Miri's twelfth birthday party had her personality written all over it. She put her talents to the test by planning, organizing, and executing this "spa party"almost single handedly. Some of the highlights were:
1. the nail artist and her collection of nail polish
2. the homemade avocado face mask
3. the homemade honey and oatmeal scrub
4. the homemade lemon facial steam
Miriam was an absolutely delightful hostess, enthusiastic about the party and gracious to her guests. I've always thought she was born a teenager. With this party her true colors shone brightly.
I would describe Miri as independent and driven with a curiously intuitive creative streak. She does not get this creative streak from me. I shy away from any kind of party planning. I think we both knew that this party went above and beyond my abilities. She didn't let this discourage her and off she went, planning and preparing on her own.
Miriam made a budget to guide her expenses. She stuck to that budget and with a few tough decisions stayed within the budget by two dollars. Could this be the sign of a responsible teenager?
We had one
small glitch with the party planning. I wanted her to make a strawberry icecream cake and she wanted a cotton candy flavored ice cream cake. When she went to order the ice cream, she ordered strawberry to make me happy. The sales clerk misunderstood her and thought she said sherbet instead of strawberry, but we didn't figure that out until we got home with twenty dollars worth of sherbet ice cream. We were both really bummed. Miri of course regretted ordering strawberry on my account and I regretted pressuring her into getting a flavor that I like. Now we were in a bind because the budget had not allowed for this mistake, but she wasn't about to make a rainbow sherbet ice cream cake. Miri thought about it, adjusted a few expenses and was able to get the cotton candy icecream. Yeah! I learned two things: cotton candy ice cream cake is as yucky as it sounds and, who cares? It's not my birthday cake anyway.
On our second day in Bangkok, we went downtown and visited the Royal Palace and the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho). The weather and crowds were stifling. Afterwards we walked through the food markets and down to the Bangkok River (Chao Phraya) where we took a short boat tour. From the river, the view of the city was refreshing. We caught a quick glimpse of the Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). The river itself was rough with choppy waves and our driver was a bit reckless. This boat ride definitely added spice to our adventure. Some have said that Bangkok is the Venice of Asia. I would say that Bangkok is Venice with an uncanny twist (ie. reckless drivers, rough water 
and not much romance.) Maybe the lack of romance part had to do with me being six months pregnant and having my parents and six children along for the ride. :)
