Numbers do count!

Birthdays!

Kids birthdays was something I was thinking already in Finland before we moved here... How to make them special when we are out of our "comfort zone"? Nobody wants their kids to grow up thinking " yeah.. I had miserable birthdays when I was a child ".  So, even though there are no godparents, friends and family around, we  wanted to give Ines something fun and special ... All the waterparks and amusement parks are closed now for winter. So we had to think of something else..
- And I think all in all, we had a lovely day!

She got already on Friday her bicycle.. and she got to choose it herself.. this is what she chose:
Winx-bike with a Princess-helmut... She was soooo proud when she got it!

 And this morning.. when we went to sing for her with couple little presents she was not expecting.. she had forgotten she had a birthday! Her face looked like million diamonds, I can tell you that!

Then we videoskyped my mother in Finland and all sang together once more when she blew Her 3 Candles on Her Cake!  That was a great moment for both, Ines and my mother. Skype is Great!

you only turn 3 once.. who needs porridge! - you deserve cake for breakfast!

Then Oskar had prepared A Magical Show for us ;

..and after magic, we all gathered together and sang Ines's favorite little kids songs, finnish and swedish;

The we hooked up with Patriks mother, who is here on vacation and  drove up 7kms to the mountain, had a lovely lunch  and Ines got her second wish, to ride a donkey!  Palacio was a very nice donkey ..:)

so.. It doesn't have to be grand and great and huge, birthdays can be fun as Expats too! Little things makes sometimes a huge difference..

Now the sun has gone down ..

and we have a BIG DAY tomorrow again!  Kids Club stars in the morning and we got our bikes tuned and snack boxes ready! Yiuhaa! ...here we come Los Pacos, Fuengirola and new friends!

some things just come with a BANG!

Kings! Kings! Kings!

Now I understand The Magic! This parade we saw yesterday was amazing! Just WOW!

I have always thought the best parade I have ever seen and felt is the gaypride in Amsterdam. Million people on the streets watching boats float over canals, music and dance and fun.. I love that party and try to be there every year. Its all pink and magic. Everyone should experience that at least once. First weekend of August- Go to Amsterdam, you will not regret it. 

But what we saw yesterday was amazing as well. The parade took off at 5pm and the time we got home, at 9.30pm it was still going on.. and this was all for Children!!! I can only wonder what its like in Madrid and Barcelona, this is only a small town in Costa Del Sol. I hope they show something in the news today..

Since we newbies did not know what to expect we hurried, really hurried to be in time at 5 to see the show. I was thinking to find 3 kings walking on the streets for an hour or 2 and thats it. 

Oh boy, how wrong was I :)

This years theme was obviously DISNEY Movies.. and I try to show you here with my photos, what huge difference there is between daylight and no sun.  We thought this parade was awesome and amazing when we saw it at 5pm... but then when I saw it again at night-light.. it was just magic. 

All the photos unfortunately are not the best quality.. but I want to put them here anyway so you see what I mean..  

  It was a long wait at first...

  then we heard the drums...

           and saw whats going on.. 

                                                 

          This is the Kings Parade, Fuengirola, 5th Jan 2011

                    Umbrella is for candies

        this is one of the candy trucks that were parked on the street corners

       ....and the same again,  on nightlight;

Personally;  With the athmosphere, the joy, the laughter, the love that was in the air last night, I must say, this was one of the coolest parties I have ever been to.
I feel blessed I got to see this!