Back in July, before my in-laws were leaving for one of their many summer trips, we took them out for dinner at a local Greek restaurant called Taverna Ouzo. It’s a very popular place, and the only Greek restaurant that I’m aware of in the area. Last year, we tried to get in for Mother’s or Father’s Day, but it was packed. This time around, we made sure to make dinner reservations. The food was good, and so was the conversation.
Dinner with the Davids & Ipes at Taverna Ouzo
Okay, okay, this is really late, but way back in June, we attended my niece Abby’s very first dance recital. We were unfortunately late to the recital and missed her first dance. Thankfully, we were able to watch her second performance. She did great, and I was very proud of her. Afterwards, we went back to my sister’s house for dinner. The kids sorta kinda made s’mores, but the fire pit didn’t quite want to work.
Yes, I acknowledge that these photos are very delayed, but it’s been an awfully busy summer for us. I barely have time to catch up on the backlog, but I promise you’ll see more here shortly.
[simpleviewer gallery_id=”61″]
During the 3rd week of August, my wife invited our niece Sophia to stay with over with us for an entire week. She was still on summer vacation, and Nums was running her last Vacation Bible School for church. Sophia had once stayed overnight last Christmas, but this was the first time staying over for an entire week. During the week, she joined us on many adventure, including:
Below is a collection of photos from the week. I think everyone had a great time.
[simpleviewer gallery_id=”64″]
Last Saturday, we went out to celebrate our friend Teo’s birthday, organized by his wife Sofia. We drove to their house, then we all carpooled in two cars down to Greenwich Village.
Dinner was at Sofia’s brother’s Spanish restaurant, Cafe Espanol on Bleecker St. Excellent food in large quantities, and the sangria kept flowing. Afterwards, we hit up a British-themed bar called GMT Tavern. Not a bad place. I think we got home around 3 am.
Good time, but man, my body was aching all day Sunday.
[simpleviewer gallery_id=”63″]
Nums and I took last Friday off so that we could take the whole family down to Long Beach Island for the day. Similar to last summer, we met up with my sister-in-law Anju and her family for the day.
After grabbing a bite to eat and filling up the gas tank, we drove the NJ back roads through the Pine Barrens to get to LBI. Much later than planned, but what can you do sometimes. My sister-in-law and family were staying on the northern end of the island. Call me ignorant, but I had no idea there was a northern end. Specifically, I thought we always arrived at LBI at one end and drove down. It seems there is a whole other unexplored-by-Ipes section.
It’s a quieter area, but still nice. We found their beach hotel or whatever for the week and met Anju there, then walked to a little beach tram stop. The dune buggy tram pulling a wagon took us to where they were camped out.
We spent the afternoon out in the sun, but I found the water a little cold. We packed up and headed out to the beach hotel at the end of the day to shower and freshen up. We made dinner reservations for an island restaurant called…. Plantation. Excellent food and service. I highly recommend the place.
[simpleviewer gallery_id=”62″]
Nums and Josh had a day planned to go to Medieval Times up in Secaucus, NJ on a company outing. Lily and I, instead, drove down to my sister Julie’s house for their annual Summer Sizzler event. Normally, it is a game of softball then dinner. Unfortunately, what with a problematic weather forecast, they changed it to a badminton competition. I’d like to say that my doubles partner and I beat Johnny, won the badminton karate tournament, and won the heart of Elisabeth Shue. Instead, we lost badly, but ate well.
The kids (including Lily) had fun playing on a ginormous slip n’ slide fashioned out of a large tarp.
[simpleviewer gallery_id=”65″]
Last Friday, Nums and I dropped off the kids to my parents for the night, went out for sushi, and then saw Trainwreck (2015) at our local theater. Sushi was good, though I ordered way too many rolls. I’ve had a hankering for Japanese for a while, but it’s too expensive to get for lunch in Manhattan.
The theater was fairly empty on a Friday night, though I think it’s because the film has been out for a few weeks. I don’t want to give out too many details about the plot, but the film stars Amy Schumer and Bill Hader. There is a large supporting cast and interesting cameos — LeBron James, Allison Brie, Colin Quinn,Vanessa Bayer, Tim Meadows, Bridgett Everett, Amare Stoudemire, Tilda Swinton, etc. I liked the cameos as none of them felt plugged in for the sake of a cameo. When you see them, you’ll go “Hey nice that’s so-and-so. It’s nice to see them.”
Okay I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same reaction, but that’s how I felt.
The film starts with a flashback to when Amy and her sister (as young girls) are informed by their father (Colin Quinn) that the parents are getting divorced. And monogamy is basically stupid. Amy takes this life lesson to heart and becomes very…. liberated? She does a lot of partying and keeps no serious relationships. Her sister, on the other hand, ignored her father’s message and had a normal or traditional life (got married, is a loving stepmother, etc.)
Magazine writer Amy eventually gets an assignment to write a story about a sports doctor (Bill Hader) and starts to really get along with him, which throws her for a loop. Romantic comedy hijinks ensue. I was impressed by Amy Schumer’s acting ability, as I wasn’t expecting much more than the acting range necessary for a few comedy sketches strung together.
The film is different and yet the same. For a romantic comedy, it hits the usual plot points, but there’s a lot more raunchy humor than you would expect in a genre that normally caters to women. Even though it could easily have attempted to only be a raunchy comedy, it also tried hard for heart. I respect that, because you’re already elevating it past the Adam Sandler level of crap comedy.
Was it groundbreaking? No, but it’s an entertaining film to see on a date night. Go see it!
Trainwreck (2015)
We have news! If you may recall, back in April, our friends Doug & Kathy came over to help us attempt to make a garden. A garden for actual vegetables It’s been many months, and many ‘incident’s have happened to this summer to distract us from properly monitoring the garden. Imagine our surprise to find actual produce.
Most of the crop didn’t grow, but we have hope in 2016.
We had some free time on an early (and warm!) Sunday evening last Sunday, so we decided to hit Six Flags for a quick visit. The lines were barely there, so we hit some new-to-us rides, including Congo Rapids and Green Lantern. Congo Rapids was fun so we did it twice. Green Lantern had a more substantial line, but we rode it out, and survived the coaster. Man, just when you think the ride is over, Green Lantern kept going.
Looking for something different on Netflix this week, I came across The Big Boss (1971) starring Bruce Lee. Originally released in the U.S. back in the early 1970s as “Fists of Fury”, I guess it can be found under it’s original title.
Cheng Chao-an is a city boy who moves with his cousins in Thailand to work at an…. ice factory? Hmmm, let’s go with it. He does this with a family promise never to get involved in any fight, but the film stars Bruce Lee, so he’s probably going to break his promise and then kick butt. It turns out this ice factory is a front for a drug smuggling operation. When members of his family begin disappearing after meeting the management of the factory, the resulting mystery and pressures forces him to break that vow and take on the “Big Boss” and his crew of hired thugs.
It’s an okay film with so-so martial arts action. The story is extremely basic, and the acting is pretty atrocious, but you have to forgive a lot considering it’s an Asian martial arts film from 1971. I did enjoy the 70’s-era music and the multitude of thugs dressed in 70’s clothes. I expected more fighting in a Bruce Lee flick from the man himself, but there is a reasonable number of action scenes. If you’re going to watch this with the kids, be forewarned that there are two separate scenes in a brothel with female nudity. So don’t be watching this with the family on Thanksgiving.
The Big Boss (1971)
