Chinese New Year

Even though we were in the Chinese adoption process for years, I am new to the whole Chinese New Year celebration. I know, I know, I could've used all that time to prepare for her actually being here, but I will probably always be a procrastinator. Deal with it.

Anyway, my friend Tara, being more prepared than I, let us tag along with their family for a Chinese New Year celebration at their public library. It was really a lot of fun, with performances mostly by local children and teens. There were lion dances, musical performances, dancing, etc. Kate and the boys had a ball for the first 20 minutes or so. Kate danced in my lap, mimicking the children on stage. She clapped and smiled like she had never had so much fun. The next 20 minutes, she tolerated being held in my lap, but was distracted by the people around us. Then, it was all over. For the rest of the show she was putting her hat on, looking for her coat, trying to get the boys to put their coats on. It was a bit long for a 2 year old I guess. Oh well.

We then went to a local Chinese restaurant for a yummy dinner together. It was so good to go out with Tara and John and their Will. Ben sat with John and they had a serious talk about all of the movies they have seen and how many times they have seen them. Kate ate and ate, repeatedly asking for chicken, milk, and ice... some of her favorite things:) Will was just concerned with whether or not he had eaten enough food for me to allow him to have dessert.

Naturally, I forgot my camera, or I would gladly show you how much fun we had - Tara, did you take any???

Anyway, I would love to learn more about CNY for the future and celebrate with the whole family. CNY lasts for days (no, I don't actually know how many), so I am thinking that there is plenty of time to celebrate with friends and family, kind of like we spread out Christmas for weeks. I don't want to make it into a huge deal - I am really not into the whole good luck/bad luck or Chinese Zodiac thing. But it is fun to get together with loved ones, it is fun to eat, and it is fun to learn about China. Therefore, it sounds like a good idea to me. So, loved ones, be thinking about next year. If all else fails, we can always go to P.F. Changs :)