Party party!

Penny went to another birthday party today for one of her Brazilian classmates. This one was a bit tamer than some that we've gone to.
There were buses to take the kids directly from school to the party center, but it was just the kids that were invited, not the whole families.
This party was from after school until six-thirty, rather than starting at eight-thirty and going well into the night. (We left one party at almost eleven, and they hadn't even sung happy birthday yet!)
This party was at a party center where there were ball pits, slides, climbing playgrounds, and some carnival rides, but no one was using the carnival rides from what I could tell.
This party had cotton candy, french fries, and birthday cake, but the endless drinks were all water and the pizza, hot dogs, sandwiches, and piles and piles of brigadeiros were notably missing.
There were party favors with candy and modeling clay, but thankfully it wasn't a big old present bigger than what we had gotten the birthday child!
There was no photographer, and the parents were wearing rather casual clothes, meaning that I wasn't hopelessly under-dressed like I usually am in Brazil.
Penny had a blast, and I just went for a few minutes at the end to pick her up and chat for a while with the parents-- one Brazilian and one American. So it makes sense this party was only half-Brazilian.

On the way home, Penny asked if she could have her party at Mega-mundo, like this one. I told her, "No, we'll probably have your party at our house like we always do. But we can decorate with a bunch of balloons!"
"Okay!" She thought for a minute. "Your cakes are always just like brownies and stuff. I don't want to have that. Maybe we could have... cupcakes!"
Now it was my turn. "Okay!"
So Penny's party will be at our house with balloons and cupcakes. Penny will love it. Her friends will love it. And I hope their parents think it is cute, multicultural, or quaint-- not just cheap.