LNY

When we arrived at the community centre, we went in search of Dolores and Shawn, Michelle and Mark, and Paula and Brett. Since I knew that Dolores and Shawn were at an arts and crafts table, we went to look for them first.

Of course, Dolores and Shawn were at a disadvantage since they didn't know what we look like (since there are no pictures of us on our blog...and we're keeping it that way). We sat down, shmoozed for a while and waited for Michelle and Mark to show up.

Once they were there, we all lined up for food. It was actually really good! Nic was a bit more adventurous than I was, but what I had was great. Next time they're in town, I think we're going to go to the restaurant we picked the food up from.

Anyways, when we got back to the table there was a lady sitting at the head of the table, wearing her coat and she had a stack of books next to her. She turned to Mark and started asking him 'so, what is this event about?' She was obviously a party crasher who had no compunction about eating the food she hadn't paid for. :P

She kept asking him questions about Russian adoption and 'why don't you adopt from Russia?' She had a tone, while inquisitive, was almost defensive at the same time like 'is Russia not good enough for you?' While she didn't outwardly say that, it's just the vibe I was getting from her...but I'm willing to be wrong about that.

While we were talking and getting to know each other better (there's only so much you can garner from a blog), we forgot that we were sitting at the A&C table and little kiddies kept coming up to us asking if they could make pig masks...oops.

A little while later Paula came over to us, so I was finally able to meet her. :)

Then it was time for the performances. All the children did really well, but I'll only give you a smattering of photos. We took over 20 and I'll post three of them.

The music kept going off and/or skipping each time these dancers went on stage. They were so enthusiastic and jumping around that it made the CD go loopy. Personally I liked it better without the music (which was turned up a bit too loud for a small room).



There was also a martial arts demonstration, and again, the children did really well. This is something that we're going to enroll "Little Maple" in, when the time is right. A bit to support her growth and knowledge in her heritage, but also so she'll know how to protect herself.



The piece de resistance was the lion dance. Some of the smaller children were a bit afraid of it, but for the most part it was enjoyed by all. The majority of the children though, just wanted to pet it and thought it was really cute (which it was).

If you go into my archives, I believe I posted about a lion dance that my friend's had for their wedding in July.

After the party, we all (minus Paula and Brett) headed over to the Pacific Mall to do a walkabout. Josh and I have been there a few times, but thought it would be really nice to expose the gang to it as well. When we had our fill of the mall we went over to the Mandarin for dinner. Paula and Brett and their friends who are also with CB, Rebekah and Scott (I think), joined as well.

A great time was had by all...and we're looking forward to meeting up again soon!