5.25.2008

Sweden 7a

So, Mikah turned two years old yesterday, and so following are a few shots of the party. You'll also find a few shots (and if I can manage it from Sweden on a strange computer) a video or two and some anthropological stuff.

Here is just one batch of Tina's Cookie Monster-themed cup cakes. Missing still is the mini-cookie that would come a few minutes later, stuck in the mouth.
This is Mikah and his Cookie Monster piñata. Mikah's the one on your left.
This is Cookie Montster pre-hanging, and the Swedish kids most likely have no clue, at this point yet, what violence awaits the poor Sesame Street character. Mikah, being the half-Mexican American kid that he is, having already taken part in the splitting apart of at least two other piñatas in his short life knows what's coming. You can see the confidence in his eyes. Actually, when it was his turn to take a whack at the piñata, he swung once, realized everyone was looking, and like the ostrich, tried burying his head in the ground, literally. But the ground here in Sweden is a bit too hard for him to actually succeed.
Post-Piñata: This is Mikah trying to unwrap a piece of Swedish candy, a peppermint-covered chocolate goody (and the kid's a quick study; godis is the word here for candy, and he's got that down pat). And as a side note, once they realized the desired outcome for the piñata, the Swedish kids took to the act swiftly and energetically. Candies galore. Oh, and though I'm not putting up any pics of this, just before this the kids also experienced another Mexican American and Mexican custom: the cascaron, the decorated egg shell filled with confetti, hidden in a yard, searched after, and when found, meant to be cracked over an unsuspecting and usually unwilling older person in the crowd, usually a parent or grandparent. You can see the remnants of the egg shells and the confetti at Mikah's feet.
The kids couldn't quite bust the Monster up good. Instead, they focused their attention on the jugular. The result was a beheading of Cookie Monster. Seriously, nobody cried, though I thought it was a miserable way to go.
Didn't I tell you Tina outdid herself again with the cake! On second-go-round the multilayered cookie cake decorated ala Cookie Monster holds up. I can't wait for thirds tonight. With some of the world's best coffee.
And though he didn't get super dirty eating up his piece of the cake or the cup cake, Mikah still enjoyed himself. Like a great many others in his family, Neely and Saldaña both, the kid goes straight for the frosting, leaving the rest for the ants, if any exist (which they hardly do here in this cooler climate).
Here's Mikah again. C'mon, it was his birthday--why shouldn't he get all the attention! Plus this is such a cute shot of him.
This is Mikah and Tina. I'm telling you, the kid gets his looks directly from her, not me. Well, except that his hair is brown and so are his eyes, while Tina is blonde and has blue eyes. Otherwise, they're both lookers.
And lastly, this is Mikah relaxing a bit after such a long long long day celebrating his second birthday. In truth, once he caught his second with, and with so many kids still around a few hours into the party, he kept going. As for me, I was dead beat.

2 comments:

KCC said...

hawaii's great! you gotta go to facebook.com and folow instructions there then you will find friends from college, high school, grade school, relatives, church friends, colleagues from across the years and miles--and your blog count will go up because you will link them to your blog. ;) daniel didn't want to join facebook because he said it is for sissies. now (he joined 6 weeks ago) he realizes that he has increased his audience 100-fold & so he can be sillier than ever with even more folks knowing of his antics & laughing at him. p.s. a guy at our church has the last name "bjornen" & i'm pretty sure he is of swedish decent even traveling over there often. i'll tell him to look you up.

Russell Raymer said...

Yay, cascarones!!!! ¡Viva la Raza! ¿Pero porque no mordio el pastel?
Feliz cumple años, Mikah
Abrazos
Russell, Debbie & Carena

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