Now I Get It.

Now I get why Brazilians out-source all of their birthday parties.

It was so.much.easier than a normal birthday party for me. The most stressful part of the 7 hour day was walking the 18 kids across the street to load them into the 15-seat van (no one wanted to ride in Guapo's car with Pedro):



Once we got to the farm-it was smooth sailing. They provided all the food (including the cake) and even decorated with the must-have birthday theme table:



They entertained the kids for 4 straight hours. I had my doubts, I admit. I thought about requesting a 2 1/2 hour party, but then decided not to since I was paying a fair amount of money for the party. They rotated the kids through a variety of activities including:

Feeding ducks:



Feeding livestock (one kid even got a free ride on the bulls horns-he climbed up the fence and grabbed on which freaked out the bull who swung him around into the pen. A little scary-but it all ended well. Luckily his mom was there so I didn't have to relay the story to her after the party.):



Riding horses:



Milking cows (I couldn't resist-I had to try it):



Playing with a friendly rat (ewwww, I could resist):



and they even had a zip-line:



Thee were only a few minor annoyances. Two kids didn't RSVP (after sending out an invitation and 2 emails begging for RSVP's)- one showed up at our house with her nanny and her cousin. They other showed up at the farm two hours late with her mom and her brother. These two cases were annoying because they didn't RSVP to start with, and then they brought extra people. Since it was a pay-per-head situation, I wasn't thrilled.

Then, one of the kids mom's picked her up an hour and a half late (after I'd had her kid for the last 7 hours). How can you do that???

Other than that it was a great day and I'd probably do it again. Even Pedro had a good day despite missing his nap. He got to try fresh cow's milk:



It took him a minute to decide:



but ultimately, he declared to Gaupo, "That's good milk Dad!"

When I was undressing him for his bath when we got home, I was shocked at what I found in his diaper:



No, I wouldn't show you a poopy diaper. Look a little closer:


Those are little stones.

???

What the heck? I didn't notice him collecting and depositing them, but I can't figure out how else he could have gotten them in there. No wonder he had a fit being strapped in his car seat on the ride home.

It's over and I am relieved. :) No more kid birthdays for 6 months.

Wait a second.

Did I mention how much I love Juan Carlos? This is a post about his birthday.

Let's see, he is such a cute boy with a very sunny disposition. When he smiles, it lights up the room. He gets excited over the littlest things. He collects anything he finds when we are out and about and calls them his "treasures". When I arrive in his classroom to help out he always stops whatever he's doing, runs over to me and gives me a big hug. When I drop him off at school I'll watch him head up the stairs to his classroom and without fail he'll yell down at me, loud enough for the entire elementary school to hear, "Bye mom-I love you!" I know he won't do this forever-so I cherish it each time he does it.

Even though Pedro is my baby-Juan Carlos is my baby. My mamma's boy. I've told him I've made a deal with the Tooth Fairy that he can't loose any teeth so he can stay my little boy. He halfway believes me I think because everyone else in his class has lost a tooth except for him.

The day he has a loose tooth will be a heartbreaking one for me.

I love you Juan Carlos, Happy Birthday!