Uhhhh, not the biggest update.

We stuffed the cars this morning to limits deemed impossible by natural physics, and left around 10:45am.  We made it all the way to Exit 4 on the NJ Turnpike before the kids got too antsy (as well as our stomachs), and we made one pit stop at a rest area for a late 3pm lunch.  We got home around 4:30pm on another bright sunny day.

I have to go to work tomorrow, don’t I? Sigh.

I will have to make some time this week to post all the photos.

After a few days of rainy weather, we finally hit the beach!  The weather cleared up, which has been a nice surprise.

Yesterday, we hit Ocean City, Maryland.  We had intended to take the ferry from Lewes to Cape May, NJ, but the ferry ride itself is 1:20 hours each way, and we didn’t think the kids would enjoy that much time on the boat.  Instead, we all took a drive to the Talbot St. Pier for a boat ride on the Assateague Adventure.  [Side note: it's so immature how much I like to say Assateague out loud.]

The excursion is about an 1:15 round trip through the harbor to this little island where kids get look around and even collect stuff with supplied nets.  It was ok, overall.  After we returned, the rest of our family group left, leaving us Ipes to adventure in Ocean City on our own.  Since the weather had turned from overcast to gorgeous, we found some great parking, we spent 2 hours on the Ocean City Boardwalk.  Much funnel cake, gyros, and corn dogs was enjoyed by us.  The kids got to play on the beach, and we kept my daughter from eating too much of the sand.

Today, we all (except my in-laws) hit Bethany Beach for two hours to relax in the sun, and play time in the water.  Unfortunately, the water was friggin’ ice cold. So, we just hung out on the beach.

I brought my PlayStation with me on this trip.  I beat my Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune game, and I’ve played other games as well, just for relaxing without guilt.  Pretty fun.

Tomorrow, we head home.  Sigh.

I may feel a little guilty, but I like relaxing on vacation.

On Tuesday morning, it took us a much longer to pack for 2 adults and 2 kids for a week away than I thought it would.  We had meant to leave by 10am, but we didn’t leave until sometime after noon. We took two cars: Nums and Josh in our car, and myself driving Lily and my father-in-law in his car.  We made one pit stop for lunch in Delaware at a chez McDonald’s somewhere on Rt 1 past the bridge.  Otherwise, we kept going and going.  Kids don’t like sitting around in a car that long, and may daughter has no threshold for boredom.  Our strategy was drive fast, and don’t look back.

After a lot of driving in the rain, we arrived here at the house in Bethany Beach, Delaware.  The luxury townhome looks just as good as it does in the pictures.  It is clean, spacious, and very comfortable.  So far, I’m loving the TVs in every room, the way comfortable reclining leather couches, the well-stocked kitchen, and no work.

We’ve been to one of the pools in the community twice now, as the beach area itself has been pretty foggy.  Tomorrow, we’re hitting Ocean City, Maryland.

We had a pretty good Memorial Day weekend, a good start to the weekend. Great sun, great weather.  Couldn’t have asked for more.  We spent most of the weekend prepping for our super family vacation this week. We bought new additional summer clothes, new sneakers, new sandals, and other supplies.

Starting Tuesday, we’re driving down to southern Delaware to vacation with my wife’s side of the family for an entire week. Hitting the beach, the pool, , BBQ’ing, and all-around relaxing.  I’m looking forward to it.

I think everyone must know about this movie. In The Terminal, Tom Hanks plays Viktor Navorski, who becomes a victim of circumstance, and is trapped at JFK airport for months. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the movie also stars Stanley Tucci and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  The movie came out 5 years ago, but I still remember reading many reviews where critics rated the movie as average or poor. 

I thought the movie was decent.  The character of Viktor was identifiable, but I didn’t enjoy the thought of anyone being stuck at an airport for any long period of time. Stanley Tucci was good, but I didn’t quite understand his motivations to hold Viktor in the airport for so long.  Catherine Zeta-Jones character, a flight attendant with issues related to dating attainable men, was a bit pointless.

The Terminal (2004)

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune is near the top of the list of my favorite games of all time.  It’s certainly the best game I’ve played in a long time.  I’m nearing the end of the game, which is sad.  The good news is that there is lots of replay value in the game, so I plan to replay it again.  The even better news?  The sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is coming to the PS3 later this fall. 

Below is footage of actual gameplay.  It’s about the same as the original game, but the graphics looks slightly more refined.  In just 5 minutes, I saw some neat new moves that look absolutely fun.  Looks awesome.  Check it out, and maybe you’ll understand why I like the game.  You feel like you’re the main character in this engrossing story. I don’t let Josh watch me play much at all, but I do let him see the G-rated jumping and running action.  He’s always asking if we can have “Nate” (Nathan Drake in the game) find some more treasure. 

