Ice Ice Baby - The Plymouth Ice Carving Festival

On Sunday, as the last activity of the winter break we took the kids to the Plymouth Ice Carving festival.

To say it was a cold day out was an understatement - even bundled up it was chilly to say the least. It did make it great for ice carving though as there was no risk that a statue might melt in the slightest bit.

The carvings were most impressive:

There were dragons:

There were ice bunnies:

There was an ice car complete with an ice logo:

And of course there had to be ice cold beer.

In addition to the already made sculptures, teams were busy making more right in front of the onlookers:

Very impressive and these teams were very serious about their craft.

In addition to the ice carving there were the typical handicrafts and food vendors of any town fair aplenty - hot drinks and hot caramel corn did a very brisk business indeed.

Plymouth did a nice job putting the festival on and it was very well done and organized.

Just a fun outing before school started up again.

It's All Greek To Me

We were kindly invited by our friendly Greek neighbors to the Taste of Greece Festival at a Greek Orthodox Church in Plymouth.

There was a fine display of Greek culture, with many performances by various Greek dancing troupes:

There was also a market displaying crafts and jewelry, a tavern with drinks and a cafe with Greek coffee, not to mention the main tent with the food and dancing within.

While the dances were performing, we had dinner.

I had a Greek combo plate - generous portions of roast leg of lamb, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves), and Pastitsio (noodles layered with beef and a bechamel sauce sort of a Greek lasagna) and a Greek salad and a big thick slice of fresh bread. It was all quite delicious.

The kids, being very daring, had the mac and cheese. At least it was homemade style and not from a box. They reported it was excellent.

After the dance groups had finished, they invited everyone onto the dance floor, and a joyful ring of chaos ensued:

Everybody Dance Now:

The kids and I danced around in circles with our neighbors and had a great time.

We then finished with some Touloumbes, Greek Honey Balls:

Mmmm, honey balls.

The festival is very well organized, nicely laid out, and has a lot to offer. So, if you're by 5 Mile and Haggerty Rd in Plymouth this weekend, its well worth the visit. You won't be sorry if you go out of your way to go there its a great place to go for a family friendly event.