Chinese New Year celebrations start

 Monday January 23 we went to Susie Wong's to celebrate CNY.  Miss A also got new sunglasses (her request) after she broke her last pair.  She kept repeating a long sentence about how the man at the craft store cut the tag of her sunglasses.  Below she is doing a random monkey imitation.  She was a ham that night and well quite full of herself.  She got a lot of attention. 

  This is a picture of Anna, our waitress, who gave her the red envelope.  She told us to put the envelope under Audrey's pillow.

Below she is counting her money the next money.  Her first $2.00!

 So Tuesday we went to Toys R Us to buy a bank.  At first she thought this ride with Bert and Ernie looked like fun but it bored her pretty quickly and she asked to be taken off.

 This week we started playing yahtzee.  We also watched China Globe trekkers dvd's as we will probably have this playing on the 3rd floor where we think the kids will hang out.

 Wednesday we attended Wee Wednesday class at the art museum (picture below).  She choose this outfit and then after she was completely dressed asked to wear a completely different one.  I draw the line at one wardrobe change.

 We also had lunch at the art museum.  Kid friendly and very reasonably priced.

 We might have gone overboard on CNY decorations.  Probably because we think we will re-use them as A's b-day is sorta close to this celebration.

  The staff as Susie Wong's told us the is the mandarin translation of what Chinese say to each other for CNY. 

 One of the posters from Krohn's 2008 B-fly show that we have hanging in our hallway.

Below is another Krohn poster we hung over the kitchen fireplace.

Below is Miss A climbing down the stairs and then a video of her being very chatty.

Ready to go to Miss Amanda's musikgarten class.  One small wardrobe change ... the boots.

 Wrapping "manket" around herself after breakfast this morning.

 Oh, and this was her choice of outfit this morning. 

Visiting Krohn Train, Trestles and Traditions show again and Christmas pagent at Crossroads

This morning Miss A and I took our time having breakfast and getting dressed.  John was running in the neighborhood 5K and we had planned on trying to catch up with him at Bow Tie after we ran one errand.  But due to timing A and I could not get back in to Mt Adams due to the race blocking all entrances.  So I asked her if she wanted to go see the trains at Krohn.  Her response was a simple "yes".  John and I are so happy these days when we hear her say yes and of course encourage it.  She has certainly mastered no.  I'm still so appreciative of the fact she loves to wear her mittens this year.  Even in a tropical conservatory.

  It was also fairly easy to find a parking spot at the conservatory due to the police barricades for the race.

 Besides the holiday showroom we walked through the Desert room and Miss A remembered that some of the plants in that room could hurt you if you touched them. 

 She thought it was fun to throw a coin in the palm room waterfall.  This activity allowed me to get her mittens which are the only matching pair we own.  Although Miss A likes to wear mittens she refuses to wear mismatched ones.

  She also remembered and told me this is a rainforest. In the fern room I showed her the chocolate pods. She was particularly interested as loves chocolate and there were some boy scouts who were pointing at the pods too.

This afternoon we attended Crossroads Christmas show titled Awaited.  Crossroads is an interdenominational mega church.  According to their website, the 1st year this show ran 20,000 people attended this free event.  We were so fortunate to have front row seats. The show description from their website is "contemporary retelling of the traditional nativity story".  Below are a few pictures from their website:

 The picture above is of the pre-show children's song called "loved crashed in" or something like that.  Audrey was mesmerized from this very first song until the end.  After the show more than one performer told us they noticedhow attentive she was during the show.

The 3 kings bowing to the newborn king.

These lanterns were so beautiful coming from all angles of the auditorium towards the stage.  Jen, Paula's daughter was in this part of the show.  She and another performer walked on stilts in a camel costume. She walked right in front of us and heard us saying hi to her during the show.

This morning is our church tableau which includes children and dogs (who dress as sheep, cows, etc).  Then we have 2 open house parties in the neighborhood.  Also today is our neighborhood's 3rd annual Luminary Stroll.  This event involves neighbors placing candles in white sand bags in front of their homes.  The candles are all lit at a specific time and the effect is a beautiful and continuous stream of light.  Also there will be a choir performing by the Christmas tree on the main drag.  At 6PM Santa and Mrs. Claus (Reg and Charlotte) will arrive in a carriage and then carriage rides are available.   The businesses will have specials but we will be heading to our neighbors open house.  Last year Audrey had been home 2 days when we attended their open house and I remember feeling like a zombie at their party due to jet lag.  It was also the first time Audrey met a dog and she was afraid of her that night.  She has certainly come a long way since then.

Culture Kids, Krohn Holiday show and Lollipop Symphony

 Friday we attended the Art Museum's Culture Kids class titled Daring Designs.  Culture Kids is offered the 2nd Friday of each month and is a more structured event meant to "nurture your preschoolers interest in art in these intimate hands-on workshops designed for parent and child".  It is also meant for Ages 2-5.

  First one of the teachers read the book Not a Box.  Then half the class went on a tour and half the class designed a "not a box" with materials provided.  In between sessions they provided a snack.

  Audrey on the tour.

  Audrey waving to her reflection on the ceiling of the elevator.

 Drinking from a cup at snack time.  She enjoyed this 1 1/2 hour class and we will certainly try to attend the next one in December titled A Stroke of Genius.

 Friday afternoon we went to Krohn to see friends, find some vendor information for co-workers and to see opening day of their holiday show titled Trains, Trestles and Traditions.

 Saturday we attended the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Lollipops: All Aboard show.  Paula, Anna and Lucy came too!

  The concert started at 10:30 but the Kids Zone sponsored a pre-show an hour before the concert.  This picture shows a Suzuki violin student and her teacher playing the violin. 

  Lucy and Paula at the water fountain.

 In our seats.  Because we signed up for tickets with Miss Amanda (A's music teacher) we had some really nice seats... 5th row center.  Audrey does not look very happy in this picture but she had a ball.  The new conductor, John Morris Russell is really terrific and the hour just flew by.

  The beautiful chandelier that we learned takes 3 days to clean.

  The view from our seats!

This week we also received a letter from Audrey's foster family.  So incredibly special and sweet.

Feeding the Ducks and 1st time to visit the Butterfly Show @ Krohn

Today and Thursday are the only days when it is predicted not to rain during the day ... so I decided to take Audrey to the Butterfly Show.  We left early to feed the ducks at Twin Lakes before the show.

Feeding the ducks or as she calls them ga ga.

The ga-ga's

Pretty Twin Lakes.

Pretty Krohn Conservatory.

I could not get a good picture of Audrey on the Butterfly Bench as all she wanted to say was "blue", her favorite color / word at the moment.

Kelly, one of my co-workers cracks Audrey up every time we see her.

And Dave H is a favorite too.

We are going to Dave H wedding tomorrow!  Topic for another post.

Kelly brought over a B-fly for the kids to see.

Miss A ... ok I'll hold it.

Get it off.

Random cuteness around the showroom.  This year's theme is Butterflies from Brazil.  This is the 16th annual show.  Audrey particularly liked the music and I thought the color and design was great.

And Val is so much fun. 

These pictures don't really show it but these girls were dancing.