Third birthday party, numbers one and two

We began the third celebration of Lily's birth, which will be a week-long event spanning two countries, on Sunday evening in Mantra, our friends Antony and Marta's tea house.

Bad weather made us call off the beach picnic we had originally planned, and illness and busy schedules kept the attendance small, but Lily had a very very good time, and looked nice, too.

It seemed like everyone enjoyed her antics ad playing with her. There was coloring in an anti-conformist-coloring-book that we found on the café game shelf, 

creating bases on a cushioned platform (the coolest feature of the tetería), 

decorating the house-shaped cake with raisin windows and doors, knocking Lily down and covering up with pillows, and so much more.

Good gifts were received: a piggy bank we can paint and necklaces, one of which is so cool that I want it.


Antony and Marta were so thoughtful, bringing us munchies, staying on top of the drink orders and serving Lily a Cacaolat that she was very pleased with.


We ended up singing Happy Birthday four times (English, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese) and each version received a big hooray from the hippies populating the café. (Note: the cake had a chimney, but Lily ate it just before we sang.)


Paulo was the one who introduced us to the Portuguese version, and man, it definitely beats all other birthday songs. Lots of increasingly loud chanting of the birthday person's name = good fun.

Things went so well, that Lily even put herself and her doll to bed at the end of the party.



All in all, a very good time, a party where I actually got to speak to everyone and felt like Lil had a great time.



This morning we awoke and Lily was very excited to wear a dress to school and bring a copy of one of her favorite songs "Aire de fiesta" to class for her party. On each child's birthday, his or her classroom photo goes on a big birthday poster, the class works together to decorate a paper crown and the child's dining chair, and there is singing, dancing and a balloon for each kid to take home. Although she looks a bit serious here,


she took off dancing as soon as the photo was over.


Side note: This morning after dropping Lily at school, the fog on Tibidabo was amazing:


When I got Lil from school, she was well happy, especially because of her paper crown and green balloon. She and I had a lovely afternoon together and when we got home,she got to open her presents from us (an elephant dining set), Matt (sticker book), and Oliver's Uncle Iain and Aunt Wendy (small squishy baby whose diaper you can change - a big plus in Lily's book).


After dinner, she, Oli and I meant to go on a bike ride, but the rain and a looooong game of Monster on the Bed held us up. To be honest, I think we all enjoyed that even more because it just sort of happened.

Thursday night we're off to the UK for the big Bear Hunt birthday party.