Birthdays in the Bush

Our daughter is turning 11 on Monday and we are preparing for her birthday, which will be held at our house tomorrow. As I am getting ready, I am thinking of all the differences between a "typical" birthday party and what we do here. First of all, there is nowhere to go to have the party. That leaves our house as the destination every birthday. This is nice because we aren't running around in traffic, trying to host the party somewhere. But this stinks because that means we are stuck cleaning all night after the party ends. LOTS of dishes... And did I ever mention that we don't have a dishwasher here? That means all those dishes get washed by hand. Another great thing about birthdays here is everyone brings food to share. We aren't doing all the cooking ourselves. We make the main dish and everyone shows up with a side. It doesn't always translate to a great combination but the food always gets eaten. Sometimes you might have 3 or 4 carb options, which is totally fine by me! I like how laid back the birthdays are here. It seemed like I was always stressed out getting ready for one of the kids' birthday but now I sit back and enjoy them with everyone else. I will post some pictures in the next few days to show our lovely birthday party for our precious daughter!