Hugs for the New Year

I know that Chinese New Year is officially over, but I am just getting around to looking at my photos. Ellen, Jiro and I took the kids to the Chinese Garden last weekend to see the Lion Dancers. The kids enjoyed the drumming and dancing almost as much as they liked staring into the pond.


We actually had a great vantage point from which to watch the dancers, at least from the kids' perspective. Ellen and I accurately guessed that Ada and Monkey Boy might be a little freaked out by the dancers or drummers if we were right up against them during the performance. Sitting across the pond was perfect - we could see and hear the performance without anyone screaming that it was too loud or too much to bear.

The dancing itself was fun. Once it was over Ada decided that she HAD to have water, and since I had not brought any, we walked across the garden to the bathroom, where I scooped some water from the sink tap into my hand. She had a tiny sip and declared she was done. Pressing our luck, we decided to get a picture of the kids in the garden. This took some doing. Witness:

Ellen: Just look up for 2 seconds, and THEN you can dig for worms.

(If you object to this photo of yourself, Ellen, just keep reading.
There is one of me that is WAY worse. I promise.)

Almost...

Success!

With that triumph under our belts, we retired to a nearby Chinese restaurant approved by Ellen's restaurant-owning brother. The adults enjoyed all kinds of good stuff, while the kids picked suspiciously at their noodles, turned up their noses at the Chinese broccoli, and were only convinced to eat when they found out that they would not be allowed to eat their New Year's cookies and candy until they did.

Oh, and while Ellen and Monkey Boy checked out the facilities, the rest of us made funny faces:

See, I told you.