Birthdays and grandsons

                                                                  

All three of my daughter’s sons were born in June. I wanted to do something special for them and asked them for suggestions.

                                                                                                                            

After vetoing the first three,

                                          No! I can't walk and chew gum

                                           No! and don't ask again.

                                               Hell no!                                                         
 we settled on a day in Philly, but we had to hold off on the trip because I was busy getting things ready for my trip to California.

                                                                           

Jimmy has a job now, so he was unable to spend the day out with us and I missed his editorial comments on the trip.

                                                                                                  
Josh and Nathan love going to China town

                                                                 
and especially to their favorite restaurant, the Empress Garden.

                                                        
We had a fine lunch and then headed over to the Philadelphia Visitor’s Center to purchase tickets.

                                                                      

The boys wanted to ride on a double decker bus and take a tour of the city. I’ve never done this, so we were all excited to try it out. We chose the Big Bus.

                                                                     

Here we are before the bus starts the tour.

                                                                        

It was a very hot day so we didn’t look as perky at the end of the ride,

                                                          
 but… the tour guide knew his stuff and we did enjoy the tour.

                                          And we may have even spotted Elvis!                                 

We took the train back to Jersey and met my husband at the Pop Shop.

                                                      
 Best place for Ice Cream.

                                                                          

After the ice cream, we went to see a movie, which I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to see because it was yet another movie about Spiderman. How many ways can you see Spiderman before you get bored?

                                                                        

I was pleasantly surprised at how good it turned out to be.

                                                                             

Next week, I’ll be going to Laurel Hill Cemetery

                                                                   
 to do a little ghost hunting
                                                         Ghosts Among Our Graves:
Paranormal Investigation of Laurel Hill Cemetery
Saturday, July 21, 8:00pm        
 and I’m sure that I’ll have some great pictures to share with you on my next blog.

                                                                          

Have a great weekend and a productive week.

Part Twenty-four of Lilith's Escape

                                                         

Edward tried to pull Lilith into the tub with him, even though she was clothed, but as he did, a shooting pain ripped through his shoulder, stopping his amorous tug of war.

“Damn it,” he said and released Lilith. Rubbing his shoulder, he apologized, “I guess my fighting with that creature last night aggravated my injury.”

“I need you healed. We have a lot of work ahead of us.” She was kneeling next to the tub and let her fingers trail from his cheek, very slowly down his chest.

                                                                        

“Climb in with me,” Edward coaxed, but she brushed his hand away. He watched as Lilith took out a small dagger from inside her cloak. “What are you doing?” He asked as she pressed the blade to her finger.

                                                                   

“Drink,” she said and placed her bleeding fingertip to his lips. “This will heal you.”

                                                                              

He should have refused her request, pushed her away and ran for the hills, but instead, he took her finger into his mouth and sucked. It didn’t take long for the blood to have an effect on him. Her blood burned as it slid down his throat, but within seconds, his pain was gone. He felt renewed, strong and…?

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

“The full effect hasn’t hit you,” she warned him.

“I feel great right now,” he replied and tried once more to pull her into his arms, but then the room began to spin. He felt woozy and grabbed the tub for support, “Lilith?”

                                                                     

“My blood is much too strong for a mortal, but you’ll feel better in a little while.”

“What did you do to me?” He tried to lift himself from the tub…

                                                                              

…When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the tub. Edward found himself fully dressed and lying on the bed. Lilith was on the other side, reading a book. When she saw that he was awake, she crawled over and snuggled next to him.

                                                                       

“What happened?” he asked, too shaken to do more than lay there.

“Your wounds are healed. Come on, get out of bed. We have places to go.”

“How the hell did you get me out of the tub?” Edward asked. He had questions, lots of questions, and it was up to the woman in his arms to supply him with the answers.

“It's better that you don't know.”

                                                                 

“How?” Edward demanded an answer, but it never came.

 She slid away from his side. “I’m hungry and need to build up my strength.”

“What year are we in?” Edward wondered if she had transported him into a new time period.

                                                                     

“Same year, I can’t take you through time without the car. Your mortal body would be torn apart. I can, however, take you to different places,” she replied.

“Why is everyone looking for this Levi guy?” Edward stood up and began to look for his shoes.

“Because of who and what he is,” she replied. She walked over to his side of the bed and stood in front of him.

“And that is?”

“He is Lazarus.”

                                                                  

Part Twenty-three of Lilith's Escape

                                                                        

He stretched out his arm to touch her, but was greeted with only empty space. Edward opened his eyes wondering if the events of the night before had been a bad dream. He was alone in a large bed and it wasn’t his. Where was she? He climbed out of bed and stretched. The room was no longer cold and he noticed, as he headed towards the balcony, that someone had started a fire in the fireplace. Enjoying the crisp cool air, Edward looked down into the valley. The town of Oberammergau was a beautiful site to behold.

                                                                    

It wasn’t until he reentered the bedroom that he noticed the bedside table, which wasn’t there the night before.

