Celebrating Spring in Pennsylvania

This past weekend, we celebrated the birthdays of daughters Gina and Amy as well as Mother's Day.

Julie and I thought a Teppanyaki Grill experience at Shogun 3 would be a tasty way to celebrate on Saturday evening.

After all, Gina, Laszlo and Emma eat sushi every Wednesday, and granddaughter Emma loves all Japanese culture so much that she has been learning to speak and write Japanese, not to mention her appreciation of anime books and videos.

There are plenty of vegetables and low carb options, and avoiding gluten is pretty easy in a Japanese restaurant.

When in high school, Amy liked visiting a Japanese shopping center by bus and also had dinner at Benihana a few times. Her husband Lukas also seems to like sushi and the grilled dishes.

The chef put on an amusing show, including juggling the cutlery and a couple of flaming displays like an onion reconfigured as a volcano with a oil fire erupting out the top.

All of the food was delicious, beginning with the appetizers.  Tempura vegetables and shrimp were fried just right, a crispy preview of Julie's tempura chicken meal.  There were several sushi plates ordered, including Patrick Rolls which I tried and thought tasted fantastic.  Let's just say no sushi was leftover.

The Teppanyaki-grilled food was also a hit.  I would definitely order the shrimp again, and those who ordered scallops or steak and tuna also seemed happy eaters.

Before the meal, we found out it was BYOB, so I ran over to the nearby Acme Grocery Store, where I was surprised to learn that no Japanese beers were available, so I bought Pennsylvania's own Yuengling Light Beer.

Gina has envisioned a meal with vegetables of the wrong colors which came to fruition at lunch earlier in the day.

There was multi-colored cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes and tortilla chips.

The menu also included gnocchi with multi-colored sauces and meatballs made of either chicken (more pale than the norm) or Beyond Meat (needless to say non-meatballs).

There was also "pasta" made out of zucchini.

It was another great feast!

Earlier in the week, Julie and I went over to join Gina, Laszlo and Emma for Gina's actual birthday.

Laszlo and Emma made a delicious gluten-free brownie cake and put number candles on top which Emma lit to commemorate the occasion.

Emma doesn't like being photographed these days, but she is a good photographer.

Skipping back a few weeks, Gina hosted Easter dinner with a meal centered by delicious ham and asparagus.  Julie made fantastic potatoes au gratin.  Amy and Lukas were otherwise engaged, but the rest of us from the latter celebratory meals ate well that day too.

Gina asked us to bring two colors of Peeps, which we used for Jousting.  Basically, we put a toothpick in yellow and pink Peeps and then microwaved them to see which one would win by piercing the other Peep...and hopefully not exploding all over the inside of the microwave.

Not exactly the Super Bowl, but it was fun.

We also dyed Easter eggs in more vibrant colors than ever by dipping them in the solution and then going for a walk while they soaked.

Emma found the rest of us to be quite immature.

We haven't just been feasting in Pennsylvania.

Our granddaughter Emma has gotten back into ice skating lessons, and she glides as gracefully as a swan, impressing us with her twirls, jumps and other moves on ice.  She continues to advance rapidly, and skating has become her new passion.  When Amy visited, she ice-skated with Emma on Sunday afternoon.  Amy had already worked out with Gina and Laszlo, attended church with Lukas, Julie and me, and a hiked Haverford College Nature Trail with Lukas, Laszlo, Julie and me.

 
Beyond that, we have been doing a lot of hiking, returning to paths we've tread before, but with each passing season, and indeed from day to day, the scenery changes.

We've watched the transition from winter into spring in what feels like time-lapse photography over the course of a month.

Yesterday on our way to WalMart, we returned to Ridley Creek State Park's Orange Trail, where we have had a few prior adventures.   April showers brought lush foliage to the forefront, plus singing birds combined with the river's soft rapids for the soundtrack on a lovely hike.

Other long walks take us through our neighborhood, where we've been treated to gorgeous flowering trees and bushes, scampering bunnies, squirrels and of course song birds, all of which are also found in our own yard.  I still enjoy afternoons and evenings playing my guitar and singing old songs on our back deck.

I took SEPTA Rail into downtown Philadelphia one evening to substitute for a Bridge-group regular who was traveling in Egypt at one of Gina's weekly games.  It wasn't my best showing.  I think I've become too accustomed to playing online, where the computer sorts cards, but the ladies were certainly pleasant company.

Most evenings, Julie and I like to stay home, make one of our favorite meals and watch our usual TV shows.  I will mention as a significant TV milestone that Tucker Carlson, a personality we have watched a few times each week for years, was recently taken off the air in the wake of a lawsuit settlement by Fox News on a seemingly unrelated issue.

In other TV news, we've watched a few good movies, including a new romantic comedy, I Want You Back, which we watched with Gina a week and a half ago, and with both Gina and Amy we watched Sweet Home Alabama, the old Reese Witherspoon romcom, Gina's go-to relaxing airplane movie.  I thought I'd seen previously but never had.  We all enjoyed it.

Julie and I also watched a couple of overseas spy movies, Unlocked and Safe House, which are the kind of action movies that pull us in.

I also recently read the two latest Steve Berry novels, which were not his best work.

In my Wondrium classes, I have been learning about The Symphonies of Beethoven, when I don't slip off into my afternoon nap.

Life is good!

Ridley Creek Orange Trail April 19

Ridley Creek Orange Trail May 8