Celebrating the Year of the Dragon!

Since Zach has been so interested in Chinese New Year from his studies at school, we decided to take advantage of the big city and immerse ourselves in a whole new cultural experience today.  Last night I decorated our table with the few Chinese decorations that I had on hand, plus two really neat Chinese dragon puppets that I found as well as a book about the Chinese New Year celebration. 

 The boys were absolutely thrilled with their breakfast surprise!

At 8:30am, the kids had their yearly Pediatric wellness visits.  Both are healthy, growing boys!  Their doctor was pleased with their growth and development.  (And Zach's ears looked clear and healthy- yay!!!)   Zach declared it was a good visit as no shots had to be given to either he or Ash.  However, they both had to have their fingers' pricked for a blood test, so they have band aids covering their "war wounds" and have been showing them off to anyone who cares to listen. 

After a relaxing early afternoon, we ventured out around 2:30pm and walked from our house to a local Chinese restaurant, the Rattan Thai Bistro, that was hosting a free Chinese New Year celebration including the traditional Lion dance and Dragon dance.  It was one of the neatest things I have seen!  They had the parking lot cordoned off so you could get up close to see all of the action.  We were totally impressed with the Lion Dance as it all takes place on elevated poles.  The dancers must be really strong as you do not use your hands for balance as they are used to operate the puppet features of the lion costume (blinking eyes, wagging tail, turning ears etc).  The costumes were just beautiful!  The kids also had a great time "feeding" the lions red envelopes filled with good luck money.  The lions then wag and bow and allow the kids to pet them!  I am so glad that we were able to have this experience. 

Patiently waiting for the festivities to start! They advertised the event at the boys' daycare, so we saw many teachers and friends who were also in attendance for the entertainment!

The celebration began with a rousing drum serenade!  Fantastic!!!

Enter the Lion!!!!

 He dances up the poles with acrobatic movements to capture the rose at the end.  Do you see it? 

 From Wikipedia: "The story goes that once upon a time a monk had a dream in which there were many sorrows and evils plaguing the land. The monk prayed and asked the gods how he could prevent these evils from occurring. The gods told him that a lion would protect them and fight back the evils. The Chinese people had never seen a lion before, but had heard stories that the lion was the king of all the other animals, so the monk combined all the lucky or magical animals he could think of and so made a lion."  The lion dance is believed to bring good luck. 

The Parade of Lions!

What the following picture fails to show is that Ash does not yet realize that there is a lion next to him patiently waiting to snack on his red envelope.  He was totally engrossed in watching another lion in front of him.  I wish I could have taken a movie showing how high he jumped out of Derek's lap in total surprise when he finally turned and realized the lion was there!!!!  His shriek of laughter was priceless!  (The guys inside the costume though it was funny too!)

Enter the Dragon!

 From Wikipedia:  In the dance, a team of people carry the dragon — which is an image of the Chinese dragon — on poles. A dragon can be composed of up to 50 people.[1] The dance team does mimic the supposed movements of this river spirit in a sinuous, undulating manner. The movements in a performance traditionally symbolise historical roles of dragons demonstrating power and dignity. The dragon dance is a highlight of Chinese New Year celebrations held worldwide in Chinatowns around the world.
Dragons are believed to bring good luck to people, which is reflected in their qualities that include great power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. The appearance of a dragon is both frightening and bold but it has a benevolent disposition, and so eventually became an emblem to represent imperial authority."

Hey Jenny- I remembered to wear my necklace that you brought back from China for me too!  Thanks!!!!

After watching the show, we then walked a few blocks to our favorite Chinese restaurant, Bamboo Garden, and enjoyed pepper chicken, Mongolian beef, egg drop soup, fried rice, and lo mein noodles.  Total yumminess! 

 We received good fortunes, and the kids also received red envelopes filled with old Chinese coins with dragons on them!!!  It is a New Year tradition to give red envelopes to children for good luck in the coming year! 

After dinner we stopped by Kroger (which is two doors down in the strip mall) and bought cinnamon coffee cake for tomorrow's breakfast and then walked home.  The boys just got done with their bath as I am typing this and boy are they tired out! 

As the Chinese say (as well as Vulcans),

"LIVE LONG AND PROSPER!"