Benjamin is 4!!!

My baby boy is 4! For the first time ever, we chose to hold a birthday party away from our house. It was a little risky, because of the weather factor, but we chose to have a private hayride and bonfire at a local state park. Turned out to be a great decision.

Ben chose his new hat yesterday. He wanted to make sure it was "a little bit scary, but not too much." Well done.

Getting ready to get into the wagon.

All aboard.

Couldn't look much happier, could he?

Being a goofball.

Muddy started a hay fight.

That blob of hay is Aunt Kim!

MomMom and PopPop thought it was funny, but they weren't involved in the hay throwing.

Brian was at the back of the wagon, and Graham was very worried that Uncle Brian was going to fall out. Our driver was pretty fun too. Whenever there was a clearing, he did sharp turns with us in the wagon, and one time even did a 360.

The bonfire was just for us. We roasted marshmallows for smores.

And the kids enjoyed them tremendously

I LOVE this picture. Ben in his glory. Note the marshmallow residue near his mouth, with two huge fistfuls of cheese curls. Can't get much better than that.

Ben really wanted a Wolverine birthday cake. This was my attempt, which is done freehand, and ended up being ok. It was too windy to light the candles at the bonfire, but we still sang and he blew them out anyway.

Then the present goodness ensued.

Afterwards Ben helped Brian cart the goodies back to our car.

Overall it was a lovely birthday. Ben is such a wonderful little man. He's funny, smart, witty, loving, caring and overall just a great kid. Thanks to all of our friends and family who came out to celebrate with him!