Horsing Around

Our ancestry is seriously disappointing when it comes to the Chinese.  We cling to the one illegitimate daughter that was born to a housekeeper a couple generations back when Neal's paternal side was in the Dutch Indonesian colonies.  Thanks to her, we celebrated the year of the horse!

Opa helped the kids decorate the house in red and gold streamers while mom and dad went out to mingle with other Community Emergency Response Team members. Sophie even drew pictures of a horse and dragons.  I don't know what Rhys drew.  It was very abstract.  But we displayed it all the same.

When they got home we continued reading books highlighting the holiday as we had for a few days prior.  One told the story of the Chinese zodiac and was well liked by the kids. It was pretty cool and written with good humor.

I also used this holiday as an excuse to use child labor.  The kids swept out the old.  Housecleaning is a great way to prepare for the new year but I only swept because, well, laziness.

Then we were off to the Chinese restaurant, because it was a good excuse to eat at Zen Chow again.  So yummy!  We were sure to give tangerines (or you could do oranges) to some friends and the restaurant personnel to wish them luck for the new year.

The kids had to order something different than sesame chicken to celebrate this time.  We also splurged on steamed dumplings as they represent wealth and prosperity. We learned through our reading that the Chinese typically do not have drinks at a meal but a soup.  (Later in the week we made a Chinese sweet corn and crab meat soup. It was blah. As an anomaly, Rhys loved it.)

Upon arriving home we got our tambourines and made a ruckus in the front yard, shouting "Happy Chinese New Year!" and then we threw "pops" or "snaps" on the ground for our fireworks before the kids went off to bed.  Did you know the first fireworks were bamboo and they would explode when put in a fire?  Fireworks are to scare off evil spirits but I think living righteously would probably have the same effect.  Anyway, enjoy the new lunar new year.