind of Music

We both slept in a bit this morning. I was up around quarter of 9; read and wrote in my journal in bed until Lauren got up around 10. I had cereal and strawberries and she had a peanut butter oatmeal bar while watching a travel and British royal family-themed episode of Tiny Toon Adventures. "Europe In 30 Minutes" takes Buster, Babs, Plucky, and Hamton across the pond for a whirlwind tour. They eventually end up at Buckingham Palace in London. Babs and Buster foil a plot to kidnap Princess Diana and Prince Charles; Hamton and Plucky avoid a royal chef who think they're on the palace menu.

It was lightly showering again when we headed out around 11 for a stroll in Oaklyn and Audubon. Our first stop was the House of Fun on the White Horse Pike. Lauren browsed in the wrestling figures and 80's action figures; I checked out the Star Wars shelves, DVDs, and stuffed animals. Lauren bought a "Rowdy" Roddy Piper figure from the 80's; I found Chewbacca and R2-D2 beanies from 1997 and a loose 12-inch C-3PO from the year before.

The rain was still coming down lightly as we made out way down the White Horse Pike and over to Market Street in Audubon. Our next stop was the used CD store Abbie Road, owned by kindly older music-lover Bob. He was having a big 3 CDs for five dollars sale. Lauren bought big band and jazz albums for her and her dad. I found:

Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Greatest Hits

Petula Clark - The Very Best of Petula Clark

Simon & Garfunkel - The Concert In Central Park (replaces a home-made cassette copy I've had since the late 90's!)

George Shearing Quintet - White Satin & Black Satin (Lauren found this one and offered it to me when she wasn't sure her dad would want it. I have their Satin Affair album and have been looking for the other "fabric" titles for years.)

The original Broadway casts for Pipe Dream, Anyone Can Whistle, and Monty Python's Spamalot

The rain was coming down a bit harder as we headed down Nicholson to the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center. I was hungry, and Lauren only had a Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Bar for breakfast, so next on the agenda was lunch at Sonic. Thankfully, the rain had slowed enough by this point to allow for eating outside...although needless to say, we were the only ones. Though the rain was slowing, it was warmer than expected and killer humid. Lauren had a double cheeseburger. I had a Breakfast Burrito. We both had tater tots and cherry limeades. I didn't realize my burrito came with pickled jalapenos. Yow! I drank my cherry limeade in a hurry! Next time, I think I'll get the Ultimate Burrito instead or try one of the other egg sandwiches.

We ducked into Marshalls and Ross Dress for Less to check them out. The weather must have scared people off - neither store was remotely busy. I didn't find anything, but Lauren picked up a nice lightweight yellow cardigan with flowing sleeves that can be draped around the arms at Ross. Peeked briefly at the Game Stop across the parking lot, but didn't come up with anything.

The rain was gone all together by the time we trooped over to the Acme to this week's grocery shopping. I didn't really need that much, anyway. Needed Scoops tortilla chips for dinner tonight, pie crusts for dinner next week, and bananas and the buy-one-get-one strawberries and raspberries for fruit this week. Had Monopoly coupons for yogurt and turkey pepperoni and a free coupon for Barilla pasta sauce. Restocked milk, cereal, and the inexpensive Acme generic Greek yogurt.

We were lucky. It was still just cloudy and humid when we finally strolled home. After we put everything away, we played an hour or so of Wii Sports. Lauren won both rounds of tennis and the bowling round, but I killed her at golf. We tied on baseball.

I made bean dip for dinner around 6. We had the bean dip and the leftover hummus from last week with the Scoops chips for a nutritious, simple, and tasty dinner. That bean dip always comes out so well! I don't think I've ever done a bad batch. I like adding just a little taco sauce with stock instead of the picante sauce called for. Gives it just the right amount of zip.

Ran the remaining two Garfield travel specials while I cooked and we had dinner. Garfield In Paradise takes Garfield, Odie, and Jon to a tropical island resort for some fun in the sun. They love their nifty 50's rental car...until it lands them among a tribe of doo-wop-worshipping natives whose volcano is about to go off!

Garfield and Odie get to show off their dancing paws in Garfield In Hollywood. They won a trip to La La Land after they came in first in a local pet talent contest. Garfield is determined to take first prize...but Jon is worried that winning might mean leaving him behind.

