We had a princess birthday party for Evie last Saturday, and I'm happy to report that nobody puked. This was a real worry, since every one of my kids was sick at some point during the previous week.
I really wanted this party to be low key, but that's apparently impossible here. Our consulate community is small enough that everyone is generally invited to everything, and it's friendly enough that everyone generally shows up when they're invited. We tried to pare things down by only inviting the kids right around Evie's age and our neighbors and a couple of friends from school. The way parties work here, though, means that everyone's parents and siblings came, too. Everyone on the guest list (except a girl who was sick and a boy who's 7th Day Adventist and can't come on Saturday) came ... and a couple of extras crashed the party. Low key, it was not.
It was fun, though. When the guests came they got to choose a tiara or a crown to wear, and they could choose to decorate a princess wand or a sword made of craft foam. (I found the craft foam in a dusty cardboard box in the back corner of a hole-in-the-wall "fancy shop." This proves that miracles do happen.)
Here are Evie and her friend Maria sporting their tiaras while downing some pizza. (Have I mentioned that Papa John's has arrived in Chennai? Heaven!) That's my wonderful neighbor Kateneh in the background with her daughter, Soraya.
And here's a little prince.
After the kids made their crafts, we played an old-fashioned game of musical chairs using a medley of princess music (heavy on the more recent Disney movies). Then we went outside to burst the pinata I spent three days creating. Why do I do this again? Lunch was pizza from Papa John's, fresh veggies and fresh fruit. Then came the cake and ice cream.
Here's a photo John took while everyone was singing "Happy Birthday." Don't you love Evie's expression? She looks like she's about to tackle someone. That's her best girl friend, Siya, right next to her. Her best boy friends are Owen (in the stripes) and Ruben (the back of his head's in the foreground). Apparently, the four of them dominate the social microcosm that is Alphabet Playschool's lower KG. Be on their good side ... or you might be the object of Evie's death glare of doom.
It was a crazy couple of hours, but it was a lot of fun. I'm trying to figure out how to make Johnny's birthday fun, but truly low key. Any suggestions?
Here's a photo of the birthday girl on the Monday after the party. She's eating leftover frosting (that's my girl) and wearing one of her favorite birthday gifts -- a bindi!
I really wanted this party to be low key, but that's apparently impossible here. Our consulate community is small enough that everyone is generally invited to everything, and it's friendly enough that everyone generally shows up when they're invited. We tried to pare things down by only inviting the kids right around Evie's age and our neighbors and a couple of friends from school. The way parties work here, though, means that everyone's parents and siblings came, too. Everyone on the guest list (except a girl who was sick and a boy who's 7th Day Adventist and can't come on Saturday) came ... and a couple of extras crashed the party. Low key, it was not.
It was fun, though. When the guests came they got to choose a tiara or a crown to wear, and they could choose to decorate a princess wand or a sword made of craft foam. (I found the craft foam in a dusty cardboard box in the back corner of a hole-in-the-wall "fancy shop." This proves that miracles do happen.)
Here are Evie and her friend Maria sporting their tiaras while downing some pizza. (Have I mentioned that Papa John's has arrived in Chennai? Heaven!) That's my wonderful neighbor Kateneh in the background with her daughter, Soraya.
And here's a little prince.
After the kids made their crafts, we played an old-fashioned game of musical chairs using a medley of princess music (heavy on the more recent Disney movies). Then we went outside to burst the pinata I spent three days creating. Why do I do this again? Lunch was pizza from Papa John's, fresh veggies and fresh fruit. Then came the cake and ice cream.
Here's a photo John took while everyone was singing "Happy Birthday." Don't you love Evie's expression? She looks like she's about to tackle someone. That's her best girl friend, Siya, right next to her. Her best boy friends are Owen (in the stripes) and Ruben (the back of his head's in the foreground). Apparently, the four of them dominate the social microcosm that is Alphabet Playschool's lower KG. Be on their good side ... or you might be the object of Evie's death glare of doom.
It was a crazy couple of hours, but it was a lot of fun. I'm trying to figure out how to make Johnny's birthday fun, but truly low key. Any suggestions?
Here's a photo of the birthday girl on the Monday after the party. She's eating leftover frosting (that's my girl) and wearing one of her favorite birthday gifts -- a bindi!
No comments:
Post a Comment