The Birthday Party at the beach

Our family have not been to a picnic in such a long time. When we were kids, I remember our dad used to organise picnics a lot... at the beach, the island, by the river at our "kebun". It was great fun hanging out with the cousins, the aunties, uncles and grandmas. Mum would get up early in the morning to prepare the picnic food, and at times dad used to pack the barbeque set into the back of the landcruiser while the rest of us pack our change of clothes and towels. I miss those days.

For Mia's 1st birthday party, we decided to have it at the beach: Tg Aru 1st Beach on the morning of 27th November 2010. Here are just some of the pictures of the day.
This is my nephew Benjie's 1st time to a beach! He was so excited. I guess the air at the beach made him really thirsty and hungry. While waiting for the soft drinks to chill, he decided to grab some ice cubes to drink!

Aunt Allison also came with fried noodles and mixed vege which were really yummy. Thanks Allison!!! Unfortunately my camera went missing and I didn't manage to take pictures.... :(

My aunt Bertha and bro-in-law Nelson in action.That's my late dad's custom made bbq set. It has and continues to serve us well.

Ha, this is Abel, another nephew of mine. The naughty one. At first he was with his older brother on the beach offering his "special touch" to their sandcastle. Soon enough, the older brother carried him back to to the picnic area under the tree. Kesian, kena buang negeri. He then grabbed Mia's birthday gift... sandcastle building set and got started on digging sand and make his own sand sculpure.
Asked later what he was building, and he replied "Ultraman mati". Huh?! Oh yes, Ultraman is his idol.

The bigger kids divided into 2 groups for the sandcastle building competition. Total failure. They can't work in a team and were too busy arguing with each other to come up with anything acceptable. So no prizes were given for this competition.



While the kids were building (or shall I say, fighting over) the sandcastles, our birthday girl cuddle up on grandma (my mum) and have her nap.

My cousin's son came to join the picnic after work and showed the kids how to make a dragon sculpture.

We did have more exciting games for the kids later:



A cousin wanted to have a drinking competition, but I told him not this time. Maybe next year we'll do it!

Finally, Mia's cake:

I guess she's saying, "Noooooooooo! You spoilt my cake mummy! It's my cake. Let me do it myself!!!!"

More pictures and coverage here!