Summer Birthdays Celebration

I am now back home in Minnesota and trying to readjust to this time zone, weather, and American way of life!  The adjustment is taking longer than I'd expected/hoped, but one step at a time is the key.  I'm missing the CSC kids terribly, and desperately wish that I could just bop over and hang out with them for a few minutes.  It's too bad that it's half a world away... :(  I'm already anxiously awaiting the day that I can see them again!

As promised, I still have a few more blogs to share!  There were lots of really fun memories my last month at CSC, and I wanted to treasure them all and spend as much time with the kids as I could, so I didn't have a chance to blog it all while I was there.  I finally have downloaded the rest of my pictures now and settled in a bit, so I'm ready to write agian.  There are several more blogs in the works that I hope to share in the next couple weeks!

Right now, let me share about our little summer birthdays extravaganza! 

Since I didn't stay in Cebu for a full calendar year, there are a few kids' birthdays that I am missing....and that's kind of a big deal to them since their birthday is a big deal at CSC!  So...we had a summer birthdays outing - including Jocelyn, Janice, Angelica, Jeffrey, Sheena, Charryto, and Uncle Mitch, since his was the only staff birthday I would be missing this year also.  They were SOOO excited for their special birthday outing, and were all-smiles when we picked them up!

Jeffrey, Janice, and Charryto (students in my class) had anxiously awaited the outing for a good two months - from the point they knew I was leaving earlier than expected to go home and would miss their birthdays.  I promised them at that point that I would take them out before I left.  So even in March, they were asking and pleading for when their outing would be!  The other three were surprised with the idea that day, as I realized it really was only three extra kids outside my class whose birthdays I would be missing - a manageable amount, so they were added to the party.  They were THRILLED about the idea!!!

Excited birthday kiddos!

Macho girls :)  They were a little giddy!

We headed out to McDonald's and they all got their choice of meals.  At McD's in Cebu, you can of course get burgers and chicken fingers, but you can also get chicken, spaghetti, and rice.  The kids love the chicken and spaghetti duo!! 

I'm still not sure how two of the smaller kids got the big, comfy chairs!

We even let Andrew come to enjoy the party!

We enjoyed our time together, chatting, giggling, and dancing to the crazy music.  Then we of course had to have dessert, so we enjoyed our DELICIOUS sundaes and blizzards.  Everyone got to pick their favorite!

A few pictures with Ronald finished off the evening, and judging by the smiles on their faces, I think all was forgiven that I would be missing their birthdays... ;)

Me with all the birthday kids - even the big kid!

Full and happy!