In the Russian Orthodox tradition it is common during the days following Easter to hear: "Christ is Risen, Alleluia!" with a response of "He is risen indeed! Alleluia!". Happy and Holy Easter to friends and family, near and far.
This weekend actually started out on a brisk note. It's not that the weather was particularly cold. Saturday we woke to no hot water. A quick trip to the basement showed that the construction guys accidentally dislodged the water heater's power cable for the controls. Abigail and Timothy had a rather tepid bath that morning. I waited for about 20 minutes after re-plugging it but still took a "Navy Shower" just to be on the safe side.
I don't know why but the girls didn't want to visit any friends on Saturday. I took Claire to her piano lesson. On the way home we decided to try a new hot dog stand in Milford called Double D Dogs. To me the highlight of Saturday was watching "The Cat Returns", yet another in a series of Studio Ghibli Japanese anime we've been working through. This one reminded me Alice in Wonderland, but set in a world of cats. The kids and I enjoyed it. Disney had just recently re-released it in the U.S. with some heavyweight actors for voice dubbing: Anne Hathaway (from Ella Enchanted), Cary Elwes (from the Princess Bride), and Peter Boyle (from Everybody Loves Raymond). We topped the evening off with Mexican food from Amigos.
Sunday the kids got up early to look for their baskets and eggs. Michelle took Abby to seven o'clock Mass; I took Claire to eight thirty. It was such a warm day that I bought donut holes on the way home and we shared them outside on a picnic blanket. The highlight of the day was driving up to Belmont, NH to visit our friends, the Nixes. The kids behaved pretty well in the van this time and the nice weather made for peaceful driving. Among other fun things I zipped around Dave's yard on his snowmobile. I hadn't gone snowmobiling in decades! I used to love spending days up in northern Wisconsin with my cousins John and Gary. We'd snowmobile from morning till night during winter break. The Nixes also have an acoustic piano. Lil' Timothy was fascinated at the idea of a piano that couldn't be powered off like we do with ours. It also has no volume knob, so we were constantly telling him to take it easy on the keys. Jerry Lee Lewis he is not!
how were the hot dogs i am glad you stop by thanks double d dogs
Posted by: tim lafreniere at April 3, 2005 08:59 PMHi Tim,
The hot dogs were fine. My wife liked the chili.
Although we live in Milford, I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. My home town (River Grove) had a stand that was always swamped selling just Vienna Beef hot dogs (and home made french fries). Man! I do miss those. I haven't found a similar substitute yet! Not to dismiss your hot dogs. I guess it's just a bit of nostalgia for where I grew up... In a similar way I miss Chicago gyros.
Best wishes as the summer approaches.
Posted by: Scott at April 4, 2005 10:06 AM