Alex's 8th Birthday

Alex had a great birthday celebration. His main requests for his birthday were crepes with nutella and bananas served in bed, dinner at Burger King, and ice cream. He also wanted to make a pinata. I found balloons, but we never could find any paper. They don't sell that kind of thing at the grocery store. We searched all over and found a papeleria (paper store), but it was never open. So instead Alex woke up to a bed full of balloons. Matt is the expert at crepe making and made Alex all the yummy crepes he wanted. Then Alex had free computer time for the day (or at least the morning, or we never would have gone out). He and Connor played Mad God on laptops side by side in their PJ's. He opened his birthday presents from Mom and Dad (he had already opened all the other presents that Matt brought from home the second Matt walked in the door from his flight). More legoes and a cute hat that he likes to make Cassy crazy with because he wears it cocked off to the side. Then the adventure began when we headed off to eat at Burger King. BK is in the main square of town (and the Semana Santa celebrations). There were HOARDES of people. Cassy and Matt were sure we could make our way through the crowds, through a procession and over to BK. Try as we might it wasn't going to happen so we snaked our way back out of the crowd and watched the procession go by hoping when it was over the crowd would break up. There was a beautiful float that went by and it had a statue of Jesus laying in the tomb (enclosed in a glass case). The crowd was hushed and everyone was quiet. Alex looked at me with big eyes and wanted to know if that was really Jesus they were carrying...

The crowd never broke up so we headed to another Burger King that I had seen by the bridge to Triana. So many people walking around it was crazy. But we made it and Alex was so happy to have his cheeseburger with just ketchup, patatas fritas, and orange Fanta. Matt felt like it was one of the best meals he had eaten since his arrival. Afterward we went in search of ice cream. Alex picked the spot and we went out on the street to sing happy birthday and blow out his birthday candle.

8 things I love about Alex....

1* Alex is always very generous and willing to share. He has even bought our whole family dinner at Little Caesar's with his own hard earned money.

2* He has lost two teeth while we have been living in Spain and likes to show off his Jack O'Lantern smile.

3* Alex likes to read. Some of his favorite books are: Harry Potter, Horrible Harry and Junie B Jones.

4* He still likes to snuggle.

5* He can't wait to be baptized.

6* Alex is so creative. He likes to make lots of different lego creations with Connor. They usually build up the project according to the instructions and then they tear it down to make their own thing(s).

7* He has some serious dance moves, especially if he thinks nobody is watching.

8* Alex would live in his PJ's if he could.