Harry Potter Birthday Party

S choose a Harry Potter Birthday Party this year. We had a lot of fun planning it and the kids had a great time. Some kids came dressed up as wizards and witches, one girls was in uniform and one boy had the official Quiditch cape! They all started the party by making magic wands with real feathers inside.

The Sorting Hat came alive again and sorted kids into the two Hogwarts houses represented: Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. You guessed correctly that S ended up in Gryffindor.

The two houses played each other in a game of Quiditch on real brooms with lots of "flying" balls and a golden snitch. Unfortunately it was almost 40C outside so after 10 minutes we had some Butterbeer and popcorn at the airconditioned Leaky Cauldron.

Creating Lava Lamps during science class with Professor Snape.

Decorating goblets with gems during art class.

After writing class with quills and a dragon egg hunt in the forbidden forest with Hagrid, it was time for the traditional party highlight: the birthday cake and Happy Birthday sung in two languages.

Presents made the day complete. While the parents lingered at pick up time with a cold drink and appetizer the kids got comfortable inside and watched the first Harry Potter movie. We had let S watch it once on a long plane ride before and she was impressed I had actually bought her the movie at the Russian Market. So far she has only read the first and second book. I guess she's a real fan now and is probably old enough to move on to book three...

Birthday Girl

S turned nine years old this month. Could it really be true? Nine already? Was I walking around the streets of Maadi with a big pregnant belly nine years ago? It really feels like yesterday. Happy Birthday oldest daughter!

Giving is as much fun as receiving. E picked out a white fluffy stuffed dog for her big sister.

The traditional cupcakes to bring to school and treat the class. Decorating them is half the fun.

S in her third grade classroom
(which is really a 2/3 combination class.)

S and Ms. Andrea, her wonderful teacher who is from Canada.

Koninginnedag / Queen Beatrix's Birthday

(Meester Willem giving kids instructions)

Every year the Dutch celebrate Queen Beatrix's birthday. It is actually her mother's birthday on April 30 but Bea has kept this date in her honor.

The Dutch abroad tend to go a little crazy for all things Dutch and orange. The Queen's birthday has quite a budget from the Dutch school and embassy in Bangkok. The day for Dutchies in Phnom Penh was spend at Gasolina, a local restaurant that rents out its large garden for events.

Kids and grown ups alike spend the day at traditional games like tug of war and walking on stilts.

There was a bike decorating contest.

And poffertjes (mini pancakes) to eat!

The queen's birthday is also the only day in the Netherlands when you are allowed to sell your junk on the streets without having to pay taxes. It's called a vrijmarkt. E helped me sell of some of our old toys but mostly kept shopping at other people's stands. I think we left with more than we came.

My Tooth is Loose!

I find that losing teeth are a real indication of my kids growing. With 3 1/2 years between them they have been teething/loosing teeth at the same time for years it seems. Just three weeks ago S informed me her bottom left incisor was loose. Sure enough, after a week or so of wriggling, the tooth came out while she brushed her teeth at bedtime.
As if on cue, E announced her tooth was loose the next day. Bottom left front tooth. E took a different approach than S ever took--she kept working the tooth, wanting it to come out so badly. She even carried a box to school one day, to put the tooth in, in case it happened at school. But it didn't, it came out eating soft tacos at dinner the next day.
I told the girls they were both quite old getting their first teeth--about ten months. They were also both very quick to lose their first tooth, 5 1/2. In fact E is the first one in her class. The girls conclusion: our mouths don't like those baby teeth! They sure do look cute with those gaps though.