THE party...

So, today was the day for the highly anticipated (maybe mostly among the parents!) birthday party for the little Prince in Linnea's class. Prince Wakeel celebrated his 3rd birthday at one of the polo fields in Jerudong Park. It was huge! Like a small town country fair!

There were tents full of games for the kids to do, everything in racing theme, the Prince is really into Lightning McQueen (from the movie 'Cars') at the moment, so everything had to do with racing.
Lucas liked the racing car simulator/playstation, and Linnea got her face painted and tried some of the other games.

The whole field and the stands were decorated with an abundance of balloons, it was a real party feeling over the whole area. Balloons, balloons, balloons everywhere!

There were lots of clowns and people on stilts, Teletubbies, Mickey Mouse and other characters walking around amusing the kids, taking photos with them and making them balloon animals. There were also a bunch of different kind of bouncy castles, some "normal" and some with water. Also, there was pony riding, to Linnea's big joy!

Finally, there was of course food... so much food! There was such a choice - all sorts of different things from mini pizzas, pastas, shawarmas to noodles, satay and local specialities etc. Mr Softy was there to supply soft ice, and there was a whole tent full of desserts - with a popcorn stand, candy floss, chocolate fountain and everything!

The kids had an absolute ball and it was hard to try to keep up with them, with everything they wanted to do and eat - all at the same time!

It seemed like a big part of the Royal family was there, although they mostly stayed upstairs in the airconditioned observation rooms. The Sultan himself was there, the Queen as well, and so was the Crown Prince and his family.
The Sultan went out and played a bit of polo on a field next to where we were, which was really fun to watch. I've never been to a polo match, so it was interesting, even if it was just a few of them, as practise.

The Sultan also took a big stroll around the whole party area together with his wife, and the Prince. He took his time, got introduced to most of us by his wife, shook hands to the left and right and posed for pictures.
He seemed to be genuinely happy to meet some of his son's little friends and their families and it was really nice to see. Unfortunately I missed the Kodak moment when he talked to Nathan, because I was busy getting Lucas some soft ice... bummer.

The Prince got to cut the biggest cake we all had ever seen, and the air filled with confetti when we had sung 'Happy Birthday'. All the kids were in awe of the cake, and spend ages admiring it! After the cake, there was a performance on the stage by a very funny guy who did a little magic and other things to entertain the kids. They got to interact and get up on stage, and all got tons of presents/gifts/prizes.

After four funfilled hours, the party was over and we took two very, very tired children home. They were so tired, they didn't even have the energy to look in their party bags when we got home, bless them...

What an afternoon! What an experience! Fantastic!
(Pictures will follow in another post.)