Picnic Party @ Dubai Creek Park

sunny. breezy. party. 3 reasons for us to be out at a park.

we were out to celebrate little izani and khalid’s 5th birthday at dubai creek park yesterday morning. birthday boys’ parents – elisa and taufik, along with ruby and walid joined forces to organize the fun outing; complete with bbq yummies, fun water-based games and lots of laugh.

it looks like summer is peeking out and we already starting to feel the heat. yes, it was a hot day – but windy. rasa macam kat malaysia je.

when we arrived, soft mats were already sprawling on the grass surrounding a shady tree. thanks so much for making the picnic party so cozy and comfy!

(photo credit : affandy m shaari)

dads gossip too you know!

love this shot! (photo credit : affandy m shaari)

food station

was handling cranky kazim while scooping food that i miss taking shots of the yummies. there were bbq-ed turkish hotdog that came all the way from german, potato salad and coleslaw. malay food bihun goreng ngan karipap tak dilupakan. and since one of the birthday boys’ mom is married to an egyptian, she made egyptian-style baked pasta called ‘macarona bil bechamel’.

my boys LOVE anything that’s remotely pasta-y so naturally they were ravishing this egyptian macarona dish. i want the recipe, ruby!

“no pork please”

* * *

my boys? roaming freely? out in the open? without boundaries? this is their utopia!

nuff said.

* * *

organizer-moms elisa and ruby should be commended for their ambitious plan of having water-based games which would include moms and dads as well! in the end, they managed to run 3 games – all for kids – just as it should be! haha.

first they had the balloon-stampede game. tie a balloon around your feet – and step on your opponents’ balloons while protecting yours! then they played passing-the-water-balloon game, where khaleef kept dropping his! dah 3rd time, he was bumped down to holding the bowl at the end of the line! hihi.

next, the game involved water pistol. the kids went nuts!

* * *

they’ve got this yummy moist choc cake for the kiddos, and a lemon cake for the moms and dads. hmm, i’m not much a lemon cake-fan, so i helped myself to slices of choc cake!

birthday boy izani (in blue t) with mom elisa at the back. birthday boy khalid (in white t) with mom ruby cutting the cake.

* * *

then came the most awaited moment –

again, i applaud elisa and ruby’s effort of having an extra fun thing for the kiddos to do – swinging pinata!

a piñata (a spanish word pronounced as ‘pinyada’) is a brightly-colored decoration made from either a clay container or cardboard shape covered with papier-mâché…a common tradition is to spin the batter before he or she tries to hit the piñata, making the person dizzy. piñatas are commonly full of candy and other treats. ~wikipedia

it was fun watching the kids ravaging the sweets, chocs and candies that popped out from the pinata!

* * *

with organizers aka birthday boys moms ruby (in black) and elisa (in white)

i’ve known elisa since the first time we met at indo restaurant sari nusa, but this was the first time i met ruby. funny and friendly, truly the life of a party, she makes everyone feel at ease with her warmth and easy-going ways. thanks for having us, elisa and ruby!

i love how family events like this pull people together. like i always said (or write) – strengthen existing bonds, and build new ones.

err, any other makan-makan that we should know about? *wink*