cloud on over, skies…i don't care. the triplets beach birthday party is over and the skies stayed true and blue for it.

for the past week the hong kong weather conservatory was predicting showers and force 4 & 5 winds for saturday due to the monsoon coming down from guandong.

this did not suit team caldwell at all…after all…saturday was the triplets 5th birthday party! we had planned to hold it at the beach and we needed sunshine! i told the triplets that i needed them to pray about the weather, and they took that task on willingly, as well as praying that their sick friend grant would get better and be able to attend the party. (left: the beach as seen from the bbq pit.)

the cake was a carefully thought out phenom. it had to be a theme all the kids liked, and we wanted it to tie into the beach party theme. so we all agreed on a beach party cake. excellent. i then decided that the beach party would be best, IF we included water. thus the hunt for blue water (jello) began. needless to say, in canada this would be easy, in hk it wasn't as easy, but thanks  to gail…we pulled it off and installed a pool into our beach scene.

i'll leave the rest of the cake descriptions to the pictures…but it was as tasty as it was clever. charles pulled off another winner indeed.

the party was held at south bay beach and we had a bbq – hotdogs, chippies, veggie platters, cheese platters, modest amounts of alcohol, wine, coffee and tea. and marshmallows roasted over the fire.

it was a great time. the weather wasn't perfect, but the kids did not care. most ventured into the water, there were sandcastles going, and playing. so much playing. every once and a while a windstorm would swirl up, which was annoying, but it would pass in 30 seconds.

at the end of the party, our 122 neighbours offered to carry presents, extra food and drink and other miscellaneous items back to the flat. i just love our neighbours. they are so considerate. i was swamped with kiddies demanding party bags (are match attax huge in north america right now?) so i didn't thank them properly. (left: the triplets during birthday cake time; that's grant buddying up to jasper.)

at around hot dog time, ursula and colleen and their kids arrived, and so we stayed around for a couple more hours. we left the party site at around 3:30pm (party ended around 1:00pm but many stayed later.) God gave us the good weather we had prayed for and then more. we were blessed. as we were leaving south bay, the skies started clouding over.

the kids are currently washing their old lego ~ why? no idea ~ in the bathtub and about to head to rugby. they have a room full of wrapped presents, and only asked once if they could open them. but not right now…charles is too exhausted to fully enjoy it and i just need some quiet.

i don't have to plan another party until NOVEMBER!!!!