Saturday, April 18, 2009

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!

11 comments:

Fabiola said...

Happy Birthday Juan Carlos....
I am glad the party went really well and you all had a blessed time.

One thing that really amazes me: Cariocas are the biggest "cuca frescas". The two incidents that happen (one mom didn´t RSVP and the other was 1 1/2 hours late), would never happen down South. It is just innapropriate.

And for the Holidays, this April has been a little overwhelming when it comes to day offs. But the whole week off, is just in Rio. I am back at work on Wednesday. I should work on Monday too, but I have too many extra hours to clean up.

I am in Penedo and it is a really kids friendly place and it is about 2 1/2 hours South from Rio de Janeiro. Just a good tip.

Have a nice holiday!!

Fabiola

nikko said...

Glad it went so well. Happy Birthday to Juan Carlos!

Stephanie said...

Sounds like a really great time!!

The Brazilians here in the states do the over the top parties too! It is CRAZYYYY! We live in South Carolina and they bring people down from Boston to do balloons, and the candy and all the theme things they fly in from Brazil. I cant even IMAGINE how much it costs them...all the while the birthday child is a year old, crying because he/she is tired, won't remember a thing, and the party goes on FOREVER.

But they do a bang up job, that's for sure!

And of course when I am in Brazil and if I have a child there, I know that I won't be able to help myself, and I will do something very similar. Though the money just blows me away. It will take a lot to come to terms with that!

Glad you had a successful birthday party! (Even with the minor bumps) Juan Carlos sounds like an amazing and loving child :) That paragraph right there is the very reason I want to have kids!!!

And sorry this was SO long!

Janet said...

Awesome job on the party mom - looks very fun!!
And happy birthday to Juan Carlos!

Code Yellow Mom said...

Feliz Cumpleanos! Looks like a great party!

Everything looks so green and clean and lovely...Way to milk a cow!

Love the tooth fairy deal - so sweet.

Kari said...

Awww...I'm glad he hasn't lost any teeth yet. Kara was way behind everybody else in that area, and I did not complain one single bit.

Glad you survived the party--after you forked out $25K USD, they BETTER have entertained them well! (Ha. kidding, sort of...)

Margarita said...

I didn't know that Pedro drank that cow milk, mom. And he liked it? I can't believe it. He's normally so picky about what kind of milk he drinks, and yet, he likes FRESH COW MILK? Eeeewww. Happy birthday old man (Juan Carlos)!!

Maine Mom said...

Fun to see a comment from Margarita.

I'm glad the party went well and it's over. :-) I hope Juan Carlos had a fabulous time!

Poor Pedro must have been uncomfortable all the way home!

Super Happy Girl said...

First of all: Happy birthday JC!!!
WOO HOO!

Now, I thought the milking of the cows was my favorite part but then Pedro saved little rocks in his diaper and well, that won me over :D

I'm glad you had an easier time with this party!

k-squared's mom said...

I can still see JC's smile. You're absolutely right. He lights up the entire room! Happy birthday JC!

Anonymous said...

Ok, how much fun does this all look...now you are making me think about daughter's birthday..hhhmmm, wanna help me? :)

and how adorable is the comment from Margarita above?

ALL of your kids are the best my friend! You and Guapo are awesome parents! Congrats!

Talk to you when I get back!
Hope you had a good week off!
BG