Day with Dad

Apologies for the five-day lag. My father was so anxious about the lack of a new post that he took the unprecedented step of emailing me to ask if I was OK. I'm fine, dear readers. Just had a busy week and no photos to show for it. But we survived the Golden Globe nominations (yay for "The Artist" and "The Descendants" -- watch them both, now), the AP Holiday Party and Carey's 40th birthday. Which brings us to today. Carey and her pal Connie are spending the weekend together in NYC, putting me in charge of the children who look like me. After a fabulous breakfast at Park Wood Diner in Maplewood (try the Mediterranean Frittata, you won't be disappointed), we dropped the ladies off at the train station. At home, we screened "Hoodwinked Two: Hood vs. Evil" and gave it two thumbs up. Who knew Little Red Riding Hood had such a knack for espionage? Then we hit the road for a $6 pizza and $7 of tokens at Chuck E. Cheese. Typically, Lincoln spent his time shooting arachnids, slugs and bees, while Greta churned out the tickets at Skeeball. She even rolled a 5,000!

After Chuck's, it was back to Maplewood for the annual Dickens' Village and petting zoo. But first, a little mid-day stretching.

The petting zoo featured bunnies, ducks, a donkey and goats, as well as a chicken who preferred perching on heads.

We met our pals the Haydens at the petting zoo and toured Dickens' Village together, which culminated in a meet and greet with Mr. & Mrs. Claus. Santa was once again reminded that Greta would like an American Girl doll and Lincoln a Jellyfish Lamp.

We then retired to Village Coffee for a sweet treat -- a gingerbread man for Greta and a frosted sugar cookie snowman for Linc, who sweetened his even more with a little of the gratis jam.

Now we're home, having eaten a dinner of apples, corn, ham, a cheese stick and bread with peanut butter. The evening's screening is "Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas." Ray Romano couldn't keep the highly regarded TNT show "Men of a Certain Age" on the air, but he can make Ice Age sequels and spinoffs until he's a very old man.