Our Wild and Crazy Weekend

As if having two run-ins with park rangers late at night wasn't enough, we managed to fill our entire four day weekend with lots of activities. Friday, Jeff took the day off to take James fishing. Saturday, we drove up to Piscataway to see Rach and Phil. Isn't that the funniest name for a town?! Piss-cat-away! Anyway, we spent pretty much our entire day up there. More on that in a minute. Then, on Sunday, we went to church and spend the entire afternoon cleaning out our garage. It looks marvelous, as Grandma would say. Sunday night was the night my hubby almost went to jail. He, he, he. Monday, Jeff had a promise to keep with James. He told James he was going to take him fishing. After the previous night's ordeal, compounded by the fact that he caught no fish, Jeff didn't really want to go. I told him to take James to Sears and see the tractors, but he insisted that James wouldn't take the bait. So, here is what they did instead:

• Drove up River Road to try to find a fishing spot.
  
• Found said fishing spot. Was overcrowded and buzzing with boats.
• Left said fishing spot in search of new one. Found new one. See above.
• Talked to random fisherman who told them to go to Duck Island.
• Headed to Duck Island. Road was closed. Went around on a wild goose chase.
• Found Duck Island. Same thing: people and boats everywhere.
• Headed home. Took wrong road. Wild goose chase.
• Decided to go to the college to fish. Found the place swarming with freshman. No parking spots to be seen.
• Decided to go to another lake. James saw the park on the way. He asked to go to the park.
• James, after two minutes at park, says he wants to go home.
• James, after two minutes in car, says he wants to go to the park.
  
• Jeff talks him into going to Sears instead. They look at the tractors.
  
• James still wants to go back to the park. Jeff offers to take him to the park closer to home. Finally talks James into that instead.
• James got to the park and wouldn't play on the equipment. Too many kids.
• They walked to the creek and looked for fish. Zilch.
• Jeff drove them over to another park of the creek to look. Still nothing.
• Came home and walked to our side of the creek and looked for fish. Saw a big fat NOTHING!

Can you believe they did all that?! I would have given up long before that! Jeff was a sport, I tell ya! And now, as if this post isn't long and boring enough, you have to hear about our crazy experience at Harold's Deli on Saturday. I should have known it would be interesting when we walked in and saw this:

These cakes aren't fake. They aren't just 'for display only.' No, if you order a piece of cake, you get enough to feed an army. A slice of cake over a foot high. I would sure hope so, at $12.95 a slice! We sat down and browsed the menu. Rachel has raved about this place, especially its pickle bar. The sign out front says "World's Best Pastrami. World's Best Short Ribs. World's Best Pies and Pastries. World's Best...." Is there anything they make that isn't the World's Best, or are they just a little big for their britches? Anyway, the menu. When you order a sandwich, it comes with enough meat to feed a small African nation for at least a week. I have never seen such a thing. There is seriously enough meat to make ten sandwiches on one sandwich. We ended up collectively ordering the Short Ribs Meal, and it fed all 5 of us. We also got a Cannish. Knish? I don't really know how to spell it, but it was really good. And the pickle bar was great! Who knew there were so many varieties of pickles to be had?

I could have just eaten pickles and bread. After stuffing our faces with muchos food-os, we headed for the door. That's when things got wierd. Let me tell you, there is a reason they say that only the strong survive in NJ! We were assaulted by a little old Jewish lady with a lot of red lipstick. At first, I thought she was just going to say hi to the kids and say 'How cute' and then leave. You know, the standard thing to do. But no, she didn't stop at that. First, she asked if they were twins. Uh, no. Then she started to play with Katie. I always get a little wierd when strangers start touching my kids. I told myself, she's just a little old lady who likes to see babies. She grabbed Katie's hand and started, very quietly, to say some sort of rhyme. Then she started getting a bit louder. I started understanding some of what she was saying. She would do something with Katie's hand, then make 'chopping' motions all the way up Katie's arm, saying 'Chop, chop, chop, chop,' then 'pull the baby's hair.' She would pretend to pull Katie's hair. And then she would start all over. She kept at it and it was kind of awkward. It's not exactly like you can just yank your baby's hand out of some old ladies and just take off. Well, I guess you could but it seems a bit extreme. When she finally released her grip on Katie, she headed for James. Then, she kept talking. And talking. As if that were not wierd enough, in the meantime her entire entourage/family/whatever, was engaged in a very bitter argument which involved half of the dinner party turning their backs on the other. At some point, we heard 'You have no right to bring that up,' or something like that. It was very bizarre, and we finally made a break for the door. Its much safer if you just stay inside Rachel and Phil's apartment. On the way home, this is what happened:



As the mysterious anonymous comment aptly said, 'Never a dull moment if your household.' Well said, mysterious anonymous commenter, well said.