Ben's 4th Birthday

Rounding out our very full birthday month (January) was Ben's 4th birthday.  We had a little party and a Disney Cars theme.  I am grateful for the help getting the party going, especially from Harley who manned the pinata!  Ben had a great time, and I think the other kids did too (I certainly sent them home with plenty of sugar).  In addition to the pinata, we had cake and chocolate ice cream. 

I also picked up a fishing game that was based on Cars.  Instead of fish opening and closing their mouths, there were tires and the fishing hooks were tire irons.  It was a cute idea, but the tire irons didn't catch the tires very well and the kids started pulling them apart.  The game lasted exactly 2 days.  Ben found a great use for the game table though.  He would take his cars and arrange them like a showroom and then turn it on and watch it just spin ...

Last year, if you sang happy birthday to Ben, he would run and hide.  This year he stood his ground, but pinched his lips and looked as though he was trying to disappear.  Very cute!

Among the many presents he got were some wrapped in Christmas paper - the hallmark of any January birthday! 

Another fun present was the remote control car from Mimi and Papa.  Ben loves this car - he wasn't too interested in the remote.  In fact the only way he would use it would be to put the remote between his legs so that he could keep both hands on the wheel!  Safety first, right?

Mommy and Daddy got Ben a little violin - which everyone wanted to play.  Poor Harley, Ginny cornered him and used him as a base as she played (using both hands on the bow).  The violin is still a favorite toy, but the kids tend to use it as a guitar now (and the bow as a sword/bat/etc).

All in all, it was a fun party and Ben just getting bigger and more beautiful.  Happy Birthday Ben!