Since we still had plenty of time, we switched to the original Lego Indiana Jones. I got a walkthrough book at Jay Street Video Games a few months ago. Got through the first two rounds with Indy searching for the idol in the temple (complete with outrunning the infamous boulder!) and with Marion at her place and in the frozen landscape of Nepal.

Ended the night online after I got out of the shower while watching The Great Outdoors and streaming cartoons and vintage wrestling. Chet (John Candy) is looking forward to a relaxing vacation at a cabin in the woods with his wife Connie (Stephanie Faracy) and their two sons. That lasts for less than a day before Connie's rich investment broker brother Roman (Dan Ackroyd), his wife Kate (Annette Benning) and their twin daughters show up uninvited. Roman is determined to show up his brother-in-law with his posh lifestyle and constant investment schemes. Meanwhile, Chet's son Buck (Chris Young) is chasing a local girl (Lucy Deakins), but she gets upset when he breaks their date to watch his dad eat a massive steak. Matters come to a head during a thunderstorm, when Chet discovers that Roman isn't what he claims to be...and that family helps each other in times of crisis, even when they drive each other crazy.

Definitely an improvement on Summer Rental, this is a bit like like a cross between that film and screenwriter John Hughes' previous Candy hit Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...only here, it's the rich guy who is annoying the middle-class guy. Ackroyd's excellent comic timing is a big help here; his interaction Candy makes the movie a lot of fun. If you're a fan of Hughes or either actor, this is absolutely worth checking out.

Tomorrow, we're planning on hiding from the heavier rain in the Cherry Hill Mall and Hillview Shopping Center.

Toys In the Wind

I was glad to see warm sunshine when I got up this morning, even if the wind was still howling. I had breakfast while doing another round of Hello Kitty Furry Tale Theater shorts, this time with an action theme. Tuxedo Sam is "Peter Penguin," who brings Kitty and Chip to Never-Say-Never Land to help him rescue Dinglebell (My Melody) from Captain Catnip. He's also the lead in "Tar-Sam of the Jungle," where he's the jungle hero and Kitty is his Jane, and plays one of the world's most famous Australians in "Crocodile Penguin." Prankster Chip the Seal gets a rare leading role as King Arthur in "Paws of the Round Table." He has to rescue Lady Bunnyvere from a not-so-fearsome dragon and Morgana Catnip, with the help of Sir Sam and the Kitty of the Lake.

Headed out around quarter after 9. After a stop at WaWa to use the ATM machine, I walked to the White Horse Pike to wait for the bus. And wait. And wait. I waited for over an hour. I thought it was supposed to come at 9:50. It didn't show up until almost 11. (I didn't figure out until later that I'd done it again. I looked at the wrong schedule. In this case, I forgot it was Saturday and had looked at the weekday schedule. On Saturday, the 9 AM bus comes at 9:37.) Thankfully, after all that, there was no trouble on the road. The bus pulled up a block from the Holiday in around quarter after 11.

After paying my 10 dollar entrance fee and getting a paper admissions bracelet, I spent about the next two hours and an hour and a half after lunch exploring. They were the same tables groaning with colorful piles of vintage and current collectible toys as last year. While the majority of the toys were action figures in one way or another, I also saw stuffed animals, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, My Little Ponies, Transformers, and vintage picture books, coloring books, books and records, and other paper publications.

I debated a Power of the Force 12-inch set of New Hope pilots Wedge Antilles and Biggs Darklighter, then decided I could probably get it cheaper online or at the House of Fun. Ultimately ended up with figures of Finn, a really nice Ahsoka Tano in her younger Clone Wars padawan form from the Black Line, and Prince Xizor from the book Shadows of the Empire. (Story behind the last one - Keefe had Xizor and Dash Rendar action figures in the late 90's, along with the younger Padme and Anakin in The Phantom Menace. For some reason, those were the only four he couldn't find when he turned his Star Wars toys over to me after he outgrew them.)

(Couldn't find any wrestling figures for Lauren, though I did try. I didn't see any of the guys she liked, and I don't know enough about wrestling to know who else she'd want.)

