Our options were very limited for birthday fun, so we decided the best we could was let Monkey-B make all the decisions for the day.
So Proud Of This Girl ๐
ย ย ย It seems it was just a few years ago Monkey-B could barely speak Cambodian, and now she's fluent in English, and even knows her way around a smartphone. In the above photo she is sending a thanks for the birthday wishes to her Grandma in the USA.
A Halva For Monkey ๐ฅ
ย ย ย In Cambodia, we would've made a cashew cake for this occasion, but in Suriname just finding produce of any kind is a major success. I had a bag of carrots, and that's about it, so I decided to make carrot halva for the birthday girl. It's basically just cooked carrots with cardamom, coconut milk, coconut oil, and palm sugar.
The Big 8 ๐ฑ
ย ย ย On this special day I told Monkey-B I am sorry for the situation we have faced for the last few years, but I'd do my best to make her birthday a blessed one. I told her I would pretty much say yes to anything within reason, so all she had to do was call the shots. When to eat, what to eat, to play or not play, watch a movie, I just spent the day saying "yes" to everything. There is no gift more precious than time.
๐ฅ Un-Candles For An Un-Cake ๐
ย ย ย You all probably know by now that I'm just a silly goose that likes to think on his toes. Well, no candles, no cake, no problem. Just jam 8 matches into a tofu fritter, turn sideways, ignite, and tell Monkey-B to blow them out quickly before they die on their own. It actually worked, much to my surprise, and I think we were all kind of mystified by how well it went.
ย ย ย So many conspiracies abound these days, but I'm seriously beginning to believe the birthday candle industry has pulled the wool over our eyes for far too long. No longer will I support the international birthday candle mafia and their hot wax, because blowing out the matches is now a family tradition from here on out.
ย ย ย Okay, it was a little anti-climactic, there's no definitely no time for the happy birthday song with matches for candles, and you've only got three seconds to blow them out before the universe does it for you. The irony of the whole situation seems rested in Monkey-B's eyes.
๐ฆ Jumping Into 8 Feels Great
ย ย ย She chose to wear her favorite dress on this day, and she was extra cute jumping for the joy of having her family at her beck and call for a whole day. One of the first questions I was asked of which I had to say yes to was "Dad, can I fart here?" You can imagine how the rest of the day went....
ย ย ย Pov practiced her couch-based dance moves while Monkey-B played Connect-4 with Srey-Yuu. We watched some movies, a friend came by, but otherwise I just said yes to everything Monkey-B proposed. The greatest gift of all is that we'll be a united family in Cambodia for 2022.
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