FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A MATEO!

This past week on October 13th we celebrated Matt's 8th birthday!  Monica made him a special surprise breakfast - pancakes with vanilla frosting, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce.  What a way to start the morning!  Later that day, Greg and I arrived at Matt's 2nd grade classroom with rice crispy treats and homemade lemonade, and we all sang a traditional Panamanian "Happy Birthday" song in Spanish.  Rice crispy cereal is basically unheard of here in Panama, and I had to go to 5 different grocery stores before I was able to find it, at $7 a box.  Wow!  Needless to say, it was fun to bring rice crispy treats to school, since neither the teachers nor most of the students had ever seen or heard of them.  They were a big hit, and it was fun to share one of Matt's special treats with his Panamanian classmates.  Matt's all-time favorite dessert is key lime pie, so after dinner we lit candles again and sang "Happy Birthday" for the 3rd time that day.  Unfortunately, I royally overcooked the key lime pie, and we all agreed that Matt deserved a "do over". Two days later, I made a second key lime pie, and with candles and all, we sang "Happy Birthday" for the fourth time.  Lucky Matt felt very celebrated!

Monica and Greg make homemade limonada for Matt's 8th birthday.

Nothing better than playing with legos and eating pancakes with vanilla frosting, whipped cream, and chocolate sauce on your birthday!  Feliz Cumpleaños Mateo!

Matt can't wait to eat his key lime pie, a favorite birthday tradition!