On Chinese New Year Eve, I only had to work half a day, so Stuart and I went together for Logan’s swimming class.  This time we took Connor along to check on the environment and see if he is interested to take lessons too.  It had been awhile since I watched Logan in lessons.  He was a little bit more tolerable and putting his face in the water for longer now, but he had not advanced to float or do any strokes in the water yet.  I guess Stuart and I had to make a decision soon regarding continuing his swimming lessons.  Connor was interested and enjoyed watching all the actions at the swim school, but he seemed indifferent about taking lessons yet.

     After the lesson, we drove up to the Kaos to join them for a hotpot dinner in celebration for Chinese New Year.  The boys had been excited for a few days about visiting their house and playing with them.  They were happy to wear their Chinese outfits too.  We were welcomed by the family and with Mckayla and Marcus in their Chinese outfits too.  The four kids quickly ran around the house and played.  Ted and Michelle also got the dinner started for all of us.  The kids enjoyed some meats and vegetables, then they were excused from the table.  The rest of us could then become more relaxed and enjoyed the big feast of seafood and meats.  Mckayla came to us periodically to let us know that there would be a show for us when we finished eating.  Connor also stopped by to check on the status of the cake as he knew I had made one. 

     When we were all finished with eating, the three boys were quite hyper running around.  Mckayla had complained to us that the boys were too noisy and not listening to her.  We finally sat down for a show which was the kids all giggling and running around in front of us.  Just after a few minutes of that, the adults suggested moving on to desserts as it was getting late.  Mckayla was sad that we did not spend enough time watching the show, but she calmed down soon and joined us for the cake.  Then it was time to go home.  The boys were happy to receive belated Christmas presents from Mckayla and Marcus, and they held on to them all the way home.

     On Friday, the New Year day, we all had school and work as usual.  I taught the boys how to use “Gong Hay Fat Choy” and they were happy to shout it out to my mom and my sister during our phone calls.  The boys were happy to open all the red envelopes they received and put all the money in their piggie banks.  For school that day, Connor had an event “Small World Day”, so he could wear his traditional Chinese coat again.  He was quite pleased wearing it all day.