I also have to Netflix movies to watch this weekend — 3:10 to Yuma and Avatar. Yeah, I’ve already seen Avatar in 3D at the theater back in Jan ’10, but I want to see how it looks on my HDTV. Shut up, you haters.

In evening, the Jacob’s invited their clan over for a BBQ, which was nice. There was some tentative talk about going to  a water park, but we weren’t up for it at all. After all the hub-bub over the past few days, it was nice to relax today.

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New Louis Garneau cycling gloves

Another beautiful spring day to appreciate today. It was so nice, I had to ask myself why I wasn’t making plans to go appreciate it? I had not yet picked up by bicycle from the bike shop Wednesday or Thursday. It seemed a little chilly at 61 degrees, so my resolve began to waffle. Still, the weather was so nice, and a day off, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go riding. If I passed it up, it would be another day that I didn’t go riding. I picked up the bike from the shop, bought some new cycling gloves to replace the ratty ones I purchased back in 2003 or 2004.

You would probably wonder why my resolve to go riding would waiver if I love cycling that much. That happens to me every time whenever I want to go exercising in any form. I start making excuses about why it would be a better idea NOT to exercise. It must have something to do with Newton’s 1st law of motion:

In the absence of a net force, the center of mass of a body either is at rest or moves at a constant velocity.

At these times, I try to remember a small piece of advice that I read in a bicycling magazine (yes, they do exist.) The writer stated that sometimes it difficult to find the motivation to go riding. You have to get the center of mass (your lazy butt) and apply some force to get it to move. You have to prep the bicycle. You need to get dressed. You need to get your supplies together, like water or an extra tube in case you get a flat tire. This doesn’t apply to riding a bike down to the general store. This is committing yourself to a few hours of rigorious physical activity.

May 2004 at the MS Bike Tour, back when I was in my prime.

So what is this sage piece of advice? If you don’t want to go riding, go anyway. Ride for five to ten minutes. If you don’t feel like it at this point, turn around. However, most of the time, you will be happy you decided to go. This advice has always worked for me. One time (and I do remember that day in particular) that I went riding, it was too cold and I turned around. Every other time that I have ridden for at least five minutes, I never looked back.

Acknowledging the fact that I am 30+ pounds heavier than I used to be when I was in my prime, it was still difficult to ride those first few miles. When I say difficult, I mean I was dragging my heavier self down the road. I was winded, I was slow, and I was lethargic. At three miles, I was tired.

After three miles, I felt better. I rode around Monroe, exit 8a on the NJ Turnpike, and back through Cranbury. In total, I rode 17.5 miles in about 2+ hours. Was I surprised? Very much so. I have not ridden in two years, and I am very much put of practice. What is more surprising is that I’m basically no worse for wear. My seat is still a bit sore, but nothing else hurts. I’m ready to again next weekend.

An acquiantance of mine, someone I met at a dinner party a couple of months ago has asked me to join her for this year’s MS Bike Tour, which I last did in May 2004. Back then, I raised $1200, and I’m still proud of it. This year, a childhood classmates/peer was diagnosed with MS. If not for any other reason, I’d like to ride this year in support of my friend.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Hoberman Sphere in the LSC Atrium

We picked up bagels-as-breakfast-to-go, and ate all the way up the NJ Turnpike.  We arrived on a quiet day at the museum, just 8 busloads of school kids arrived a second ahead of us.  Grr, as we waited in line to get in.  Eventually, we purchased entrance tickets, and strolled in.  We couldn’t hit everything, and it would be a detriment to exhaust him, as he wouldn’t enjoy it anymore.  Remember, I’m trying to grow me a scientist.  What we saw:

• We ooohed and aaahed over the large expanding/contracting Hoberman Sphere (I didn’t know this was the largest on existing Hoberman sphere.)
• Visited the Skyscraper exhibit.
• Spent time in the I Explore area for 2-5 year-olds.
• Checked out the fascinating featured animals in the Eat or Be Eaten exhibit.
• Chilled out and ate lunch in the cafeteria.
• Saw a demonstration on liquid nitrogen.
• Watched Fly Me to the Moon, supposedly the first ever animated movie created for 3D.
• Walked through the Space exhibit (not quite ready for it.)
• Participated in a demonstration of animal phobias (and saw up close toads, spiders, snakes, cockroaches, etc.)
• Chilled out in the late afternoon by sitting and reading the Dr. Seuss classic The Lorax in the reading area.
• Visited the I Explore area again.
• Wrapped in the museum store, and bought some toy dinosaurs.

It was a great day to hang out.  Josh’s favorite area was certainly the I Explore area, where he could run around, play, measure rice, and use these large machines that moved colored balls up through the machinery, down spirals, moving levers, etc.  See the January photos for all the carnage.