Had lunch at Red, Hot, and Blues, the Holiday Inn's tasty restaurant/bar, where I ate last year. I was a bit surprised they weren't busier, given it was 1 when I went in there and the toy tables weren't overwhelmed at that point, either. Opted for a simple burger and fries platter. That burger was one of the biggest I'd ever seen, filling the giant kaiser roll bun to the very ends. The lettuce, tomato, and slices of red onion were just as big. I had a hard time keeping it closed, even with only a slight squirt of mild barbecue sauce on it. It was yummy, though, really juicy and beefy.

Did another half-hour or so in the deal rooms, then went across the street to run a few errands. I needed a new flannel sheet. My old one has a hole in it. Of course, I forgot the pile of Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupons sitting on the dry sink in my living room. Since they didn't seem to have any separate fitted flannel sheets, I just bought a new set. I'll use the old flat flannel sheet as a blanket. Even without the coupons, it came up to a little over 20, not bad for a set.

Went to Best Buy to see if the had the Sailor Moon S Part 2 set. They had it...for the same 30 bucks it currently is on Amazon. I'll wait for the price to come down. Did better at Hallmark, where I bought a General Leia Itty Bitty to use as a stress toy. I figure you can't do better than having a General by your side in times of crisis.

This time, there were no problems picking up the bus. I read the right schedule, and it was only a little late. The traffic was a little slow around Cuthbert Road by the Cooper River; otherwise, the ride was fine. Got off at the former Camden County Restaurant Supply Store and walked straight home.

As soon as I got everything organized, I headed right back out. I needed to get my grocery shopping done. Found crab cakes that were fairly cheap. Quaker and Nature's Valley products were on sale; picked up Cinnamon Oatmeal Squares and those wonderful Breakfast Sandwich cookies. Took advantage of their occasional "buck a bag" produce sale to grab grape tomatoes, bagged spinach, and those baked rice-pea snacks I like. Restocked peanut butter, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, skim milk, honey, grapefruit, apples, yogurt, tomato sauce, and soup. They were out of mandarin orange cups; got diced peaches instead. Found several flavors of the Acme's generic "natural" pint sorbets and gelatos on clearance. I'd had their Coffee Gelato before, but had never tried Prickly Pear Sorbet.

The main reason I was there was to get my schedule for next week. For some reason, I work 9:30 to 6 on Wednesday and 1 to 7 on Sunday. Otherwise, everything else is pretty much the same, including my days off.

When I got home, I put everything away quickly, then started my next story. Leia and Luke Skywalker are raised by their father Anakin, their mother Padme, and Anakin's dear friend Obi-Wan in a cottage in a quite little clearing in the Yavin Woods. Anakin and Obi-Wan once trained as Jedi knights and mages, before the queen's head counselor Palpatine had the order wiped out. Anakin teaches strong-willed Leia the ways of knighthood, while Obi-Wan trains gentler Luke as a mage. Padme keeps an eye on everyone, and tries to instill some ladylike qualities in her wild daughter.

Anakin tells Leia how he, Padme, and Obi-Wan had barely escaped Palpatine's wrath. Padme had spoken out against him, while the Jedi were beginning to suspect him of treachery as well. Palpatine has the just but aging Queen Jainia under his thumb; she is growing more and more frail, and he has taken on more of her duties.

I was so full from that huge burger, I didn't have or want dinner until 7:30, and then I just had leftovers. Finished out the Hello Kitty set with "Grinder Genie and the Magic Lamp." Kitty and Sam are trying to raise money for Sultana Catnip's high taxes when they stumble upon a magic lamp. Turns out that Grinder is the genie...and he can be very literal about granting wishes!

Ended the night with the original Disney Sleeping Beauty. This one more-or-less sticks to the original story. A princess is cursed to prick her finger on a spinning wheel by an evil fairy. Her parents give her to three good fairies to hide until her 16th birthday. She grows up knowing nothing about her heritage...but falls in love with a handsome prince anyway. The fairies break her heart when they tell her the truth. But Maleficient is determined to see that her curse comes true...and that the Sleeping Beauty's prince charming never makes it up to kiss his princess.

Had this on mainly for the medieval aesthetic. The brilliant angular animation was inspired by tapestries of the 13th century, and has always been some of Disney's most creative. The story...less so. It mostly thrives on its supporting cast, including one of their best princes (Phillip) and villains (Malificent). The Sleeping Beauty of the title actually doesn't have that much to do besides sing with Phillip and fall asleep (but to be honest, that's more than she had to do in the original story).

