Big Boy Birthday

How could Benjamin possibly be 4 years old already? Alas it is true.....we have a big birthday boy. Here is the cake I made. It came out pretty cute and Benjamin liked it which was the important thing.

Scott and Jenni and their family and Grandma and Grandpa Larchar helped us celebrate.
Benjamin had the candles blown out almost before I had the cake set at the table.

And was quick at pulling out the candles to be able to dive into the cake.

We got Ben this CAT digger that he can ride on for his birthday. Unfortunately we had sprinkles most of the day and he was unable to test it out in the garden. He liked riding it around the house and practicing moving the arms.

I must say though, hands down of all his gifts this year (which were many because we have generous neighbors) his favorite was from his birth mother. They sent a Lego helicopter. Ben has played with it all afternoon and evening. It has a "lego guy" who is a police man. Benjamin named him Joseph. (He names all his toys.) He comes equiped with detachable handcuffs and binoculars that have been a paticular hit & there is a compartment for those item in the helicopter.

The propeller spins too and adjusts to different angles. Benjamin has been in heaven.

Thank you to everyone who called, and to all those who have wished us well. It has been a lovely few days as we have celebrated Benjamin. We feel so loved and so honored to be his parents.

November

I can't believe it is the end of November already. We have had a busy month and I am finally taking a minute to record some of our adventures. This has been the 2nd warmest November on record in upstate NY. We have taken advantage of that and been outside as often as mom can deal with the mud that results. Here is Emma on one of her favorite ride on toys.

Emma is walking well but sometime resorts to her knees to get there in a hurry.

Benjamin has been building a road in our garden. He works hard and makes me call him boss when I come to drive the trucks at his request.

Benjamin and Daddy tilling the garden.

My parents let us borrow their tiller this year and we were lucky enough to have some fertilizer here. Between the 10-10-10 and the leaves that we tilled in our garden should be well fertilized.
The proof will be in next year's yield.

This seems to be the children's activity of choice lately (emptying the cupboards). So far it has been harmless and resulted in no injuries.

We went to the dinosaur museum exhibit at the MOST. Afterward we stopped at BurgerKing. Benjamin has loved his crown. Here he is trying to convince Joseph to wrestle with him. The boxes are perminent in the living room as the are either spaceships or packages.

My couch cushions rarely get to stay in place. The have become floating islands that the children bounce between.

When we learned that we wouldn't have Emma on Thanksgiving we decided to do something we have wanted to do for years -- go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We left early Wednesday morning so that we could go to the Natural History Museum in NYC. It is the Museum featured in Night at the Museum. Benjamin loves that movie and we scouted out most of the characters in the movie as we wandered the halls of the museum. Here we are pictured with Dumb Dumb.

This guy is affectionately known as Rexxy in our home.

One other nice thing about being in Manhattan on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is that Macy's has all the balloons that will be in the parade inflated and on display on 81st and 77th. Families are at liberty to view the balloons up close which was pretty cool.

Here are Benjamin and I at the Time Square subway stop. We were lucky enough to find a hotel room reasonably priced at a comfort inn two blocks from Time Square.

It's hard to see but this was the turkey float at the start of the Parade.

Here comes Buzz Lightyear. Benjamin was pretty excited.

Daddy deserves a gold star. He held a wiggly Benjamin on his shoulders for hours.

The pillsbury dough boy.

Mr. Kool-aid on a skate board. (He did a dance in front of us.)

Sponge Bob. (I'm not a fan but the balloon was huge.)

Captain Mickey

Kung fu Panda

This was the new float in the parade this year.

Snoopy

Neil Diamond on the Mount Rushmore float. (Marie this is for you.)

Ronald McDonald

This float was home to Scooby Doo, Barney, Yogi Bear etc.

I have to admit, it was really neat to be there and see the balloons comming down the street. There was a fair amount of anticipation as we waited to see who would appear next. It was one of the neatest things we have done ---and while the crowds were crazy it was fun to be in the Big Apple.

SpiderMan - one of the highlights of the parade.

Smurf

Kermit

An Elf at the end of the Parade.

Santa marks the end of the Parade.

We went to FAO Schwartz after the parade. Here was the doorman. I couldn't resist the photo-op.

This is Ben and I on the Big Piano. For only $250,000 we could have taken it home.



When all was said and done, we had a great trip and feel really Thankful for all our blessings.