Gabriel Turns 3 Years Old in Vietnam

Eight days before Gabriel’s sister was born, my husband and I managed to pull off a backyard birthday party for him at our rented house in Saigon. Our house has a great yard next to the river, and I’d been wanting to have a BBQ or party back there since we moved in last June.

My dad had the experience of having twins (brother and sister) born exactly ON his second birthday, and he still remembers not having a cake and wondering where his mom was on his birthday. Hearing his story so many times growing up, I really wanted to make sure Gabriel had a special event before the baby arrived. This was the first year he understood what “birthday” and “party” meant, so it was pretty fun to tell him about the party and to make cupcakes together for his friends.

I hired Lollipop Face Painting & Entertainment to do face painting and make balloon animals for the first hour of the party. I also rented chairs and tables from them, and they set up some cool balloon decorations in the yard. The kids loved it; I would definitely recommend them for any kids party.

Gabriel was a bit apprehensive about getting any face painting done, but then when other kids started getting Superman motifs he was next in line. First he got one on his arm, then he got a Batman on his other arm, and finally he went for the forehead. I was afraid he’d want to sleep with it on, but thankfully he thought it was fun to rub it off in the tub.

We set up wine, beer, and juice outside. For the food, we got salad, pasta, and appetizers from Au Parc Catering and some pizzas from Al Fresco’s. It was the second time I’d used Au Parc and I was really happy with the food and service. Of course, I LOVE the hummus, breadsticks and feta cheese dip, so I ordered a lot and we did have some leftovers to snack on the next day.

Another favorite dish from Au Parc is the pasta with pesto, chicken and sun dried tomatoes. I ordered the same thing for my 30th birthday party last year, and I’d been craving it ever since! From Al Fresco’s we just ordered online using Vietnammm.

We set up our slide, a tunnel, and some toys in the yard which kept the kids busy when they weren’t getting balloon animals made or having their faces painted. Duarte and I were quite busy during the party, but it was really fun! Gabriel talked about “my party, my friends” for an entire week afterward. And then…the baby arrived! They are 3 years and 17 days apart in age.