A family favorite for years, you'll want to see it for the animation and characters alone.

Toy Stories

For once, I got up with plenty of time to have a decent breakfast. Made Buttermilk Corn Pancakes based after a recipe in The Vermont Country Store Cookbook. Listened to the Streets of Fire soundtrack while I ate that and a half of a grapefruit. Switched to the soundtrack from the 1967 version of Finian's Rainbow with Fred Astaire and Petula Clark while getting ready to head out for the day.

Picked up the bus on the White Horse Pike around noon. Surprisingly for a Sunday, there wasn't much traffic. I was in Cherry Hill in 20 minutes. No trouble figuring out where I was going this time, either. The Holiday Inn where the toy convention took place is directly across from the Market Place shopping center, where I went a few weeks ago. I got off the bus and was right there.

While it was only two rooms and a hall, those rooms were jam-packed with tables and booths laden with every type of toy, action figure, stuffed animal, game, Lego, and puzzle you can imagine, along with books, magazines, activity and coloring books, catalogs, and records and cassettes related to them. Transformers, Star Wars, Marvel and DC, Strawberry Shortcake, Pokemon, wrestling figures, Gund stuffed animals, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, He-Man, She-Ra, anime, fast-food figures from the 80's and 90's. I even saw toys from lines I haven't thought about in years, like the Blackstar figures we had in the mid-80's that we adored. They were basically He-Man imitations with a gimmick - some of the figures had a lighter that, when flicked, would light up the "gem" worn by that character.

There were two big problems. A lot of these were collector's items and were very expensive. The other was most of them didn't take credit cards. I only had so much money on me, the ATM machine in the lobby was broken, and I wasn't running across a busy highway to use the one at Citizen's Bank.

I did find a few interesting things. A young man had a box of Star Wars action figures (mostly from Revenge of the Sith) mint in their packaging, 3 for 10 dollars. Good thing he was one of the few sellers who took credit cards, because I couldn't resist that price. I ended up with Mace Windu (who has the same mechanism that moves his lightsaber arm when you squeeze his legs that my Revenge Anakin and Obi-Wan do), Stass Affee (a female Jedi who was on the Jedi Council - she came with a speeder bike that comes apart), and a random Wookie warrior.

(The young man was really sweet, too. I mentioned when he ended up typing my credit card into his system that I was a grocery store cashier and have done things like that before. He said he understood - he works at Target.)

Found something for Lauren at the same table I saw the Blackstar figure at. It was mostly laden with colorful, slightly scratched older action figures. Among the wrestling figures was a small "Rowdy" Roddy Piper with an arm you could pull back and let go for a "punch" effect and a very exuberant, well-sculpted face. Roddy is Lauren's favorite classic wrestler. His iconic white "Hot Rod" shirt was a bit scratched; otherwise, he was fine. He was only five dollars, thankfully, since this seller didn't take credit cards.

Thought I'd try the hotel's bar for lunch. Red, White, and Blue was a simple, dark-paneled bar-restaurant with a barbecue and blues theme. It was nearly 2 by the time I ate, which may be why the place wasn't very busy. My Hickory Bacon Cheeseburger was simple but amazing, big and meaty, smothered in cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, thick bacon slices, and caramelized onions. Even after removing the bacon and eating it separately, I still had a hard time closing the bun. The fries were good too, crispy and golden and just salty enough.

Walked around the rooms for about a half-hour more after lunch, but the few things I saw that I liked, I either couldn't afford, or they didn't take credit cards. Besides, the place was mobbed. I could barely walk around. I figured it was time to head out around quarter of 3.

I did finally make my way across the street. I had to pick up the bus at Market Place. Since the Hallmark is right there, I ended up buying a nice card for Mom for her birthday (which is the 20th) and deciding I'd give the card I previously bought for her to T.J later that evening.

