Tanjoubi Omedetou, Maddox!

A cake from Jimmy's, a local chain bakery and convenience store at OIST

She's eight! Ain't it great?

I knew that Maddox's birthday would sneak up on us while we were still settling in here in Okinawa. She received a few gifts from family before we left, but the main celebration is always on THE day. Her birthday falls right at the beginning of school , and I knew she would be thinking of her friends. I did not want her birthday in Japan to be THE LAMEST EVER, but I also knew we could not make the celebration in the same way we usually do. Also, I had no presents .  

Her birthday started with lots of love pouring in from the US where it was still August 25th. She woke up to a FaceTime call from one of her good friends, and then talked with Grandma Maggie and Poppy. There were emails and text messages and wall posts on Facebook for me to read to her. And her music teacher from home, who is also the mother of one of Maddox's friends, recorded a video of Maddox's Lower El class singing "Happy Birthday" on their first day of school. I opened that email, and my heart just burst for Maddox. Bittersweet for sure, but I think she mostly felt the sweet.

So after the virtual greetings died down, we set off on a day of fun. We started with a chocolate chip muffin at the cafe at OIST where we met John. Then, armed with my GPS, we made a plan to find Toys R Us . Picking out your own birthday presents is extra fun! It took us about 45 minutes to get to the store in Naha, and she quickly selected a small LEGO Friends kit and a Calico Critters family. 

Yes, Frozen seems to be as popular here as in the US

Then we were off to Dulce Nail Salon for our first experience with a pedicure here.  Maddox has never been to a nail salon so this was a special treat. The nail salons offer pages and pages of designs to choose from, and many include sparkles, stickers, or gems glued to the nail.  Maddox chose a cupcake for her big toes (perfect for a birthday) and I chose something indescribable.  Maddox laughed her way through the actual pedicure part (ticklish), but loved her nails.  She was even a good sport when she realized she had smudged a cupcake by the end of the day.

The board with selections for kids. I was handed two three-ring notebooks from which to choose my design.

Trying not to giggle or move

The finished product!

Then, in lieu of lunch, Maddox chose to head back South to Naha to find Junku Do books which is a huge, U.S.-sized, bookstore.  Most of the books were in Japanese, but they had an excellent selection of English language books for a reasonable price.  We spent time browsing, selected some items for homeschool projects, and bought The Witches by Roald Dahl, and Pippi Longstocking.  She is mostly reading on her iPad here, but she misses real books.  We both agree that the library will be one of our first stops when we get to Albuquerque.

After dinner, we celebrated with a cake. Zoe helped place the candles on the cake.  She planned ahead of time which ones she was going to lick.  Nothing like a helpful little sister on your birthday.

Singing Happy Birthday, and a decent view of our functional kitchen.

And then it was time to make a wish. Maddox thought for a while; we had to hurry up her wish-making as the candles were burning down. I do not know what she wished for, but it certainly looks like she took it seriously. 

I don't know what she will remember of her 8th birthday.  Maybe nothing.  Maybe it will all be a blur, swirled with all of the other memories of a short stint in Japan.  But I hope she remembers this: that no matter where she is or where we are, she is surrounded by love; that regardless of distance, she is at the center of our hearts.