Birthday Fun

Ashley’s birthday was this weekend. She is now FOUR years old! I just can’t believe it. It’s amazing how fast they grow up. She had a birthday party on Friday afternoon. About ten of her friends – mostly girls – it was interesting. They were quite a rambunctious group, thank goodness Anthony was around to chase them and help them expend some of their energy. We rented out a room downstairs in our building that has a piano, bar, tables, chairs and couches which also opens up to the outdoor patio/fountain area in our complex. It was a good location for the party (although the air conditioning was broken, so thank goodness there was a breeze that day!). I made a ½ chocolate, ½ yellow butterfly cake for the kids, along with lots of fruits, snacks, etc. Ashley had a blast running around and playing with all her friends. They sang happy birthday to her in English and Chinese. The present opening was interesting. In Asian culture, it’s not normal to open gifts at the party – you are supposed to save them and open them later, when no one is around. Ashley was too excited and looking forward to opening presents, that we decide we were going to keep the American tradition. I don’t think the girls were used to having someone open gifts as they all seemed to just go crazy and all wanted in on the opening action. Thank goodness Ashley is a sharing soul and didn’t seem to mind too much over the chaotic ness of it all. Anthony and I tried calming the kids down, having Ashley sit down, but that didn’t really work. Ashley still had a blast and was very excited about her presents. After the party, Ashley and Liz spent most of the evening playing with the new toys. Liz enjoyed them all also, especially a little stuffed dog that Ashley got.

Ashley opened the rest of her presents from family and friends back home on Saturday. Both girls had fun doing that. She got some great stuff for her birthday and we've had to do a bit of organizing/rearranging to fit it all. Thanks to all the grandparents and Uncles/Aunts for her presents (and Liz's too :) - she was so excited to get stuff from "the States".

This weekend was gorgeous weather – although a bit hot. We didn’t really do anything. Sunday, Anthony had a business lunch, so we couldn’t really get out of town (it would have been a good day for the beach). After his lunch, we did take the girls over to the Miramar mall (Anthony had to buy tickets to see Stars Wars, he’s taking his work group today) and we ended up riding the worlds 2nd tallest ferris wheel. The girls and Anthony enjoyed it. I’m not into heights that much, so I really didn’t enjoy it much. Would rather have stayed on the ground.