Cruz's 3rd Birthday Party

On May 26 our little boy turned 3 years old!  We had his party that afternoon at our house in Camotan, Guatemala.  We invited our neighbors, a few kids from town that we know, and his classmates.  It was a fun afternoon!

The birthday boy

His cute birthday shirt

Our family on Cruz's 3rd birthday.

Daddy and the boys

daddy, mama, and the birthday boy

I stared asking him months in advance what kind of party he wanted.  He insisted from the start that he wanted a farm party.  He also wanted a lot of red (his favorite color).  There is not a lot of farm themed decorations here but I did find a few things at a party supply store in Guatemala City.  That made me happy.

When it came to his pinata (a birthday staple here) he wanted a red barn.  I tried to convince him to get an animal like a horse, cow, or pig but he would not hear of it.  His mind was set on a red barn.  The only problem is no pinata store had one.  I asked the store in neighboring Jocotan if they could make one.  The lady told me, "We can make anything.  Just bring us a picture and give us a week."  So I went home, did a google search, found a good picture of one, and took it to her.  She looked at it and asked "WHAT'S THIS?".  Her face told me that she had no idea what I was asking for.  I spent several minutes explaining what a barn was and told her to just do her best.  My main request was that it was red. 

Two weeks later (thank goodness I planned early) I picked up his red barn pinata.  It was HUGE.  We joked that it looked more like a playhouse than a pinata. ha ha  Both boys could have fit inside of it.  Cruz thought it was the coolest thing ever!

David filling the pinata

I had a craft station for the kids to make masks.  The girls made ducks and the boys made cows.

We got everything set up and decorated and less than ten minutes before party time it started to rain.  It pretty much rained the rest of the day and into the night.  Made.me.sad!

When the kids arrived they made their masks.

quack, moo, quack

Normally you would do the pinata first but we put it off in hopes that the rain would lighten up.  We decided to go ahead and eat instead.

Cruz's farm cake.  I took the bakery one of his napkins and they scanned it and put it on the cake.  The barn looked more pink than red to me, but it turned out okay. The cake had a layer of chocolate and a layer of vanilla with a cream filling in between.

Cruz and his cake.  He loved it!

Singing "happy birthday" to the birthday boy

blowing out his candle

We also served a tostada with black beans and Parmesan cheese on it.  We had red strawberry kool-aid to drink.

David, Mrs. Ann, and my mom- my wonderful kitchen help.  They worked hard and I was glad they were there to help me! 

Cruz with two of his classmates from school

The kids enjoyed the rain and had a blast playing in it.

Most of the kids with their animal masks

We played "pin the chicken on the barn" (similar to pin the tail on the donkey). 

pinata time!  everyone's favorite

Cruz, Gabriel, David, and Ben

Candy!!!

opening gifts

A group photo from his party

In spite of all the planning and hard work to pull it off, it was a fun party.  Cruz had a blast and that is really all that matters.  When I tucked him in bed that night we talked about all he had experienced for his birthday. I asked him what his favorite thing was about his birthday and he said "all my friends".  How sweet!  That you God for friends and getting to celebrate with them.  We are blessed!