Feliz cumpleaños🥳! Our birthdays around the globe

We have now been traveling for almost 2 years!!! With this type of lifestyle, we have to adjust in many ways, including the way we celebrate our birthdays! Instead of parties with friends and many gifts, we now celebrate our birthdays with smaller gifts (like something we need, like a new pajama or running shoes) and fun, surprise experiences! Here are some of my favorite birthdays “on the road”:

My 11th birthday (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico): we went ziplining and took a boat to a jungle area. We got hooked up, and went zip lining over rivers and the jungle. There were 13 zip lines and when we finished, we went back down to have some food (boy were we hungry!). They had excellent food, and when we finished, I had a surprise birthday cake. Actually the whole day was a surprise my mom planned, I didn’t know what we were doing until we got there and I didn’t know about the cake either! It was a Tres Leches cake (the picture above) that is made with evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whole milk or heavy cream. It is a really moist cake but very filling! It was a really fun (and tiring) day!

Me (smiling even though you can’t see it : ^) ) with an adorable Marmoset Monkey on my shoulder! So cute!

Kaio’s 12th birthday (Bali, Indonesia): He was extra lucky and got 2 fun activities! As we were in Dubai a couple of weeks before his birthday, we went to a sand dune area to celebrate! A car picked us up and drove us to the desert. We were driven around the sand dunes with a car (lots of bumps: ^) ). Once we got back, we fed and then rode camels for about 15 minutes. Before dinner then had time to do some fun activities. I got some temporary henna tattoos that dry to become cool orange swirls on your hand (so pretty!). It neared dark and we sat inside some comfy chairs to eat dinner. After dinner, there was a show of several different acts; dancing, fire breathing, etc. The funny part: my mom had arranged a special surprise for Kaio. In between the dancing and fire breathing act, there was an announcement that it was Kaio’s birthday: ^). He then got a lesson on how to dance, on stage! He came back and sat down wishing that he could have had a lesson on fire breathing instead: ^). Overall, it was a great experience. On the day of his birthday, we did a bike ride in Bali, going through the rice paddies and local villages. We ended at a waterfall and finished up with a late traditional lunch and a surprise cake! If you want to learn more about his birthday gifts, click here (Kaio’s desert Safari adventure) and here (Kaio’s biking tour around Bali).

Madeline’s 5th birthday (Waiheke Island, New Zealand): we were staying at a gorgeous island with nice shallow water and very pretty sunsets. For Madeline’s birthday, me, my brother, and my dad went to the movie theater to watch the new Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (a really good movie, as my brother and I, are really into Star Wars) while my Mom and Madeline went to the beach. We had a great day!

My Mom’s 44th birthday (Colorado, USA): We were in the US and took our RV to a remote lake. We parked our RV on the side of the lake and set up camp (making sure our RV is level and not tilted, and brought out some chairs to enjoy the view). There was a small fire pit where we had stopped but unfortunately, not many trees. We had to “hunt” for sticks that would get to fire going (there weren’t many as the “trees” in the area were just shrubs and bushes). Then, a really nice man from the RV nearby drove down with a pickup truck. He hopped out and asked if we wanted wood for the fire. We said yes and he pulled out tons of long wooden planks from the back of his truck! He said that we could have them and we took them, said thank you, and he drove off (with a lighter load)! With all that wood, we had plenty to have a roaring fire! My dad made a delicious BBQ and we had s’mores (Mmm, so good!). We went to sleep with happy (and very full) bellies and dreamt of s’mores and barbeques.

My 10th birthday (Sydney, Australia): my Mom promised a surprise on my birthday. And what a surprise I got! My Oma flew all the way from Portugal to spend my birthday with me! On my birthday, we had delicious pancakes and went to the zoo! The Koalas there were the cutest! We even saw a joey! The zoo also had adorable kangaroos and wallabies (we learned about the differences between the two as they are very similar). After the zoo, we went back home and spent the rest of the day playing, working on puzzles (I love a good challenge!), and having fun!

My Mom’s 43rd birthday (Savonlinna, Finland): We got a lake house in the Lake District in Finland. It had no real running water and minimal electricity. It was very secluded but right by a fantastic lake. The place had fishing rods (and some string. There were only two actual fishing rods so we took a stick and put some string and a bobber on it and boom! We had three fishing rods just like that) and we caught two fish (several more, but some were too small to cook)! The place also had a canoe and we went with it (we had to be careful not to get lost as there are tons of islands in the Lake District in Finland - we didn’t get lost though).

My Dad’s 42nd birthday (Vouliagmeni, Greece): We were in Greece, near Athens on the coast. We went to spend the day at Lake Vougliameni, a large lake with little fish that bite your dead skin off. The little fish tickled and felt funny on your skin. Funny enough, my Dad didn’t really like the fish nibbling on his skin! It was a big lake and you could swim inside with the fish! It was fun feeling the fish eat your dead skin off!

Kaio’s 13th birthday (Colorado, USA): Due to the pandemic we were back in Colorado. We had a condo in Breckenridge, a ski town right by some tall mountains that are good for skiing. So, on Kaio’s birthday, we went for a beautiful hike right when the aspens were changing color! There were orange, red, and yellow leaves carpeting the floor and covering the sky above! It was a short hike but totally worth it! Kaio also got some awesome gifts and some delicious Focaccia bread (a bread that is from Italy) made by my Dad! It was a really fun day. Kaio also got a surprise birthday party with some of his best friends!

Madeline’s 6th birthday (Huatulco, Mexico): We spent the day going to the beach and snorkeling and staying at a nice Airbnb with a pool. We first went to a beach to snorkel (and we were successful - we saw a sea turtle!), and then went back to the Airbnb and prepared for the BBQ. We splashed in the pool and had a really good BBQ with some friends that we met. A fun day by the beach and by the pool! Also for her birthday, a week before, when we were in Puerto Escondido, we went horseback riding to a hot spring! We had a blast. Besides the fun trail in the forest and through rivers, we spent 3 hours at the hot springs, including some mud treatment

Madeline, staring in awe at her 6th Birthday cake!

My Dad’s birthday cake that we made for him! Mmmm...

My Dad’s 43rd birthday (Colorado, USA): We were in Estes Park, Colorado and we went for a beautiful hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and then went to one of my dad’s favorite breweries in town! (both things that my dad loves - hiking and beer!). We also made him a red velvet cake with a J made out of Hershey KISS’s!

In conclusion, birthdays around the globe were really fun despite the lack of gifts. There are such unique experiences that you can do around the world! And with our family, even better!