Wallace's Wonderful Adventure: Todd's Birthday Celebration

We left our hotel in Tianjin at 8:00 a.m. We didn't have anything we needed to do so we all just wanted to get back to TEDA. For the rest of the day I did laundry and packed for Singapore. Todd packed for Harbin and Singapore, went to the store, and ran some other errands. Cameron played with the boys all day. They were outside for awhile, in our apartment, back outside, and finally back in our apartment until I kicked them out at 4:30. I needed to give Cameron and Todd hair cuts before we went down to Carrasco's for dinner.

Ileana asked me what she could get Todd for his birthday. I said nothing. But she knew Todd wanted spring rolls or enchiladas so she said she would have us for dinner. She sent me a message asking which one Todd wanted. When I asked Todd his response was both "Both". Then he said he wanted a sampling of all of her best dishes. He went on to say maybe we should eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at their place. I sent her a text with all the information Todd said but then said he just wanted spring rolls. Around 12:00 Ileana came up with her cute little apron on. She looked just like the Chinese ladies (they wear them all the time, everywhere). She brought Todd spring rolls for his appetizer. She also brought him a little keg of beer. He was pretty excited. He immediately started in on the spring rolls. He said they were delicious.

Todd enjoying his spring rolls.

At 6:00 we went down for dinner. Ileana made her special rice with ingredients from Mexico, potatoes, and enchiladas. It was all delicious. Todd, again, was a happy boy. I made a Boston Cream Pie for dessert. I was really worried about it because it didn't cook right in the oven. Then I had to cut it in half to put the pudding in and I didn't do such a good job cutting it. The pudding was from the little individual tubs because that is all they have in China. I made it on Friday thinking I would take it to Tianjin but that was too much trouble. So I left it in the refrigerator until Sunday. Frosted it today. It smelled good but I was still worried.

We sang to Todd in English and Spanish. Then I cut the cake. It looked alright, smelled alright, and everyone said it tasted alright. Another great night with great friends. A HUGE thank you to the Carrasco's for helping us celebrate Todd's birthday, for all the great food, and for being great people.