The Hampton Times

Went to see the fireworks in Maple Shade tonight. By far the best display they've had in a long time; it lasted about 30 minutes or so. Dillon and Jason did not have such a great time because they didn't like the really loud explosions. We'll have to see if we can even convince them to go to another fireworks display. Last night we saw Red Orange Morning and Action Set perform in Audobon, NJ. They both put on good performances, and afterward we hung out at "Oaklyn Manor" in Oaklyn, NJ with some friends (including a long-lost friend or two) which was very nice. It was great catching up. It made for a late night, though, so we were extremely tired when we got home. Today was the usual lawn mowing chore for me in Maple Shade, while Angie cleaned and did laundry in Mount Laurel. We went to dinner at Hoolihan's in Cherry Hill and then went to Mom Mom and Pop Pop's to grab the kids (well, the twins), get some ice cream at the ice cream stand and then meet ...

Angie and I started watching the last half of the final season of Battlestar on Sunday night. Last night we finished episode 15, so we only have 5 to go! It's really good. Some of the things that I thought the writers would hold off on revealing until the end of the series were already revealed (like the "last" of the final five Cylons, what happened to Earth, etc.). If you haven't seen it, I don't think I've given away any spoilers because, you know, the devil is in the details. The writing is consistently great, and the cast is amazing. Definitely worth watching if you can dedicate the time to watching in excess of 40 one-hour episodes of the show (not including "Razor" and any other spin-offs). So say we all...

Despite e-filing through NJWebFile in February of this year, we still haven't gotten our state tax refund yet (it's only $50). Typically, we get it within about 8 or 9 days of filing, but this year we received a letter from the Department of Treasury about a month after filing saying that we needed to provide copies of our W-2's, social security cards, and driver's licenses. I did all of that within a day or two and mailed it back. Here we are in late June and we still haven't seen the refund. I called the Treasury Department last week and (thankfully) the person I spoke with was able to track down our information and told me that, yes, they did receive all of our stuff back on March 16th (over three months ago now). When I asked if there was something the matter, she said no, that they've just been slammed with returns and ours will be processed soon. I understand if they were slammed, but they've had my return for 3 months! When does the "slammi...

The twins made me Fathers Day cards at summer camp and gave them to me this morning. They also made me little booklets with cardboard covers that day "Dad" on the front and blank pages inside. I guess we're supposed to fill up those pages with drawings, writings, and photos. We'll have to start today! Adrian learned to say "Happy Fathers Day" this morning and did very well. (He's such a charmer!) Angie took all of the kids to church and breakfast with grandmom, so I'm having a relaxing time enjoying the rainy, overcast morning. We're having Angie's dad (and Nancy) and my dad (and mom) over for dinner later today, and I'm looking forward to it. Angie's hoping we can fire up the grill for some chicken and steak, as long as the skies clear up. Maybe we could even dine outside on the patio. The twins are looking forward to seeing all their uncles at one time: Uncle Jake, Uncle Ian and Uncle Ryan will all be here visiting at the sa...

...it's off to work I go...

I went over to our Maple Shade house to cut the lawn yesterday around 11:30am, and within 15 minutes it started to rain. I tried to "mow through it", but it turned into a downpour in a matter of minutes. Luckily, Don had left the back door open because I had forgotten my key. Unfortunately for Don, I tracked some grass into the house. I tried to clean it up as best as I could, but it was a futile effort since everywhere I went grass was falling off of me. So I had to abort the grass-cutting mission half way through (at least I had finished the front yard completely). The back yard was about half cut. Today Angie took the kids to church and then out to breakfast with Grandmom (who still hasn't purchased a new car yet!). While they were out, I loaded my mower back into my trunk and went back to Maple Shade to finish the job. After that, I came back here and had lunch. Everyone came home around 12:30pm or so, just in time for Adrian's afternoon nap. While he napp...

Here is a link to some... Pictures from Great Adventure 6/12/09 Alternatively, you can click the Picasa Slideshow link in the right hand column of my blog. Either way, just scroll through the pictures until you get to the elephant...

We (me, Angie, Dillon, Jason and Adrian) spent the day at Six Flags Great Adventure yesterday. We had our two Coke cans for "Buy One Get One Free" tickets and drove straight to the Safari entrance (it was around 11am by the time we got there, I think). With the coupons and paying $10 each for the Safari, it was about $150 with tax (Adrian was free for everything, of course). The Safari was really cool and everyone really enjoyed it. It was a great time of day to go because all of the animals were out and about (mostly eating). One giraffe started "tasting" a car in front of us at one point, which was pretty funny. The kids all got a kick out of that. Then we ate our pre-packed lunch at the Safari "Exploration Station." We grabbed a picnic table and sat down to eat there. Just when we were finishing up, it started to rain (and we had already paid for our theme park admission). So we went back to the minivan and waited about 10 minutes or so before...

On the small tea cups ride.

Moving right along through Seasons 2.0 and 2.5, Angie and I started watching Season 3.0 last night. We're totally hooked and just motoring through the seasons. Thanks to Matt, we were able to watch Seasons 1, 2, and 2.5 on DVD, but Season 3 we're watching via AVI files that I grabbed off the Internet. At least we're able to watch them in the family room using the PlayStation 3. The quality isn't the greatest, but it's definitely watchable. I have Season 4.0 on DVD waiting in the wings, but we'll have to get through 3.0 and 3.5 using these computer files first. I'm going to keep looking for higher quality versions, but for now these will have to do. I actually learned something about the PS3 that I think is totally ridiculous. For months now I've been trying to watch computer video files (MPG, AVI, etc.) on the PS3 (either via wi-fi or USB thumb drive), but never had any luck. Then last night I had to figure it out because we finished up Season 2.5...

Jason and Dillon's t-ball league photos:

Angie and I finally started watching Battlestar Galactica last week (on DVD). We started with the Season 1 discs, which include the original 4-part miniseries, and I must say we're both completely hooked. We averaged about 2 or 3 episodes per night and polished off all 17 episodes within about 5-6 days. The season-ending cliffhanger was a doozy! I never saw it coming... Dr. Gaius Baltar ("No more Mr. Nice Gaius!!") is a fascinating character. I hate him, but I love watching him in every scene he is in. He's such a weasel, but I love laughing at the predicaments he gets himself into while talking to Number 6 (in his head). The scene where Number 6 appears on Galactica as a doctor's assistant is a classic since Baltar assumes that she is in his head and no one else can see her. The looks on the other actors' faces in that scene and every other scene where Baltar is talking to himself are priceless. Great series... I'm actually glad we didn't wat...