Once again, the bus was on time, and there were no problems getting home. When I got in, I put Roddy in the back room and my new action figures on the shelves with the other Star Wars figures. Managed to squeeze Mace in between Leia and the Obi-Wan figures. Stass ended up sitting on the top shelf, keeping my thin-legged Power of the Force Princess Leia company. (She didn't come with a lightsaber, for some reason. I ended up loaning her one I had in the box with the accessories I have for them in the back. It doesn't fit in her hand very well, but it'll have to do.) The huge Wookie didn't fit anywhere and towered over my 1983 Return of the Jedi Chewbacca. I just put him on the top shelf with the bounty hunters until I can figure out what to do with him.

Worked on my story a bit until it was time to head to Dad's for T.J's birthday dinner. He wanted spaghetti, so we basically had a repeat of Jodie's spaghetti dinner from a while back, with an added Caesar salad and creme brulee in place of cake. The moment I got in, Jodie gave me a huge bowl of pasta covered in her spicy tomato sauce. I added a few meatballs, a slice of bread, and salad. (There was also hot sausage.)

Khai's friends Bee and Chloe arrived shortly after dinner. I watched them throw Beanie Babies at each other in an attempt at a game. When they got bored with that, I amused them by doing voices for each Beanie Baby and having them relate a fact about the animal in question. Chloe in particular thought it was hilarious.

Finally headed home around 7:30. Dad's neighbor Sandy was on her way out. She ended up driving me and my bike back to my place.

Oh, and Rose finally found out what she's having. It's official - I'm going to have a niece in July. Rose is having a girl! I'm kind of glad. Not that I wouldn't love a boy, too, but I already have three nephews. Time to redress the balance. I also got an invitation to Dana's graduation in early June.

Christmas In the Malls

I got up late and spent most of a sort-of cloudy morning and early afternoon writing. Luke and Leia finally make it to the top of the beanstalk. They find that the clouds are not only solid enough to walk on, but they have a whole beautiful green land over them. Ben Kenobi appears, explaining that he is a magician and a knight who was once the adviser for Lord Anakin and Lady Padme, the rulers of this land...until Palpatine, the lord's other adviser, took over. The evil sorcerer killed Padme and the other knights and turned Anakin into a heartless giant. Heartbroken, Ben fled with Padme's twin children to the world below. The castle and its treasures are rightfully theirs

Finally broke around 12:30 for lunch. Ran A Garfield Christmas Special while I ate muffins and Cranberry Flummery. Garfield's not thrilled about being dragged to the family farm for an old-fashioned country holiday. He feels better when he meets Jon's grandma, a tough-minded old lady by his own heart. While the rest of Jon's family decorate the tree and read "Binky, the Clown Who Saved Christmas," Garfield finds a gift that'll make Grandma's holidays a little merrier.

Headed out around quarter after 1. They're still working on Cuthbert Road - they're on the corner of Cuthbert and the White Horse Pike now. I learned my lesson the last time I made a mall trip. I stopped quickly at WaWa for money, then headed down to Westmont. Parked my bike at Super Fitness, behind the Westmont Plaza, and picked up the bus down the hill. The bus was right on time, and there were no problems getting to Cherry Hill.

I don't have a lot of money and didn't want to do much dilly-dallying. I made brief stops in the mall proper to look for something for Lauren at Jay Street Video Games (didn't know what she'd like), grab a complimentary White Chocolate Peppermint Herbal Tea at Teavana (it was amazing), and admire the Dreamworks-themed Santa set-up before heading for the exit near Nordstrom's. I took the elevator up the pedestrian bridge, heading for Target.

Needless to say,  on a Friday two and a half weeks before Christmas, they were quite busy. I did look at ear warmers and ear muffs for myself, but I was mainly there for toys. Needless to say that close to rush hour, so were half the moms in Cherry Hill. I ended up getting Lego sets for Collyn and Khai, a ball-based puzzle for Skylar, and a smaller Cabbage Patch Kid dressed as a kitten for Lilah. The boys' things were all on sale.

I have different ideas of a Christmas treat. Target seems to be the only one who carries Betty Crocker's amazing Gingerbread Cookie Mix anymore. I've never seen their Butter Pecan cake mix anywhere but on their site, either. They also had these amazing-looking mini Jet Puffs Peppermint Marshmallows. Grabbed Target's generic natural creamy peanut butter while I was there.

