Emerson's 8th Birthday and Mother's Day

 I think we've been celebrating Emerson's birthday for about two weeks now. It started on the 8th, a Friday, when Emerson brought in donut holes to share with his classmates, and he got to wear street clothes to school. Drew actually got to go into the classroom on that day and give a 15-min talk about what life is like in the United States, as the class was doing a social studies lesson on immigration and family origins. So it was nice he got to be there in person while they sang Happy Birthday to Emerson. That evening we had Emerson's chosen dinner menu of spaghetti, green apples, and red peppers, followed by a chocolate torte with whipped cream frosting. Then, he opened his presents. I unfortunately didn't get pictures of any of that, but it was a nice evening. 

On Saturday, which was his actual birthday, we had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, as is tradition. 

That afternoon we were going over to a classmate's house for an asado with other school parents and kids (mostly boys) from class. The Dad hosting thought it would be fun to surprise Emerson with a cake, since it was his literal birthday, so he graciously got one. The candles were also trick candles, so all the boys there got to help blow them out, and they had alot of fun. Emerson was surprised for sure. 

Sunday was Mother's Day. The morning started with breakfast in bed: the highlights being hand squeezed orange juice by Emerson and a card from Avery. A few weeks ago, we had a BBQ with Avery's class at this privately owned nature park called El Sanctuario de la Naturaleza de Arrayán. It is a very lovely little park, only 20 min from the house. It's tucked in a valley and has a creek running through it, so it's perfect for the kids. So, I decided this is where I wanted to spend Mother's Day. Drew organized the day with 5 other families from our friend group, mostly expat families who work in either the German or Austrian embassies here. It was a lovely day: perfect weather and everyone had a nice relaxing time. We had 10 parents and 14 kids. 

Then on Saturday the 16th, we had a joint birthday party with Sebas, Emerson's best friend, and Agustina, a girl from class who all have May birthdays. We went to Mampato, a little amusement park that is the perfect size for the kids. They can ride all of the rides, and the park isn't so big that they are going to get lost. Emerson was running amuck with his friends, so I actually don't have many photos of him, but Avery and I went around and rode rides together, so I have a few more of him. Almost the whole class came, and yes, we did the piñata with the resulting candy scramble. And Emerson got a giant bag of presents that we've been opening up 4 at a time. Overall, it was a fun day, and minimal work for me, which was a win.