Orange County held our 15th Annual Moon Festival Banquet on September 18.  Keeping with tradition, the event was held at Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia.

The evening started off with an icebreaker activity, the Moon Festival Legends Game. Each participant received a sheet about the legends and were tasked with finding images related to the legends, e.g. 10 suns, Chang-e, Hou-yi etc.  Each family was given an envelope of images to hand out and the kids had to run around the room collecting images from other banquet attendees.

As always, everyone enjoyed the delicious menu of egg drop soup, honey walnut shrimp, beef and snow peas, tofu and mushrooms, cashew chicken, house lo mein, yang chow rice, and of course, moon cakes.  Dinner was followed by a variety of entertaining and education performances: 

• Martial Drum: Performer Arthur Chen and instructor Rachael Sysiong
• Beijing Opera Master: Kevin Chai
• Lion Dance Instruction: Jonathan Wong

All attendees had the opportunity to try out the instruments and costumes and learn some of the routines first hand.  The evening ended with prizes for the kids - all went home with an adorable stuffed xiong mao, hou zi, tu zi or other animal.

Many thanks to organizers Susan Tschabrun and Debbie Kistler, and the group of volunteers who helped make this banquet a success! Copy and photos for this post contributed by Patty Uy and Jenifer Weigand.

Your all-volunteer Orange County Planning Committee has assembled an exciting calendar of events for the remainder of 2011. Review the calendar and mark the dates so your family can plan to participate in as many activities as possible. Please note that event information is subject to change - be sure to check back to this site for the latest postings, and look for electronic invitations and updates in your email as the year progresses.

More volunteers are always needed to help with events. Please contact the committee at ocfccsocal@gmail.com.  Help build and sustain our nurturing, fun and enriching community that celebrates, empowers and advocates for adoptive families in every stage of the lifelong adoption journey. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years to Families with Children from China!

The Orange County Regional Group had a busy end to 2010.  Here's the wrap-up:

In October the OC Regional Group inaugurated a new event - the China Book and Story Group.  This 2-in-1 family event opened with a fun children's session on Chinese folktales taught by Ms. Shawna Lai, instructor at South Coast Chinese Cultural Center. In the second hour, the remaining adults enjoyed a discussion of the book Factory Girls: from Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang. Everyone took part in the conversation and got to know each other better.  In the adjoining room, two of our teenage girls took charge of the younger kids and led a "make your own book" craft.  Patty Uy organized and numerous volunteers helped with set up and clean up.  Thanks everyone!  Expect to see this kind of event again in 2011!

Additional events include the annual art workshop and the Holiday Dance Party. Click through to read more.

This autumn marked another memorable Moon Festival banquet in Orange County. The event was once again held at Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant in Artesia. Everyone enjoyed the delicious food and interactive cultural entertainment.

Co-organizer Susan Tschabrun introduced a mooncake dice game from Fujian province. The game originated about 350 years ago by a Chinese general trying to stave off homesickness among his troops during this family-centric holiday. The total of 63 prizes, based on various dice combinations, was named after the six titles earned in the imperial civil service exam.  Mooncake Dice Game proved to be a big hit with all participants and will surely become part of our annual tradition.

Sunday August 22 was a picture perfect summer day, much to the delight of the FCC families and friends gathered at Crystal Cove State Beach.  Around 20 families, or 60 individuals, turned out for the event, which was expertly organized and executed by Sandy Draper and husband Joel Warner (who lugged a ton of stuff down the steep path).  Many thanks to both!

Our group congregated around an extra large shade canopy sheltering cold drinks and a variety of snacks, even watermelon!  Each family brought their own lunch and beach gear.  There was no shortage of sand toys, and a few of the older kids braved the chilly ocean water on boogie boards.  Some folks took a short walk to check out the tide pools.  All the girls (and even a few boys) had hours of endless play in the sand and the waves, and all the parents enjoyed visiting.  A wonderful time was had by all!

Check out our gallery of Beach Day photos. Our thanks to Ann Marie Rousseau and Patty Uy for contributing the photos.

The family self defense workshop held Saturday May 15 was a great success!  About twenty kids with one or two parents per family turned out for the session. The age range of the kids was from three and a half to ten, with the majority five to seven years old.

Instructor and FCC Mom Laura Hesser did an excellent job. She made it fun for the kids all the while they were learning important information and skills.  Laura's set-up was perfect with the parents sitting in the background and the kids sitting up front around her, which resulted in the session being interactive for the kids, both discussion-wise and physically.  Laura was able to tailor the session to the age range that attended so there was high participation and the kids seemed to get the messages.  The session was relevant and a fun opportunity for the families to get to know each other better.  All in all a wonderful event!

On a rainy Saturday in March twenty-five small children in traditional Chinese costume gathered at the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center to learn Chinese folk dance from “Miss Annie;” Anne Ma.

Miss Annie and her two assistants taught their young students “The Firecracker Dance” during the 45 minute session, followed by a short snack break and finally the performance! Parents who had anxiously huddled in the hallways during rehearsal were allowed into the studio to video and photograph their angels as they exhibited a graceful display of dance. Some of the older students partnered with the younger ones to help keep them in step. The results were very impressive! Most importantly all the participants had a fun learning experience!