Browsed a little bit in the mall after I left Target. Took brief looks at Game Stop and Build-a-Bear for Lauren. Treated myself to the same Candy Cane Oreo Blizzard from Dairy Queen I had during last year's Christmas shopping trip. It was even yummier this year, with lots of big cookie and mint candy pieces. Ended up at JC Penney to finally buy some knit red ear warmers. I left my ear muffs in Cape May County at Mom and Dad's house.

Caught the 5:30 home. They were only a tiny bit late, nothing really big. There was a little traffic around the Market Place lifestyle center. Otherwise, I had no problems getting home. Stopped at WaWa on the way back for skim milk and a Gobbler (turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce) hoagie.

Finished out the night with The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas, eating my hoagie, and making those gingerbread cookies. I rented this one from the Haddon Township Library yesterday (along with Hail, Caesar! again). The Cat teaches Nick and Sally about the migration patterns of elephants, dolphins, red crabs, and reindeer when baby reindeer Ralph gets lost and they have to take him home to Freeze-Your-Knees Snowland.

You Spin Me Round and Round

I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was when we headed out this morning. The sky was a searing blue, the clouds were gone, and the breeze felt great. It was just barely in the lower 80's. There couldn't have been a nicer day for a ride around Lauren's area, starting at a near-by Barnes and Noble. This was smaller than the other ones we'd explored, with no toys or electronic media area. Lauren didn't find anything she wanted. I looked at the Star Wars paperbacks, but I ultimately just grabbed a journal.

We had an early lunch at a rustic branch of a local coffee shop chain called Juice and Java. Lauren knows the owners, and she knows they make some of the best sandwiches in the Berkshires. We got there early enough for me to order off the breakfast menu. I had an egg wrap with peppers, cheese, and salsa and a Dasani Mixed Berry Sparkling Water. She had turkey avocado panini and a Dr. Pepper.

It was a glorious day for mini-golf. There's a course just outside the Berkshire Mall. Lauren grabbed a purple ball, I grabbed a red ball, and we played through all 18 holes. The course is small but wonderfully cheesy - Lauren said she played it as a kid. There's all kinds of typical traps that still work, like tiny houses with narrow openings that balls get stuck in (it happened to both of us) and fiberglass bears you have to navigate your ball around. There was a family - a mom, a dad, a pre-teen girl, and a grandma and grandpa - ahead of us. They were taking forever and finally let us skip ahead. The "19th hole" is a pinball-type game that allows you to either get points off your score or a free game. We each got three points off. Even with that, I still beat Lauren by 1 point in a very close game.

Since we were in the area, we swung over to the Berkshire Mall proper, first hitting their Target. This time, we both made scores. They didn't have the new Ever After High signatures (regular characters), but they did have most of the Epic Winter snow-themed dolls. I went with one of only two new characters introduced in that line, the limited edition Crystal Winter. Couldn't resist my favorite toasted coconut-covered marshmallows anymore. Lauren found Christmas presents for her Dad.

Unlike the other malls we've visited this week, the Berkshire Mall is largely dead. It's only half-full, mainly with mall mainstays like Bath and Body Works and Jay Street Video Store. I didn't get anything at the latter. Lauren picked up a Wii U game and a Sega Genesis port of several popular 80's arcade games she could play on her Retron (a machine that can play up to 5 older game systems in some newer versions).

The mall does have one new tenant - Toy Giant, a toy store that mixes in toys from smaller companies with a few selected items from larger corporations. It's a lot like Happy Hippo Toys in Haddonfield, or Toy Genius at the Cherry Hill Mall. I didn't find anything, but Lauren picked up an action figure of popular WWE wrestler "Uncle" Dean Ambrose for her dad.

Started out to Jiminy Peak around 2:30. Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort is mostly a ski lodge...but in the summer, it has a few unique rides. We skipped the swing and the trampoline in favor of our two favorites, the Mountain Coaster and the Alpine Super Slide. The really cool thing about these rides is you control how fast and slow they go via levers in the cars. You have more control over the speed of the slide car, but there's less around you. The slide is a fiberglass course, and it's longer and twistier. Lauren says she's gotten burns several times, and wipe outs have been known to happen.

You have to take a chair lift to get to the start of the slide, which is a nice ride in and of itself. The lifts pass over the slide, giving you a great view of people going down. At least two little kids waved at us as they whooshed away. (The girl with the Afro curls and sweet smile was adorable!) You get an amazing view of the mountainside and hiking trails right before you arrive at the top, too.

