Happy Chinese New Year

Everyone else may say Happy Valentine's Day, but we didn't celebrate it too much. Sure, the kids had fun with it in making and getting valentines at school, but this year we didn't really go for (or try to do) anything along the normal Valentine's day route.

No schmaltzy stuff here.

On Sunday, we ended up going a different (and cheaper) route.

In the afternoon, the four of us went down to Georgia State's Rialto Center for the Arts. They were having a free concert, which was meant not just to highlight Valentine's Day but also the Chinese New Year (which occurred Feb. 13).

The kids behaved themselves surprisingly well, considering it was their first concert. They did get tired toward the end of the 2-hour concert, but they were quite interested throughout and behaved remarkably well.

Next stop was dinner, and again we went with the Asian fare on a budget. Trader Vic's or another fancy Asian bistro may have pushed the kids' patience and our wallets a bit, so we went to Doc Chey's in the Virginia-Highlands area of downtown - one of the few Intown Atlanta places I'd consider living - as the kids enjoyed their lo mein and we enjoyed spicier dishes and shrimp rolls.

Lastly, after a well-behaved dinner, we walked down Highland Ave. to Ben and Jerry's and had ice cream, where the kids played with other kids and I was able to turn off the radar for more than 10 seconds - always a good treat.

The kids passed out on the way home, just shy of 8:00. Thanks for the present!

So, a fun time was had by all, and the kids even got to have some decent cultural exposure. Alex will have a field trip to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra later this spring, so this was a good warm-up for that experience - and on the bright side, he enjoyed it thoroughly as well.

For the budget-conscious, the whole day ended up being a helluva lot less than the normal fancy dinner/show/babysitter combo, but more fun since the kids had a good time too.