Chinese new year, referral and cotillion

Normally, I would spread these out over 3 posts but I know my habits and time constraints lately and so I need to just get it done.  This was a busy weekend for our family. Friday was the start of Chinese New year and we always celebrate as a family.  I'll start there.

As luck would have it Friday was a"free dress" day at Kate's school.  She chose to wear her Chinese silks.  In the past, she has always worn them to school at the start of Chinese New Year but I can predict a time in the near future where she will stop so I am glad she did.  I got one quick snapshot before she left for school.

Then, on Friday night, we went to a local restaurant to eat and see the lion dance.  Harry had a lacrosse game which he was going to skip to be with Kate.  But at the last minute one of Kate's best friends was available to join us (we only had a reservation for 5) so Harry happily went to his lax game.  It was all good.  It was very, very dark in the restaurant.  I should have brought my external flash.

I love the expressions on Kate and her friend's faces here.

In past years, Kate has been very afraid of the lion dance.  One year, she even made her own at home to avoid the restaurant.  So, it was extra special to see how excited she got this year.  She loved it.






She even gave the lion red envelopes for the first time.

Kate's face lit up the second she heard the drums and then her smile got bigger with each lion.  But she really got excited at the end for the dragon!







excuse Will's squint....he hates the flash.



You can see from Kate's smile just how much fun she had.
  She LOVES Chinese New Year and I love her enthusiasm!!!


Saturday was the 7 year anniversary of the very first time we ever saw sweet Katie Ru's face.  Although her name then was Lu Dan Ru:)

Each year, I take a few photos of Kate and her referral photo.  My plan this year was to take Kate to a park and do them outside in her Chinese Silks since her referral anniversary falls on Chinese New Year this year.  But our weekend was crazy busy for other reasons too and we never made it to the park. The weather was very overcast so the light indoors was terrible too.  But the fact is I am trying hard just to be more in the moment of real life and less worried about the pictures of life.  So, I want to capture the memory but I am less willing to jump through hoops to get it. Make sense?

I love her kissy faces.  She did the ALL the time as a baby.



Then Kate began asking the questions she asks every year about being in the middle of the street and about the walker....


But this year she asked how we knew she was a girl because she thinks her hair line in the referral photo looks JUST like Daddy's!


So Dave jumped in the pictures and the interaction between them was adorable...

Then Saturday night was the cotillion for the girls school.  Will was invited over Christmas break when this sweet young lady showed up at ur door with cookies that spelled out "Cotillion?"  It was a milestone for Will as well because we bought him his first tuxedo.  We had rented before but since he gets invited to a lot of these dances, we decided to buy one.  It just seems so grown up to own a tuxedo. I simply cannot believe how grown up he is now.

Will's date, Nicole had the pre-party at her house.  So, her parents graciously invited us all for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and photos before the dinner dance.  I love how parents here do this.  These years are so fleeting and I really enjoy these special nights.  It is fun to see the kids all dressed up and on their best behavior.

We really should have done all the photos outside before it got dark, but it was humid and the girls did not want to mess up their hair by going outside.  I LOVE this shot because Will's date was the only girl who actually came out right away.





 Luckily, the rest followed for this shot...

Harry had another lacrosse game on Saturday so we did not see much of him.  It is the season so I am sure I will be posting about lacrosse here soon too.  Hope you all enjoy your Superbowl festivities.  I'll be back this week with another catch up post.