those Japanese can party

I don't know if you remember the bowling birthday party we went to last year.  It was probably the best birthday party I have ever been too.  So much fun.  It was for one of Maddy's friends - a friend from Japan.  Well, this year they were at it again, and it did not disappoint!  The party was held at the Japanese school in Quito - a really big, nice facility that has a whopping 8 students!  I'm not sure how many students they used to have, but its a mighty fine place for so few students.

First we ate - pizza.   A lot of pizza.

Eric was a little disappointed when I told him we were having pizza for lunch - he remembered her spring rolls and sushi from last year.  They were incredible.  Well again, she did not disappoint.  There were still some Japanese delicacies for those who preferred.

The girls all sat on one side of the stairs and the boys all sat on the other side.  Odd.  They didn't seem to mind being around each other at any other point in the afternoon, but eating together?  No way.

After lunch we had a bunch of games.  They started with a tug-o-war.  Then had a few different relays.

After that was the grand finale - and obstacle course relay (not too many pictures as I was helping with the games....).  My station was the hide-the-gummy-candy-in-a-pile-of-cornstarch station.  For sanitary reasons, I had to replace the cornstarch each time.  Little did I realize how "interesting" that job was going to be.

Another mom took this picture - it was taken just after I finally opened the second bag of cornstarch - after wrestling with another bag forever (and two people had to skip my station because I couldn't get it done on time).  This bag sort of exploded when I opened it and a very large portion of the contents went down my shirt.  At least it took care of the sweat problem I was having.....

Between trying to get cornstarch bags open and pulling apart gooey gummy candies that were mushing together because of the hot sun, I was pleased that I only missed two people (yes, one from each team, to make it fair).  I kept wanting to yell, in my best Japanese accent "eat the wasabi" like on one of these Japanese game shows, but Maddy threatened me not to embarrass her (before the party, Cade and Mia helped me think of many great ways that I could have done just that, but I decided I should probably be nice....).

It was another great party.

We will be so sad come January when this family moves back to Japan.  They are so great.

 It will be a sad, sad day.