Our last chair lift ride of the day was marred by a family with a grade-school age girl who kept bouncing her legs up and down. Every time she bounced, so did the cable...and us with it. Instead of telling her to stop, her mother and her father and older sibling in the car ahead of us egged her on, and even joined in. Please, if the rules say "don't swing your legs on the lift," remember the people behind you and don't swing your legs on the lift...or encourage others to.

The Mountain Coaster is shorter and you can't control the speed as well, but it does have its virtues. It's a sturdy steel track that doesn't feel quite as wild as the slide; the car has a belt and shoulder harness. It can still go fast, though! While it does rattle, it mostly goes around. There's a few up and down hills, but no steep hills (except the first ascent), no huge drops, and no loops. Beats the heck out of the Comet for non-coaster people like Lauren and me.

(It actually reminds me a little of the Flitzer at Morey's Pier in Wildwood. That was one of the only roller coasters I'd ride on the boardwalk as a kid. In fact, it was my first coaster. Mom, who loves roller coasters, talked me onto it and rode with me. While you don't control the ride, the track is very similar, all turns, no dips, hills, or loops.)

(Oh, and incidentally, Lauren and I were both fine when we finished. No burns or wipe outs here today, or even pulled muscles.)

We went around on each ride five times before we finally decided it was time for dinner. Lauren drove us back down to the Berkshire Mall. This time, we hit their one and only sit-down restaurant, The Garden. The Garden is pretty much a smaller, slightly cheaper version of Applebee's, a neighborhood bar and grill. They have great sandwiches and pretty decent Mexcian, too. Lauren had a spinach and mushroom quesadilla. I had a Monte Cristo with raspberry jam and fries. My Monte Cristo was very filling, and very different from the open-faced sandwiches that Monte Cristos usually are in New Jersey. This had the same turkey, ham, and Swiss Cheese filling on French toast, but the sandwiches were fried before being sliced. Wow. They were so decadent and delicious, very yummy with the jam. They were also very thick, too much for me to finish. Lauren finished her quesadilla, though, possibly the first time she ate more than I did!

Full and tired from our rides, we just headed home after dinner. I went in the shower. Lauren watched the Toronto Blue Jays-Cleveland Indians game with her parents. (Cleveland won, BTW, according to Lauren.) When I got out, I had cookies, we both had water, and we went online.

Our last outing will be out and about in the area again to check out a couple of promising yard sales, then up through the wilds of Vermont to visit the Vermont Country Store.

Oh, and meet Crystal Winter! The daughter of the Snow Queen and King is happy with being in charge of the winter, partially because it allows her to play her favorite sport - ice hockey! She's the star of Epic Winter, the newest Ever After High special that has the kids searching for a rose to end eternal winter at the high school.

I'll Follow the Sun

Started out around quarter of 10, this time through downtown Pittsfield, Lee, and Lenox (which we visited when I was here last October). We made a brief stop at the bank where Lauren works in Pittsfield, the Co-Op, for her to get some money for the rest of the week and to introduce me to her co-workers. I met two young lady tellers, a sweet older woman teller, and her manager, a very young, bright-looking fellow named Steve.

Lee took us to the Masspike for almost an hour. It was a gorgeous day for a long ride, sunny and breezy and blue with no humidity in sight. Lauren cranked up Irish jigs, polka, classic rock, and 80's hard rock as we headed down the highway, the wind in our hair. We arrived in Holyoke to visit their huge mall by almost noon.

First stop of the day was their Target. It was surprisingly busy for noon, mostly with kids and their parents buying back-to-school stuff. Lauren didn't make any finds, but I picked up a few things here. Mattel just put out a bunch of new Ever After High dolls in the last couple of months. There were a few to choose from, but they were all $20. At that price, I was only taking one. I finally went with Jillian Beanstalk - I love her bright smile. I also picked up two CD's I've been wanting:

The Monkees - Good Times (their latest release)

Hamilton Original Cast Album (I've been searching for this for a decent price for ages. Everyone else offline has it for between $27 and $30. Target had it for $18.99, cheaper than it is even at Amazon right now.)

