On December 8th Grace had her first birthday party at McDonalds. We were thr first to arrive so Grace and her friend from the neighborhood (above) hung out and played with their baloons while we waited for the other 3 children and 11 adults to arrive... wah! It was something else.
Gracie seemed a little grumpy when we first arrived and I was worried she might not enjoy her own party, but A-Yi (her nanny) soon arrived and she turned on the smile. I had planned to let Gracie eat cake and icecream but she endulged on hamburger buns all night and wasn't the least bit interested in the sweets. I guess that was a pretty good trade off.
We bought two cakes because we figured she would have her way with one of them... and she did. Below is the fancy shmancey one. It was the best cake I have ever eaten.... just below that you can see Grace checking out the minature we bought her to destroy.
Gracie seemed a little grumpy when we first arrived and I was worried she might not enjoy her own party, but A-Yi (her nanny) soon arrived and she turned on the smile. I had planned to let Gracie eat cake and icecream but she endulged on hamburger buns all night and wasn't the least bit interested in the sweets. I guess that was a pretty good trade off.
We bought two cakes because we figured she would have her way with one of them... and she did. Below is the fancy shmancey one. It was the best cake I have ever eaten.... just below that you can see Grace checking out the minature we bought her to destroy.
She loved digging into the foamy icing, but to our surprise she didn't taste it... instead she decided to share it with her favorite person - Fan A-Yi. It was really cute watching her feed several handfuls of mushy cake to our nanny before giving up to open presents.
So we partied hard, everyone got their fill of cheeseburgers and french fries , Gracie got a load of toys and other dong-xi, and at the end of the night we left a huge mess. You can see that for yourself down below. I learned something new that night. Although the Chinese have many customs about gift giving and seem to give gifts all the time, they were surprised that the children at the party received a gift bag. I had fun buying little things like a tin piggy bank, little markers and notepad, candy, and a small game. My friend Stephanie said this was the first birthday party she had ever been to that she took home more than she brought. Her daughter now comes regularly to play with Grace... maybe the small gifts did the trick???
Leaving we were met with torrential rains and no taxi. I got drenched standing next to the road trying to flag one down while everyone else stayed in the foyer of the department store where Mickey D's is located. It was a pretty fitting end to a whirlwind of a night. I cannot believe my baby is finally a toddler. WOW! I love that Gracie!
