Sophia's 5th: the cake

I got a nearby bakery to make this cake. Like I said, I was party planner, not doer. I organized, invited, and paid (not too expensive for it all either). Our house packed with boxes and our suitcases getting packed for our next day Thailand trip, I did not feel at all guilty for hiring out this birthday party and cake!

 Sophia and friends oohed and aahhed over the cake. I thought the lady did a really good job.

 Here is the crew, minus one. Bella, xiao Yuanzi, Melissa, ChengCheng, Sophia, Anna, PangKe, YangJingRui, SiQing, SiYu, and ZhouXiuJian came later.

 I asked Sophia who to give the first piece to and she said YangJingRui, the girl's face lit up. I have a feeling that though an only child, she is not treated very special at home. All the kids and parents loved the cake. I thought it had typical local bakery flavor, but a little better. It was all gone at the end!

Sophia's 5th: other stations

Half the crew then moved to rolling rice in seaweed and decorating the rice with jelly like stuff, making eyes, nose, mouth, etc. They loved this too.

 And then was the hair stylist, jewelry center.  A little girls dream.

 This is YangJingRui, previously known as 'the mean girl'. When Sophia first came home telling me about her, a year ago, I was a little sad. Day three of calling her 'the mean girl', I told Sophia that she has a real name and we need to use it. I also told her that we should start praying for them to become friends. Sophia would get so excited when YangJingRui would play with her and a little sad when she would not (and often tell others not to play with Sophia either). Finally I just stopped hearing about it, and stopped asking. They were friends, but not best buds. And then the more I saw YJR, the more my heart went out to her. I never, ever met one of her parents, I only ever saw her grandpa, and he often reeked of alcohol.  When I asked Sophia which girls she wanted to invite to her party, YJR was one of the first names she mentioned.

 The little mannequin all ready.
 Next was post office time: Each kid got a post office bag, like real postmen wear, and a package that needed to be delivered to a nearby shop and signed for. I thought this very clever.

Meanwhile, those who did not get to be nurses earlier, participated now, and loved it.

 They got this lady to sign for her package. She was shop owner nearby.

Next was craft time, glitter, glue, what's not to love?

 Finished products.

Sophia's 5th: nurses

After cooking, the kids became nurses and learned how to take care of babies. Because they only had six baby dolls they split the group up. A few friends had not yet arrived, some arrived an hour into it, and one right before it was over. Every one of these girls really got into this station, they loved giving the babies baths in real water, putting diapers on, learning to swaddle and then pretending to check temperature, give IVs, listen the heartbeat, etc. I wanted to participate too, it looked like so much fun.

I LOVED the small nurse outfits with cap. Adorable.

Can you guess who these friends are? 'The twins' as Sophia calls them. SiQing and SiYu, and no I do not know which is which.

The baby bath.

Bella wouldn't wear the cap, but she was involved in every other way. She loves doing this at home, so I knew she would here too.

Here Bella is giving her baby a shot.

Soph swaddles her baby.

This little girl is ChengCheng. I love her. She is adorable, a head shorter than Sophia, but with the same spunk. Sophia always comes home from school talking about playing with ChengCheng. She was doing a craft while with some others while waiting on the baby station.

Bella continues to take care of her baby, blood pressure, heart beat, all was assessed.

Here Sophia is really rocking her baby to sleep, singing a real song. she was SO into it.

Sophia's 5th: As Chefs

Chef's corner: the place had hats and aprons for all. Thankfully people came. Lots of people. All but one actually, and Sophia invited two more at the last minute, that made for 11 kids total, including Sophia and Bella, and one girl who came five minutes before the festivities ended.

Sophia is not crying in this picture, she is being dramatic about how much fun she is about to have.

 This lady was really good at instructing and getting the kids involved. She is teaching them how to make ManTou. I was quite surprised at how involved Bella got, she did not want to miss out on helping cook.

 When asked for a volunteer, Sophia jumped at the chance. Though everyone did get their turn.

 Tobin, my goodness. He sat here for two hours. Really. Please don't hate us. He was talked to a lot, entertained immensely, and everyone loved him. And there he sat. Not complaining.

I LOVE that Sophia and Bella too were loving this and enjoying friends as well.

Sophia's 5th: the party place

After nap/rest time we got ready to go:
Here are the Coker girls:

 We picked up one friend of Sophia's and then headed to the party place a little early. They were so excited.

She instantly fell in love with this hat, which she wore later at the appropriate time for the finale!

Here are the various stations that the kids got to participate in:

 

Being 'chefs', making mantou, a type of bread here.

 This place had a mini rice cooker and microwave.

Being nurses/doctors: baby dolls, that were life size and looked so real, awaited. I will detail the events later. This is just the set-up.

The dress-up station. With make up too.

The salon/hairdresser:

And there was also a 'post office' where they got to 'be postmen'. And a craft station. Crazy fun.