Wednesday 23rd August
A perfect day again today, any hint of a storm is not at all evident. Blue skies, mildly warm temperatures great summer weather. We have decided to take the “triplets” to the movies today. We book early and organise them to be ready by 11.15 when our pre ordered uber cab will be here to pick us all up and drive us to the nearby Oxford Mall. We have decided to see Spiderman ” Homecoming”. Spider boy really, as this follows on from the avengers “Civil War” movie where the young Peter Parker has a tryout with the big boys, Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye. Now waiting for the call up to another mission he manages to involve himself in a group of salvage operators, turned criminals when their contract to salvage alien tech is withdrawn from them.
Wearing his newly Tony Stark designed Spider-Man suit the young Parker bites off more than he can chew. Screwing up once in his attempts to bring the salvage guys turned alien tech weapons manufacturers/designers/dealers to justice. As a result Tony Stark takes away spider boys high tech suit and leaves him with diminished powers. Spider-Man then has to draw on his inner strength to defeat the now powerful alien tech enhanced boss of the salvage group, who also happens to be the father of his date to the homecoming ball, using his own spider enhanced powers and resources. A fun super hero movie, watched in a comfortable small theatre with reclining seats along with the usual movie food that made for an enjoyable afternoon with the girls. We uber cab back home, certainly the best way to travel around here, we never have to wait too long for a ride. The afternoon is still warm and sunny so we spend the rest of the day relaxing on the patio. Justin and Calista are still involved in their band activities for the day and end of summer holiday parties by night. Abbey and Cadence return to their summer camp tomorrow our last full day here. Leaving Aubrey with us, although she is very self sufficient. Heather arrives home after another days work. Then is off to collect Justin and Calista so they can prepare for their evenings outing. When they arrive home Calista is dressed in pale blue with a matching pale blue bow in her hair, she is beaming after a day of drama practice where she plays Wendy in Peter Pan, her main source of mirth is that she has managed to dress her boyfriend Ben in tights, while his best friend Greg had to dress up as tinker bell.
Troy arrives home and between them, Heather and Troy put together a dinner of fish and chicken tacos for us all. By the time we chat over dinner with a glass of wine, then cleanup the hour is late. We are way off our home routine by now, this is our 49th day away from home. Tomorrow is our last day here in Pennsylvania before we fly to London on Friday.
Thursday 24th August
Again those clear blue skies dominate, it is cooler though as summer starts to fade into fall. Packing day today though, our last day has arrived and tomorrow we must take our leave. Amanda ever the expert packer sets to after breakfast, during these times I like to stay clear, until called for to give the suitcases a weight check. Aubrey is the only one with us today, quiet as a mouse she stays to her room only leaving it for sustenance. The pleasant day wears on as we prepare for tomorrow, gathering our possessions as well as our thoughts for the coming journey ahead. All done we retire to the patio to soak up the last of the Pennsylvania sunlight before Troy & Heather arrive home.
We have managed to book them all, Troy, Heather, Calista, Abbey, Cadence & Aubrey in for family dinner tonight at La Stalla, a local Italian restaurant that is rapidly becoming a favourite. Just there the other night we know that the outcome will be good. Time is spinning around so fast at the moment it’s hard to keep up. The time quickly arrives for our dinner date, for the first time in ages I dress in long pants even putting on shoes and socks, the temperature has dropped but the sky is still clear. The kids including us are bundled into the two cars to take us to the the restaurant. La Stalla has a great atmosphere no matter if you dine inside or out, tonight we are outside under an awning stretched out over two rows of tables, the air seems warmer here in Newtown, maybe the cooking aromas in the air coming from the busy kitchen are enough to warm our senses.
We are seated at two cream linen covered tables, one round and one oval, pushed together to form one oddly shaped table. An authentic Italian restaurant even the waiters look and speak with Italian accents, must be interesting when La Stalla advertises for waiters, “Must have, black hair, swarthy look, and speak American English with an Italian accent” on the last note, the waiter and I have a miss communication, when asked for my drink order I ask for a glass of merlot, the waiter then asks Troy for his order that is a beer, then confirms with me that I want a glass of merlot in somewhat mumbled tones. He returns with a glass of Millers light, a beer, Troy immediately tells him I ordered a glass of Merlot, he apologises mumbling Millers light merlot, over and over. Obviously my Australian American English is about as good as his Italian American English. By my second glass though he has it right, saying not a Millers light a Merlot.
The specials are so good tonight we don’t even need to look at the menu, Amanda and I split the soft shell crab served crumbed to a dark golden brown with a side of tomato aioli. For mains squid ink blackened spaghetti, in a tomato creme sauce with cherry tomatoes, lobster tail split in the shell and shrimp with tails on, the latter we would definitely call prawns as shrimp are much smaller then these served. When I order I ask for the squid ink pasta, the waiter replies, no squid sir only Lobster and shrimp. The dish looked spectacular, the black coiled spaghetti forming the backdrop to the orange lobster shells, with bright red tomatoes dotted about the plate amongst the shrimp. My only regret not taking a photo of this dish, will definitely have to try to recreate it at home. Amanda asked the waiter for the recipe, he reels it off to her, it’s a easy he says just cook the pasta, drain and add some cream, then a touch of Italian tomato sauce, cook the tomatoes until the skins split combine with the cooked shrimp and lobster, to easy! We will see.
The kids all love pasta and apparently love coming here, the spaghetti and meat balls dish that Cadence orders has one giant meatball in the centre, while Abbey and Aubrey go for a plate of cheese ravioli, the biggest cheese ravioli I have ever seen, accompanied by a rich tomato sauce, Aubrey ordering the sauce on the side.
Amanda and I are still munching on our mains when the waiters clear the plates from the table and offer up dessert. One interesting aspect of dining here is that from west to east diners are always asked if they want a box for any leftovers. A practice we Aussies refer to as a doggie bag, now long since gone from our restaurants due to the idiots that put the food in the back of the fridge for a few weeks then eat it and complain of food poisoning, surprise, surprise!
The kids all except Calista want ice cream, Rita’s is a tiny ice creamery virtually in the parking lot, Troy sends them off with some cash to satisfy their wishes, while I having now given up on my pasta order a creme brûlée. Troy and Heather order one too, and Calista a frozen lemon gelato encased in a lemon skin. Every dining experience is a new one, that always makes eating interesting but this trip I definitely feel, a more expensive experience especially with this tip culture that adds 15 to 20% to the bill, Troy pretty much suggesting that 20% is the norm unless you have a bad experience. To me at least, weird but the average hourly wage here is much lower than in Australia, a lot of people working two jobs to make ends meet.
Back home, Calista and Justin are back out to another end of summer party, the little ones make for bed while we sit up for a short while with a night cap before eventually retiring ourselves. Tomorrow we fly to London and Wimbledon where we spend a week or so exploring an area that seems so familiar to me in my mind but no doubt will throw up the inevitable surprises.