Happy Birthday Benjamin!!

Benjamin turned 4 years old today. What a very big day in his life. His first real birthday party. Being 8 months pregnant and it being the middle of the hot summer, I just couldn't bring myself to do the 'friends at our house' party thing, so we decided to have someone else handle everything and we just give them our money. Long live America! So we had Benjamin's party at Pump It Up - an inflatable bounce house place in the area. So much fun!


We showed up (30 minutes early because the kids were driving me craaaaazy at home asking when it was time to go) and from then on out, everything was taken care of. They carried in our cake and fruit trays, set up the room, the tables, the remaining food that they provided, collected the guests' presents, etc. etc. All while the kids just played merrily for 90 minutes. Everyone seemed to be having a marvelous time. No major injuries, no fights, just lots of jumping fun. Then everyone went into the party room where the staff and moms served the kids and we all had a yummy lunch. (Benjamin's at the far end of the table.)


Near the end, the guy helping us lit the candle on his spider man birthday cake and got everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to Benjamin while the king sat on his blow-up throne, loving every minute of it.


The only draw back was that we only had 2 hours total, not leaving enough time for present opening and that bummed some kids out. They wanted to see Benjamin opening the gift they'd brought, so we took the presents outside and opened them on the grass instead. That worked out just great.


That's also when my memory card reached maximum capacity, so no more pics at that point. :( The best part of all was the after the presents were loaded in the car, the staff brought us the food that they'd wrapped up and cleaned up, and we drove away, leaving everything else to them! No work at all! Just the party! Just the two exhausted kiddos in the back seat and a trunk full of toys and watermelon. America! So great. After naps - Isabella's and Kelly's ;) - we went to a friend's house who'd invited Benjamin over for an afternoon of Wii. He's only played it once in his life over a year ago and didn't remember it at all so she thought he'd enjoy it. 2 hours of Wii later, he still wanted to keep going. What a great present. We ended the day with a trip to his favorite restaurant - Macaroni Grill - to eat his favorite food - spaghetti. It doesn't get any better than a place that gives you great food and while you're waiting, provides crayons with which you're allowed to write all over their table.

So, the birthday was a big success and now I have a 4 year old. That's crazy. Benjamin is an amazing boy. He's very physical - very tall, strong, and athletic. He's constantly being guessed to be much older because of this and because of his clear pronunciation and verbal ability. Amazing when one considers how late he started speaking. He's also very kind. He loves to give hugs and bring girls flowers(especially his mommy). He cares a lot about other's feelings and worries if anyone is sad. He's also very enthusiastic. It's easy to get him excited to do things and go places. He's got an adventurous spirit. He also loves to read and sing. He's an amazing boy and we're so happy to have him in our life. We love you Benjamin.