River Hongbao

Saturday morning (of the CNY weekend) we took it easy and then went for a swim. It was fun to all go together since it doesn't happen very often. It's either me and the kids during the day or Brennan and Tatum (and sometimes Declan too) while I finish dinner or clean up after. I got to see Tatum in action with her new floaty and it really will be a life changer for the pool for all of us. We did have a bit of a scare that day though, with Declan stepping off the ledge into the deep water. We got him out right away but he was so clingy the rest of the time and then fell asleep at the table during lunch that I couldn't help but worry. He ended up being fine, of course. After naps we headed to the MRT to go down to the River Hongbao Festival. It's a Chinese New Year celebration with food, rides, decorations and performances.

On the MRT, easily our favorite form of public transportation. 

Welcome to River Hongbao. :)

The God of prosperity.

Brennan decided we should try sugar cane juice. It was neat to see them actually juicing it right there in front of us. But the juice was nasty. Declan was the only one who would drink it so the lucky kid got the whole thing to himself.

Before she realized how nasty it was.

This was some sort wishing well/good look sort of thing. People seemed to be throwing coins in but aiming for particular things perhaps?

Me and Tatum with the rabbit since we are rabbits.

Tatum said she wanted to do this slide but apparently didn't understand Brennan would not be going with her. So she got to the top of the stairs and then did this:

I finally convinced her to come down and she went like this:

Looks like she's having fun doesn't it? :)

And this is her after the slide. She refused to talk to us. I'm not sure what happened on the way up the stairs that was so traumatizing.

Brennan is a foodie. He loves making food, talking about food, trying new food, inventing new recipes. You name it. Unfortunately I probably hold him back a lot because I'm not quite as adventurous. I think he decided fried squid would be a good choice for us because it would be something new for him to try but still safe enough for me. :) It actually was pretty tasty, although the texture was a bit odd.

Declan doing what he does best, making friends. Later another couple came and sat by us and took loads of pictures of him and then asked if they could take their photo with him. The lady picked him up for it and he lost it. I'm not sure what they expected from a one year old...

The giant God of prosperity had a sign that said "showers of abundance" and then listed different times. It was getting close to one of the times and since the tight rope walker was cancelled (boo!) I sent Brennan and the kids down to see what it was all about it. I kind of thought maybe he would throw money out or something haha. Then as I was sitting there I thought maybe it said 'showers' because it was going to spray everyone with water and I got a good chuckle at that thought. But I was wrong with both guesses. It sprayed out little pieces of gold confetti. And people went nuts tryint to catch them. If you look closely in this poor picture you can see people holding up their open bags trying to catch the floating pieces of confetti. Such a different kind of culture than I am used to. Very, very superstitious.

No worries though, Brennan and the kids caught some so we should have a very good year. :)

We got some cotton candy on our way out. Neither of the kids were sure how they felt about it. Tatum said it made her mouth hot. Huh?

It was another fun night as a family. It was crowded and difficult to get around at times but we are glad we went for some CNY fun.