*Last lunch of summer...

Took the kids to Cheesecake Factory today. Delicious!

(*Last one for the kids. We don't start school for another week.)

Best we can do...

Phillies 5 Padres zip...

Ryan Howard strikes out!

Mike Sweeney homers as Phillies sweep Padres!

Back home...

Got back from The Basement around 1:30 today. Took 6 1/2 hours, including stopping to get the dog.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 14.0 -- Last day in The Basement...

Heading home tomorrow. Two weeks is great. At the end of your run, you are not bummed out about having to leave. At least not too much. It's about 60-40. Sixty percent is ready to go home. Forty wants to stay. The final day on the beach was spectacular. Sunny and 78 degrees. Water was 73 degrees. Cool air and warm water. Perfect combo.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 13.0 -- Odds & ends...

Another great beach day. Hot air. Cool water. Great waves -- we willingly got tossed and turned all morning. Finished Sack O' Subs hoagie for lunch. Took the kids to 96th Street to pick out sweatshirts. Good stuff.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 12.0 -- Today's (& tomorrow's) lunch...

Avalon Wi-Fi, 11.0 -- Last night's Phillies game...

Dom Brown getting ready to get a pinch hit single...

The Greatest Coolest Human Being of all-time...

Cheesesteak from Tony Luke's...

Avalon Wi-Fi, 10.0 -- Heading to the bank...

Perfect morning on the beach. Cool air. Warm water. And the waves were the best they've been since we've been down. We are now headed to the Eagles Pro Shop and then to The Bank to watch Buster Blanton take on the Astros.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 9.0 -- Last night's sunset...

Avalon Wi-Fi, 8.0 -- Night swimming...

This is from Wednesday night. It was a little scary, as NO ONE else was in the water but us. You fear what you can't see. Dark sky. Dark ocean. You can figure it out. Still, we did it and will forever talk about it.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 7.0 -- Postcard from the beach...

Avalon Wi-Fi, 6.0 -- New Eagles hat...

The Wife: "That hat's too big for you. It makes you look like Charlie Brown."

Us: "Thank you."

Avalon Wi-Fi, 5.0 -- Woo! Woo!...

The Wife arrives today (around lunchtime). Everyone looking forward to it.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 4.0 -- Great dinner plans...

Hit the beach early today, staying from 9-11:30.

Heading to Busch's tonight for dinner.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 3.0 -- Shopping over sun...

We (including The Playmaker) got too much sun yesterday. So we are playing it safe today and going down to 96th Street to do some shopping instead of going to the beach. One day out of the sun should set us up to get back on the beach (and in the ocean) tomorrow. We will try to post some pix later today.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 2.0 -- Chugging thru 5 Big Ones...

Got up at 5:15 AM today and ran 5 miles. It was the first time we have run since last summer's trip into The Basement. Our time wasn't great -- 11 minute miles. But the 55 minute run was far more difficult than humping The Elliptical for 75 minutes. Our legs (quads, specifically) feel like jelly.

Avalon Wi-Fi, 1.0 -- 50 great minutes...

Got down around 10 AM today. (Hit up the Wilmington Blue Rocks' A-Ball baseball game last night -- they won, 5-4.) Took the kids shopping while we waited to get into the house at 1 PM. We then cleaned The Palace (5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths) for ... wait for it ... 4 plus hours. Then we took The Playmaker and The Playmaker's Sister to the beach for 50 minutes of fun. Since it was "late," the beach was nearly empty. The water warm and the air cool, with a breeze coming off the ocean -- P-E-R-F-E-C-T. Tomorrow we will post pictures. (With took some pix with The EVO and e-mailed them to The Wife, who is coming down Wednesday morning.)

Do not disturb...

We are in The Basement.

(Wi-Fi should be up and running by Saturday night.)

Hell has frozen over...

We finally bought The Playmaker's Sister a cellphone. We put it under her pillow last night and called her on it this morning and woke her up. Needless to say, she was overjoyed.

Basement primer...

Eagles update...

Adam Schefter was at Eagles training camp on Sunday.

He had good things to say about the birds.

The weight is over...

April 9 we hopped on the scale. The number was gross. We set a goal of losing 40 pounds. Four months later, we have lost 32.5 pounds. (We lost at least a half pound for 16 consecutive weeks.) That leaves us with 7.5 more pounds to go. As we prepare to head into The Basement this Friday for two weeks, we are leaving the scale alone until we return from The Basement. The daily 75 minute workouts will continue, to be sure. It's just that we are not going to be hopping on the scale until the first week of September. Will we gain back 2 or 3 pounds? Probably. But that's what happens when you go into The Basement. We've bust our ass for four months. The Basement is calling.

Daughter knows best...

We somehow missed the season finale of our favorite show, Friday Night Lights. While bitching and moaning to The Wife about it, The Playmaker's Sister said, "Why don't you just watch it on demand?!?" We quickly replied that "good shows" can't be found on demand. "At least not for free."

Two minutes later, she yelled in from the family room. "It's right here. And it's free."

j

Sure enough, we can watch the season finale on demand.

For free.

The Joker...

The original Batman television series (made in the late 1960s) was our favorite show from about age 4 thru age 7. Then, sophomore year in high school, a local TV station started airing the reruns every day at 7 AM. We'd watch while eating breakfast and then sprint to the bus stop to catch the bus. One of our friends did the same thing and we would waste most all of Geography Class sitting in the back rehashing the latest episode. Our favorite character, by far, was The Joker -- played flawlessly by the immortal Cesar Romero. This set is priceless.

Summertime...

Two best friends enjoying summer vacation. What's better than that?!? It even takes place in Philadelphia -- hence the Philly gear throughout the video. Enjoy.

Good stuff...

We are proud to announce The Playmaker's Sister successfully completed her 2 mile run at DARE Camp in the blazing heat today!

Won't be long until college football starts...

Classic summer lunch...

Made grilled cheese and apple slices for

The Playmaker's Sister for lunch today.

Old deck...New deck