                                                          
The tea pot was hot to the touch and the fruit, cheese and bread triggered the hunger that he had pushed to the back of his mind. He poured the tea and drank it down, his favorite mix. How did she know? Sitting on the bed he poured another cup and then began to eat what she had chosen for him.

“I’m not a pet to keep caged. Where are you Lilith?” he said aloud. Apparently, she had healed enough to provide provisions.

He began to search behind the drapes, looking once more for a means to escape. This time he found a door. It led to another larger room and from this room he could see the stairway. Standing at the top of the stone steps, he wondered what other mysteries were to be found in this castle.

                                                              
 He made his way down the steps, cautious, prepared for any new attacks. This landing held several rooms, but he made his way towards the only opened door. He entered to find a massive and elegantly tiled bathroom. On a small settee, which was covered in red velvet, lay clothing folded neatly in a pile.

                                                                                                                              

“Lilith?” he called out. “Lilith, you can’t keep me here.” He received no reply and became angered by his situation. Letting out a long sigh, Edward picked up the shirt, which was on the top of the pile and smiled.

                                                          
It was the style shirt he always wore and so where the pants. Next to the underwear was a small bag and inside this, he found the toiletries needed to refresh himself. The large claw foot tub positioned in front of a window, gave Edward a view of the mountains and it was breathtaking.

                                                                                                           
Placing his fingers into the sudsy water, Edward was pleasntly surprised to find that the water was still warm to the touch. Was she nearby?

                                                                                            

His body ached from the accident and the struggle with the creature of the night before so Edward stripped and climbed into soothing bubble bath. After washing himself clean with the large sponge, he laid his head back and closed his eyes.

He didn’t know for sure, how long he had been asleep in the tub, but her kiss made him forget how cold the bath water had become.

                                                                                                                              

“I’ll tell you what you need to know,” she said after she peeled her lips from his, but talking was the last think on Edward’s mind.

                                                              

San Francesco Meets the Sisters

                                                            

                                        My siblings and I headed to San Francesco today.

                                                         

                                                                                         
My sister Jane drove us to Vallejo to catch the Ferry that would take us to Fisherman’s Warf in San Francesco. Jane has a bad sense of direction.

                                                            

            We got lost, but after several wrong turns, finally made it to the ferry.

                                                                 

Getting lost must run in the family. I’m always getting lost. My genetic makeup does not include a compass.

                                                                 

I’m so bad at directions, I’ve often wondered how I found my way through the birth canal, but this aura of cluelessness seems to run stronger in Jane and me.

                                                                   

The three sisters, their brother and his wife found the ferry a much more pleasant way to reach the Warf and we were ready to roll as soon as we left the boat.

                                                                 

Lucy, Joann and I wanted to shop, but Mike and Jane were hungry (this is a constant condition for the two of them). My sister Jane and brother Mike are very thin, but they eat like there is no tomorrow. 

                                                            

                              We stopped at Boudin to buy some sourdough bread,

                                                                 
                                                               lots of sourdough bread.

                                                                                                                      

After some serious shopping and a quick lunch, we decided to walk up several steep hills until we found “The Crooked Street” on Lombard.

                                                                    

                 “Is it far?” I huffed and puffed after walking up the never ending hills.

                                                                           

“I don’t think so,” Jane replied, but we should have known better. We weren’t on the right street.

                                                             

After getting directions, we finally made it to our destination and walked to the top of the crooked street.

                                                          

                                                              Jane leading the pack                                                                      

Once there, my brother and Jane decided it was time to eat again, so down the hill we went in search of Ghirardelli Square

                                                             

                                                       and some ice cream.

                                                                        

                                                                                                                             

After some more shopping, we made it back to the boat, but when we got back to Vallejo, Jane got lost again on the way home to Napa.

                                                                                                              

Funniest Movie I've ever seen

                                                                       

Okay so my sister Lucy and I were up early today because we had plans to ride and eat lunch on the Wine Train. While having our first cup of coffee before getting dressed, Lucy was flipping through the T.V. channels looking for something interesting.  She paused on the Encore station and a movie had just begun. It was called “The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra”.

                                                                

This has to be one of the funniest movies ever about space aliens interacting with humans. Larry Blamire is the writer, director and also plays one of the main characters.

                                                                
Basically from what we could surmise, aliens land on earth to search for a piece of meteor rock containing atmospherium.

                                                                           

The aliens are funny as hell and so are the humans

                                                                           
 and don’t even ask me to explain the skeleton in the title, I would fail the task.

                                                            
This is a spoof on B movies, but it’s one of the best that I have seen in a long time.  So if you have nothing to do one night, pull up this movie and watch it.  Oh and did I mention that there is also a mutant monster in this film?

                                                                    
I've included a trailer for your enjoymet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe9Fs10IIk0

P.S. The film is even funnier after having a few glasses of wine on the Napa Wine Train.