weaving the rainbow

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 ;

10:35 AM

12 Apr
Sun

Easter Party

Our neighbour, N, threw an Easter party in the afternoon. We trooped over after lunch.

That's her and us.

One of her guests that we didn't know beforehand, but are now acquainted. He has a son and this adorable baby daughter. Couldn't resist taking a pic of her.

N loves throwing parties. She is a veteran and professional already. Everytime, I see a different mix of people, and always a different theme or set of activities.

I was introduced to another 3 new families. One of them is at the same school too, but the other 2 are not. It was good making new friends.

Dh likes this clip cos he says Jade calls ds2 so sweetly. Also shows you the bunnies the kids were playing with. N bought them from a local market. Each kid could bring one home.

My boys really loved the bunnies but I reminded them that it is a heavy responsibility. The bunnies will grow to be very big, and they need a lot of care. I gently told them they were not ready for that responsibility yet.

ds2 accepted it. ds1 started to promise all kinds of things, that he would definitely care for the rabbit on his own etc, but I told him we agreed to start with a pet fish when he turns 7. If the fish didn't die on him in a short time, then we can proceed to bigger animals when he is 8 and so on.

(Not that I think the fish are lesser pets. It's just that I won't feel so bad if a little fish died, than if we had a puppy and it died, you know what I mean?)

So the bunnies were all swiftly claimed by other kids, and we brought none home.

The little trampoline was a winner. It was used for jumping wildly on, then later on for lying/ sleeping/ putting presents/ sitting... haha.

This is when the kids are all feasting together. The age range is big too. Youngest was a baby. Oldest kid was at least 15? And oldest adult really old..

The kids on their Easter egg hunt. Amongst the kids who are mobile (i.e. excl the baby), ds2 is the youngest. Hence, he again lost out and couldn't find many goodies. He didn't cry though.

He was very upset only during the organised games when I felt he was running around aimlessly and could be a hazard, so I asked him not to play and stand beside me at the side. That's when he cried, haha. So I let him play, of course, but he was really just playing his own game in the midst of the larger group.

Kids this age are funny. They feel they belong, and feel more grown up when they are with a big group of older kids. Despite not really playing with them, they still want to be included and be physically together.

Sof's dad leading kids in playing Marco Polo. Do you notice ds2 being in the game but then not knowing who's the catcher and then running and playing his own thing, in his own world??

After Marco Polo, the kids played 老鹰抓小鸡 (eagle catching little chicks). The 2 oldest boys (French) were the Eagle and Mother Hen. The rest were the chicks. Then they rotated.

I also got to be the Eagle for a few rounds, haha.

After that, they played 1-2-3 Freeze: the one who reaches the Person calling out "1-2-3" wins. Not too fun, this one, especially since the person calling out is a kid and kept trying to punish all the rest by sending them back to the starting line. It didn't progress at all. haha.

So the last game was just free-for-all "Dump ice cubes into others' clothes".

Now, this game suited me very well. And the thing is, I wasn't the one who came up with it. The host did. Pity it is for the kids. And pity the rest of the adults are not my close friends. If they are, I'd have no qualms getting my hands on loads of ice and throwing them into the backs of all my friends, haha.

The kids had fun...

rainbows every day, do not worry for the morrow
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