Happy Birthday, Moody

Yesterday was Moody's 8th birthday. We celebrated as a family, and his party with friends will be on Saturday. We couldn't have it this weekend because we were at the wedding of Adam Sharkasi in Virginia. We unfortunately missed the "Henna" on Friday. That means, no couscous! But we at least got some of the Baklawa brought in from Tripoli. It was a lot of fun seeing some interesting people, Libyans and others. The kids had a blast, too, dancing up a storm, and staying up late at the hotel, which Tala always calls the apartment. I'm glad we went.

Since this is Ahmed's day, it's good to catch up on some of his happenings. He has been a busy boy this spring, with school, cub scouts, sports and dance activities. He loves cub scouts, and we have a very good den. I think Moody's favorite cub scout activities are the "go-see-its" and the pack races, etc. We go see places like the local historian, the radio station at Otterbein College, the police station, etc. The kids got to see the inside of a jail cell, after the officer guiding us told them to look for the wide-screen TV and all the video games inside, etc. They found a concrete ledge and a toilet. They loved that! lol lol At the radio station Moody got to be "DJ Rock" for a couple seconds on the air, introducing a song by Phil Collins... that was funny.

The skipper of White Lightening blowing his heart out at the Rain Gutter Regatta

Second place ribbon with a first-place attitude

The last go-see-it was to Slate Run Living Historical Farm, which is a working 1880's style farm. Volunteers work and live there, doing a lot of things by hand, and they even dress like the old days. There is a little bit of cheating like electric lighting in the cellar, to avoid fire, but the rest is pretty genuine. They keep some rare/unusual/old animal breeds there. The volunteers also have a web site (not run from the farm) complete with The Back Porch Blog. It was quite an interesting go-see-it. The kids got to see chicken slaughtered, plucked and dressed. They showed eggs in various stages of development. They ground up some cornmeal, fed the animals, etc. Moody even slipped into his cowboy accent for the occasion, calling everyone partner and doing some kind of twang-drawl thing. lol lol They had a nice little guillotine contraption made of wood that holds the chicken in place after they chop its head off. They said it was an authentic design to let the chicken drain without that famous chicken dance. One father told me it was his first time to see a chicken slaughtered, which was interesting. For me, it was the first time to learn that pigs are carnivores. We're talking chicken heads, innards and feet. God damn, I said. I think I heard one pig grunt back, "Tastes like chicken. ool ool ool!" That's right, oynking out loud.

Things are starting to wind down to the summer schedule. Next week the kids will be out of school, and soon after the baseball league will end, and pool season will set in. It promises to be a busy summer with BIG, or as Tala says, GIGANTO happenings... more details later.