We were both hungry. Lauren doesn't like eating in the mornings, and I'd only had a small breakfast. Ruby Tuesday was a short walk from the Target mall entrance. They're basically Applebee's with a more elegant, rugged atmosphere. We slid into a dark brown vinyl booth that was as smooth as the bright ball the women volleyball players spiked over a net on the TV screen. Lauren had a chicken BLT. I had the Avocado Turkey Burger. Yum. Even if the turkey burger patty wasn't hand-made, it was at least huge and juicy, with fresh avocado slices, tomato, and lettuce, and crispy bacon. Both sandwiches were enormous. Lauren couldn't finish hers. I did finish mine and poked around in her fries as well. (They were good, too - the kind with the skins on, like at the Pop Shop and that hot dog booth at the Moorestown Mall in June.)

We browsed around for a couple of hours. She didn't get anything at JC Penney. I finally found decent khaki pants for work. (I just hope these last longer than the ones from Macy's.) A brief review of Game Stop yielded no finds.

The FYE was smaller than the other two, but it still had some decent stock. Instead of buying more movies, I took advantage of a buy two, get one 75% off sale and bought my first Funko Pop figures. For those who aren't pop culture nuts, these are bright-colored toys and bobble heads that are basically cute-ified versions of favorite characters. I've seen everything from Sesame Street to Doctor Who to WWE wrestlers (Lauren has Ric Flair and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and bought the Ultimate Warrior for her dad) represented. Yes, I ended up with three Star Wars figures, my first toys for The Force Awakens. I got the older Han Solo in his brown leather jacket, General Leia in her uniform, and Rey with the blue lightsaber on Starkiller. (Rey was the 75% off.) Lauren bought more wrestling T-shirts, which were apparently also on sale.

There are plenty of AC Moores and Michaels in South Jersey, but this is the first time I've ever been in a Hobby Lobby. Same deal, really - lots of hobby and craft-based merchandise, from yarn to doll clothes. I considered the latter, including a brand I'd never seen that does sell some historical costumes, but my AG dolls are spoiled enough as it is. Hobby Lobby is apparently owned by a Christian company. They sell quite a few religious items, including lovely metal crosses. Lauren bought two, one for her and one for her parents, on sale.

The Christmas Tree Shops continue to be good to us. Like Hobby Lobby, they have their fall stock out. Lauren found the Krusteaz Pumpkin Spice Cookie Mix and another box of those soda frozen bars. I settled for another container with 50 muffin papers.

Made a quick trip back to Macy's. Neither of us came up with anything here. I just went to the bathroom. Even Lauren couldn't find the blouses she likes for work. We passed through Target on the way out, looking for their seasonal section. Disappointingly, no fall stuff yet. They're still on back to school.

When we were wandering around earlier, Lauren saw that the Uno Pizza and Grill had a small cart outside that sold single slices for surprisingly cheap. We both spent a little over five dollars on a deep-dish slice of pizza and a soda. She had pepperoni and Pepsi. I had chicken-pepper and Diet Pepsi. Yum.

It was quarter of 5. We'd spent the last three days hiking around three large malls and an amusement park. We just decided to pack it in early. We dodged traffic and headed for Masspike, making it home by around 6.

Spent the rest of the night playing video games. Lauren saw a couple of guys at a store playing Rayman Origins on the Wii and thought it looked like fun. It's...odd. The weird, colorful animation looks like a Cartoon Network show. As far as I can tell, Rayman is a bird-thing that has to rescue his buddies, who have all been captured. They collect tiny yellow beings called Luma to unlock characters at the main hub. Weird, but actually kind of fun, once you get the hang of it. We got through the desert/music themed second level before finally calling it quits for the night.

Right now, we're online, chatting and listening to 80's music online. We're going to stay in the Pittsfield area tomorrow, checking out her local mall and mini-golf course, along with Jiminy Peak, a ski resort that has a really neat slide.

Oh, and meet Jillian Beanstalk, one of the newest students at Ever After High! Life's an adventure for the daughter of Jack and the Beanstalk, who loves a good beanstalk climb and will never turn down a chance to live life to the fullest. She didn't come with a brush or a stand, but she did have a cute purse (it holds the magic beans) and a lovely flower headdress. I'm glad they've started giving different characters different expressions, too. Jillian's fun-loving smile fits her to a T.