Saturday Night Party

Last night, Gwen and I attended her friend Zara's birthday party. Having only met Zara's mother briefly I planned to stay and keep an eye on Gwen and make sure she behaved like a little lady with a cast, at a party where many of the adults might not speak English. Boy was I glad I stayed!! Everyone was so friendly and we had a terrific time.

We were the first to arrive at 5pm, but Zara and her little sister, dressed in their party dresses were excited to get the party started. Zara's mom, Sylvia, was so nice and right away made Gwen and I feel at home. We listened to Duran Duran songs in Spanish while the girls made paper crowns by decorating them with feathers and letter stickers. Sylvia hung three giant tissue paper flowers she had made in the backyard for decoration and still had her Day of the Dead tissue papers up on her kitchen wall (like these in the picture) because Zara asked her to keep them up to show her friends.

The food was fantastic. I was given one each of 3 types of tamales, a spicy chicken, a sweet pineapple, and one wrapped in a banana leaf that would take me an entire entry to properly describe. I was given a big red plastic cup of horchata to drink and after the first couple sips it really grew on me. I hadn't had horchata since I was Gwen's age. Gwen wouldn't try the horchata, but it does taste much better than it smells, so I don't blame her.

After eating, it was dancing time for the party-goers. Sylvia led all the kids in dancing. The songs were all in Spanish, but were very child friendly and hokey-pokey-esque where the kids kicked their feet, clapped their hands, and whistled on cue. Even though she didn't know the words, Gwen really joined in and danced around and tried to sing along. I wished I'd brought a video camera. The kids were adorable and Sylvia should consider a career in teaching, she was so good with them.

While more and more people arrived at the party, Gwen , her friend Zara, and Zara's friend Tony made up game after game that involved running up and down Zara's side yard, and trying to keep balloons of the non-helium variety in the air. Gwen loved it.

Then it was pinata time. Zara's dad held one end of a rope as he stood on the roof of their house. Another dad held the other rope end looped through the high branch of the tree in the middle of their front yard. A giant home-made paper mache lady bug swung from the middle of the rope so that Zara's dad could at any point tug the lady-bug to safety. The children took turns swinging at the lady bug while every adult present sang a pinata song and I worried about when Zara's dad would fall off the roof. When the song ended it was the next person's turn and everyone got a turn, Zara, Gwen, Sylvia and even me. By the end I was singing the song right along with everyone else and Zara's dad never did come crashing down.

We had to leave after the pinata. It was already 8pm and we had to pick up Drew from gymnastics, but again Zara's family was so nice and understanding about it. She offered us cake to go which I declined and a party favor for Gwen and Drew which I accepted (so sweet of her to think of Drew too.) As we drove away, more people were just arriving making me wonder just how late the party would go. We were bummed we couldn't stay till the end. Gwen has a great little friend in Zara and Zara has a great family. Thanks for the great party Zara! Happy 6th birthday!