Tuesday, September 30, 2008
I'm three!
chibiguri recently turned three years old, so of course, Amaguri and I threw a party for him. This year is the first that he is actually aware of the event and he took a serious interest in everything involved with his party, frequently reminding us that 'Saturday is my party', and 'I am three'.
Auntie was kind enough to get chibiguri a bicycle for his birthday, which was his number-one desire. In fact, to make sure that we did not forget this, chibiguri reminded us on a fairly constant basis that he needed a bicycle- and that he would get a bicycle for his birthday!
On the day of the party, chibiguri knew immediately that this was no ordinary day. He rose early and was excited as he encouraged us to arise. I spent the morning gathering the necessary sundries- balloons, water pistols, ice, and by the time that the party began, we were already slightly tired. For her part, Amaguri spent the previous evening marinading the meat, making various other foodstuffs and preparing all the utensils we would need for the party.
We had invited a fair number of kids (and their parents of course) and we eventually turned out to have approxomately 30 people, kids included. Many of chibiguri's schoolmates attended, and it was quite interesting to see chibiguri with other kids- I rarely am able to do that as I usually drop him off and then pick him up- I don't usually see him with other kids. However, chibiguri did well, even sharing his new bicycle (though he did need some encouragement on that end).
We also prepared a number of other diversions, including the 39-year-old roller coaster that I used when I was chibiguri's age, the sandbox, the swings and several balls. However, the highlight for the kids was probably the water pistols. At the last minute, we decided that due to the heat, getting some water pistols might be a good idea. Not the monster Super Soakers, but rather the little squeeze pistols. So we decided to go find some. However, the local toy store only had the big ones in stock and the dollar stores near us had nothing at all. So we eventually ended up at a Japanese store called Daiso, where we were able to find the necessary equipment! The kids loved it- there were quickly a number of battles going on in the backyard and I don't believe anyone entirely escaped being watered. Even the grill was slightly affected, being targeted by some of the kids until I managed to dissuade them on the grounds that wet food was not very edible- or delicious.
We got an ice-cream cake from Coldstone Creamery, and that was also very successful. We went with a Thomas the Tank Engine on the cake, and little chibiguri was very pleased. For the party decorations, we used a Go, Diego, Go! theme and this also met with chibiguri's approval. The cake was quite good, and because the filling was ice cream, even chibiguri was able to eat it, which was nice.
the presents were interesting. chibiguri received three new train sets (all different from each other) so that now he has a total of four different track systems. We are going to have to standardize, sooner or later, I suspect! It was also very interesting to compare the presents chibiguri received this year with those he got the previous years. This year's haul included two remote-control cars, a big Tonka truck with working lights and sound, and of course the afore-mentioned train sets. last year's were much less challenging- more along the lines of cdevelopmental, as opposed to pure playtime. And of course, Auntie's bicycle was the highlight.
Overall, it was a very successful party, and chibiguri was very happy that his friends came to his house, though he spent most of the party chasing the little five-year old girl from next door- much to the disapproval of his usual playmate, who would have preferred him to chase her! I can't wait to see what will happen when chibiguri turns four!
Auntie was kind enough to get chibiguri a bicycle for his birthday, which was his number-one desire. In fact, to make sure that we did not forget this, chibiguri reminded us on a fairly constant basis that he needed a bicycle- and that he would get a bicycle for his birthday!
On the day of the party, chibiguri knew immediately that this was no ordinary day. He rose early and was excited as he encouraged us to arise. I spent the morning gathering the necessary sundries- balloons, water pistols, ice, and by the time that the party began, we were already slightly tired. For her part, Amaguri spent the previous evening marinading the meat, making various other foodstuffs and preparing all the utensils we would need for the party.
We had invited a fair number of kids (and their parents of course) and we eventually turned out to have approxomately 30 people, kids included. Many of chibiguri's schoolmates attended, and it was quite interesting to see chibiguri with other kids- I rarely am able to do that as I usually drop him off and then pick him up- I don't usually see him with other kids. However, chibiguri did well, even sharing his new bicycle (though he did need some encouragement on that end).
We also prepared a number of other diversions, including the 39-year-old roller coaster that I used when I was chibiguri's age, the sandbox, the swings and several balls. However, the highlight for the kids was probably the water pistols. At the last minute, we decided that due to the heat, getting some water pistols might be a good idea. Not the monster Super Soakers, but rather the little squeeze pistols. So we decided to go find some. However, the local toy store only had the big ones in stock and the dollar stores near us had nothing at all. So we eventually ended up at a Japanese store called Daiso, where we were able to find the necessary equipment! The kids loved it- there were quickly a number of battles going on in the backyard and I don't believe anyone entirely escaped being watered. Even the grill was slightly affected, being targeted by some of the kids until I managed to dissuade them on the grounds that wet food was not very edible- or delicious.
We got an ice-cream cake from Coldstone Creamery, and that was also very successful. We went with a Thomas the Tank Engine on the cake, and little chibiguri was very pleased. For the party decorations, we used a Go, Diego, Go! theme and this also met with chibiguri's approval. The cake was quite good, and because the filling was ice cream, even chibiguri was able to eat it, which was nice.
the presents were interesting. chibiguri received three new train sets (all different from each other) so that now he has a total of four different track systems. We are going to have to standardize, sooner or later, I suspect! It was also very interesting to compare the presents chibiguri received this year with those he got the previous years. This year's haul included two remote-control cars, a big Tonka truck with working lights and sound, and of course the afore-mentioned train sets. last year's were much less challenging- more along the lines of cdevelopmental, as opposed to pure playtime. And of course, Auntie's bicycle was the highlight.
Overall, it was a very successful party, and chibiguri was very happy that his friends came to his house, though he spent most of the party chasing the little five-year old girl from next door- much to the disapproval of his usual playmate, who would have preferred him to chase her! I can't wait to see what will happen when chibiguri turns four!
# posted by がんこもん @ 9:25 AM 
