Zhong Qiu Jie -- Mid Autumn Festival

Last night we celebrated the "Mid Autumn Festival", which is the first full moon of the fall. The tradition holds that as you go outside at night and look at the moon, though you are far away from your loved ones, you are both looking at the same moon. In addition to looking at the moon, "moon cakes" are a big part of the celebrations. From what I can tell, they are pretty akin to the Christmas fruit cake-- a dense and calorie filled brickish sort of fruit-filled treat. (Doesn't it sound yummy?) No, I'm not making fun of it-- most of our Chinese friends only give them away but don't like to eat them that much (See-- Just like a fruit cake!) But last night I tried a coconut filled one, and it was pretty darn good.












In addition to the moon cakes, we feasted on a variety of fruit and nuts, which are symbols of the ingathering of the fall harvest.

















But as far as the kids were concerned, the festival is really all about the lanterns. These are brightly-colored paper lanterns with candles inside-- which of course is like forbidden fruit to a child. And to get to stay up late, play outside, and carry around a flammable object-- this is the best! And yes, that is a "Hello Kitty" lantern next to the red one. East and West colliding worlds!















Like kids in a candy store!
















Of course if you read last Spring's entry about Kathryn's fear of fire, then you understand her expression. She was not convinced this was a good idea, and her fears were not completely unfounded...




















...because if you look carefully at our little friend Nathaniel's lantern, you can tell why it caught on fire! It is thin paper, so it quickly went ablaze, and just as quickly died out. We didn't even have to call the fire department. :) After this though, the mommies grew all the wiser, and decided that 2 years old was a bit too young to swing around a flaming torch. All morning long today, Ellie kept asking me "Mommy, what happened to didi's lantern? (little brother) What happened to didi's? Over and over. So over and over again, I retold the story of the great fire of the Mid Autumn Festival of 2007.



















Gotta love the shoes.



















Don't we have fun new little friends?