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| Obviously suffering from a lack of treats in Vietnam! |
Brianna is eleven! What exactly does a Vietnamese birthday celebration call for? It calls for an entire weekend of fun. We began with a mini-party with friends after school on Friday. Seven kids and five adults inhaled some tasty bakery treats to start the weekend.
The party continued with a sleepover, lots of good morning "Birthday Skypes" from home, and fried quail eggs for breakfast. Next up was a family celebration with an attempt at homemade banana bread/cake. There were presents from home and presents from Vietnam for the birthday girl.
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| Enjoying Deep-Fried Rat Posing as Chicken |
Then it was off to Danang for a good-old-fashioned night at the movies - preceded by a tasty meal at KFC. It doesn't get much more American than that (aside from the fact that movie tickets cost $2.00, and refreshments - including tasty buttery popcorn - actually cost less than the tickets). Sadly we followed up the movie with a "quick" trip to the grocery store (but that deserves a blog of its own).
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| Mmmm...relaxing in the sun. |
We concluded the weekend with a day of pampering at the Hoi An Beach Resort. We biked down the road to Cua Dai beach and spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon lounging by the pool, watching the fishermen pull fish out of the lazy river, and soaking up a rare day of sunshine in what has become a rather gray rainy season. Our final stop was for more food (naturally) at a riverside restaurant on the way back to our house. Stuffed squid, chicken curry and a cheese pizza for the birthday girl completed a weekend of western pampering. Happy Birthday!
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| Riverside Oasis |
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| Sleepy Poolside Reflections (I cropped out the drool) |
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| Riverside Relaxing |
Happy Birthday, Brianna. Maybe next year Dad will shave for your birthday! Hope it was a fun and memorable day. Love, Aunt Laura and Uncle Joe
ReplyDeleteHi Aunt Laura. Did Jennifer put you up to this? Actually Jennifer is the only one who wants me to shave. The kids want me to grow it out. It's starting to bother me so most likely future pics will be clean. Thanks for the comment. We enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteNo, Jennifer didn't put me up to this. Just remember, you can live with your kids for the next 50 years (and they can bleed the wallet dry) or Jennifer. So, you decide if it's worth shaving or not. Miss you all. Have a blast. Keep Jennifer's fingers on the key board and yours on the camera's shutter....keep the photos and stories coming. We love it. Be safe, be healthy, and have a blast. Creating memories is what life is all about. What a life! Life is Good. :) Love, Aunt Laura
ReplyDeleteHi again. You're absolutely right Aunt Laura. You most likely know by now, but I did shave. It was like an early birthday present for Jennifer, but the kids thought it looked like I had plastic surgery done on my face. Now I just have to keep it up. It's mostly laziness, but perhaps it's a bit machismo too. I enjoy having the opportunity just to play around with having a beard. We'll keep the photos flowing. We love you too. Thanks for the notes.
ReplyDeleteJohn