a diplomat in pajamas

Friday night I posted on Facebook

(which I rarely do - post something, that is.... but I am really, truly trying to be a better Facebooker)

that I had 6 ten year old girls over for a sleep over.

Then when people commented and told of their own experiences, I felt like a complete and utter sleep-over wimp.

The volume and energy from six was plenty for me!

We did have a rather good time though.

The girls all came over after school. They

played,

screamed,

had pizza,

screamed,

played some more while screaming,

screamed a bit while playing,

had birthday cake,

screamed....

and that was sort of the pattern.

Cake, of course:

Mia's favorite - same cake two years in a row: Chocolate with cream cheese icing and swedish fish (imported from Maryland, and previously imported from Sweden, I'm sure).

(The favorite is actually Chocolate Kahlua cake with cream cheese icing, but we can't find a good substitute for Kahlua... Believe me, we've tried, and tried, and tried, and tried, but somehow, at the end of that evening, and 7 bottles of coffee/mocha flavored liqueur, we just couldn't find anything that measured up. At least we don't think we did.... its hard to remember.

Okay, okay, okay - I'm joking.

It was only 5 bottles and over the course of two nights.

Okay, okay, okay - I'm joking.

I've only found one brand here - haven't spent much time looking - and it made the cake taste funny.

Where was I?

Oh yes.... the cake.

Wait a minute.... Just another little tangent.

Can I just tell you how sad it makes me that my two oldest don't want fancy shaped and decorated cakes any more?

It makes me sad.

First, it makes me sad because I don't have as much work to do then so I can't complain so much and make myself out to look like such a martyr and the runner-up for "Mother-of-the-year".

Second, it makes me sad because it is just a whole heap of fun to make them. I like figuring out how to do it on my own, thinking through what candies would make a good kitty nose, piece of ribbon, fire truck ladder, or wart with a hair in it (no, I never have made a cake with anything needing a wart with a hair in it - but that could be a fun, albeit gross, challenge).

Sigh.... once Lucy hits 9 or 10, it'll be all over for me.

At least I have a few years left.

Okay, back to the party...

Instead of Mia selfishly indulging in an Ecuadorian birthday tradition herself, she asked her friends to join her....

The tradition is shoving cake in the face of the birthday girl.

They decided to shove their own faces in their cake instead.

Mia is so thoughtful to share in this way.

Don't worry, I didn't let them run around with messy faces all night. I went around and licked all their faces clean.

Gross! I did no such thing.

So, moving on, the girls all slept in our room (Eric and I). We hauled another mattress in there so they had three pushed together - one great big huge bed.

Such lovely girls (and one very soft, fluffy cow).

One of them had to leave for the actual sleeping time.

Her dad is a diplomat.

Does that mean that he is smarter than everyone else?....

Being that he is a diplomat AND he didn't let his daughter spend the night.

The next morning he brought her back to join in the rest of the festivities.

I was still in my pajamas when he came and I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet.

I love meeting diplomats in my pjs.

And it probably only reinforced his wise decision not to let his daughter spend the night.

(Being that my half brother is a diplomat, and I know that he is just a regular human being like the rest of us, it really didn't bother me meeting him in my pjs. I just tried to keep my distance with the morning breath and all....)

Once all fed and ready, Eric took them to Mini-City.

I was extremely disappointed that I didn't get to go, but I had to stay home with the other kids.

Eric was extremely disappointed that he had to go, but he had to drive (nope, still no license for me... it's a long story....).

Mini City is just that - a miniature city.

You start off by going to the bank, and they give you $100 of Mini City money.

Then you go through the city and pay to do different things.

If you run out of money, you can go and get a job to earn more.

(side note: I was so proud of Eric that he actually took some pictures... I know only did it because he loves me!)

You can go on a plane and fly to the Galapagos.

Or at least you can pretend that you are flying to the Galapagos.

They have a climbing wall.

Mia was the first one to go and Eric said she just whipped up that wall.

She reached the top in no time.

She's quite an agile little thing.

It looks, from this picture, that Mia is quite a shrimp compared to her friends! Don't be deceived, she is actually taller than her friend in the red sweats. It is rather exciting!

The girls could earn more money working at a beauty salon. Complete with make-up and hair styling products.

They could also work at a pharmacy and sell drugs to other people.

Wait a second.... what are they teaching these kids!!!!

They also have a circus where they could walk a tightrope and do other fun stuff, a grocery store to shop at, a race track with pit stop, where they could change tires, etc., a soccer field with team pinnies to wear, trampolines with harnesses so they could do all kinds of tricks, a fire station, guard shack, etc.

The girls had a fabulous time.

And after that, Food, Folks and Fun at McDonalds.

Yes, Ronald is the same, no matter what country he is in.

He is such a chick magnet.

The girls, with a slightly deaf Eric, returned with just as much energy as they left.... not sure how kids do that.

But don't worry, we fed them a little more sugar and sent them all home.

Whew, one more birthday down.