Greek Easter

Several Sunday's ago (4/27) we went to the Milmore's house for Greek Easter. Since Dan is Greek, the Milmores also celebrate (more as tradition and meal and not religiously) Easter according to the Julian calendar (rather than the Gregorian calendar). This goes back to one of the first controversies of the early church between the East and the West which both (i.e., Orthodox and Roman Catholic) claim apostolic authority for their observance of. Since the Protestants came out of the Western church (i.e., Roman Catholics) we simply observe it at the same time as the Catholics do.

Anyway, we had Greek food which included some chicken and spanakopita which is basically a Greek pastry or snack. We also played the easter egg tapping game which Nicole won. After lunch we went outside to play bocce and give the kids a ride in Dan's new lawn mower trailer which we put together before lunch.

Micah's Pledge of Allegiance

This is a much talked about video (amongst our family) of Micah saying the pledge of allegiance at 2 1/2 years of age. Notice his emphasis ;-)

National Museum of the USAF

Three Saturday's ago we had our second visit to the National Museum of the US Air Force. This time we got to visit the Presindential and Research and Development galleries which was pretty cool. To do this you have to get there early and you have to have a US identification to get on the bus which drives you into a secured area.

After this Nicole and the kids spent the rest of the day in the cafeteria while Andy and I walked around the other three hangars full of planes and such. Nothing new for me since I'd been there before but this time I spent most of time reading and watching things that looked interesting. The last time we came I was so overwhelmed with everything that there was that I didn't look closely at anything but sort of took it all in from a distance. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Pike County Dogwood Festival

Three Friday's ago we went to the Pike County Dogwood Festival in Piketon. It is basically a sidewalk fair of sorts which "features exhibits highlighting old-fashioned arts and crafts, antique car show, bike show, cyclists Dogwood Tour, chain saw skill, fiddle and banjo contests, pie eating contest, horseshoe contests, band concerts, and lots of good old-fashioned food."

We went with a good friend from work who was in town from the Tri-Cities. Immediately upon arrival we sampled their deep fried cuisine. Our dish of choice was deep fried pickles which were actually not as bad as they sound. The only odd thing about it was that the pickle was warm which was a very strange sensation. The deep fried pickle was to be dipped into ranch which I think improved the whole experience.

Despite the description, the only thing worth looking at was the food stands and there was some decent music. We did not get to see the antique cars, bikes, chain sawing, fiddling, pie eating, or horshoes. Perhaps those were all on Saturday and Sunday or we just missed them.

The kids got to ride ponies which they enjoyed. Dinner included deep fried hot dogs (AKA corn dogs) and deep fried cheese. Dessert was deep fried oreos. The whole experience was a deep fried redneck evening. Overall, it was a fun night and a good sample of small town Ohio life. Not a place I would ever want to live.