Try to watch it in Hi-Res.  I love this series.

I can’t believe The Cleveland Show is really happening.  Is this going to be good?

I’m working in Delaware this week.  First time, ever.  Delaware isn’t even all that far from home — 90 mins each way, which is just 15 mins more than it takes for me to get to my office in NJ! I don’t want to drive 160 miles found trip every day, so I’m doing a mix of staying overnight and driving home.  One of those on-off-on-off deals.  This way, two nights I can work late, and two nights where I can see my family. I was glad that I had the flexibility to do what was best for me and the family, and balancing what work I had to do. Makes life easier.

Delaware looks the same as the rest of America, though I still don’t understand why their automotive license plates are so weird.  You know what I’m talking about — the dark blue plates with a with just a “4″ on it.  What’s up with that? It must be a popular place — the hotel is booked solid, and I’m stuck in a smoking room. Listen, I don’t care how much the staff says they cleaned the room.  They put an air ionizer in here as well, and I’ve got it running nonstop.  The room still stinks.  Strangely enough, I’m in the mood for a cigar.

After work, we did have a very nice team lunch, which is always a plus when travelling on company business with your colleagues.  If it’s a good group like this one, then it’s a good experience. I can’t remember the last time, if ever, that I had a bad trip because of the group dynamic.  Basically everyone is fine to travel and work with.  I guess I’ve been lucky, or people in general are not that bad, you know?

What’s up with the crazy weather this year?  It’s hot. It’s cold.  It’s beautifu.  It’s rainy and cold.  This year has been odd. It doesn’t help that the weekends go by so fast these days. We’re trying to enjoy our weekends more, and be less stressed out.  Stressed out? Yes, by trying to keep commitments to attend 101 events over 48 hours between Fridays and Mondays.

On Saturday afternoon, my sister and her husband held their annual “Spring Swing” BBQ party at their place.   We didn’t actually make it to the softball game, as most of the family took afternoon naps. By the time we made it there, it was close to 6pm.  Of course, we made it in time for the food, which is all that mattered to me.  By the time we finished cleaning up afterwards and got home, it was after midnight.  Always the sign of a good party.

On Sunday afternoon, we were supposed to picnic with friends over at Liberty State Park, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  Who wants to sit in the park on a windy day in 50 degree weather?  We moved the “picnic” to our friend Reeba’s nearby apartment. 

Last note on the weather – Memorial Day weekend is coming up, and the weather is slowly trending to good weather.  I hope the weather cooperates.  Saturday is the start of my week-long vacation, and I’m really looking forward to it!

Our date night this month was to see Star Trek, the movie reboot for the Star Trek franchise.  I’m a huge, long-time Trekker.  In the past year, so many Trekkies/Trekkers have been going nuts on each other about the upcoming movie.  Those who were livid about the changes to the established canon, and those happy to see any kind of Star Trek on the big screen.  I did the (easy) math, and it’s been a long time since a new Star Trek film was on the big screen. 7 years since the last Star Trek movie (Star Trek: Nemesis), and 13 years since the last good movie (Star Trek: First Contact.)

My take?  Listen, I grew up on the original series, the TOS movies of the 80′s, The Next Generation, and Deep Space Nine.  I also watched (with much disappointment) Voyager and Enterprise.  I may not like all the perceived differences, but if they can get people to like Star Trek again, to understand what’s so great about it, then it can’t be so bad.

Date night almost didn’t happen.  Our babysitting service / plans were cancelled on us at the last minute, and we seemingly didn’t have any other options.  At the last second, a Hail Mary pass came our way.  Our friends Sona and Pradeesh offered to watch the kids for us.  I still can’t believe it.  Being so thankful, and in a hurry, we dropped off the kids, and tried to get to the theater in New Brunswick.  I had purchased tickets through Fandango, but we weren’t going to make it, so we went to a closer theater. I’m wondering if I can get a credit or my money back, since I never claimed the tickets.

The movie used time travel, but the writers were able to successfully bridge the original stories and this new movie.  Basically, a la Back to the Future Part II, unintended visitors from the future have altered the original timeline, and sent us into an alternate future. Is it different?  Yes, but the movie was well-done.  Heck, my wife liked a Star Trek movie.  Even better?  There were lots of women in the theater, and my female friends liked the movie a lot. 

Yes, the movie was different, and changed some key aspects of what I knew and loved.  It’s made a lot of people appreciate Star Trek, so it’s worth it for me.  Now if they can work in some actual thought-provoking stories (besides the big explosive action), I’d be pleased.

Star Trek (2009)