Happy 3rd Birthday Ben!

Ben had his 3rd birthday party this year and of course he had a blast.  Deebo and Papa came in town and he loved hanging out with them all weekend.  Ashley on the other hand was a little apprehensive until she finally got used to them about 2 hours before they left town.

We had his party at Monkey Bizness and he loved it.  He was able to do all the activities there this time which was awesome.  He finally wore himself out which to this day I cannot say I've seen.  I'm glad we got our money's worth and he had a lot of fun with his friends.  All he kept asking for was a spiderman party so of course I attempted to make him a spiderman cake and it turned out pretty well I think.  I even made his birthday shirt with spiderman on it.

Jack and Ben

Beth enjoying the party favors

Ashley getting into the fun

Ben, Jack and Milo - the 3 musketeers

Caroline dunking!

The train up to the slide

Erin, Kate and Julie having fun climbing

Silly kids having fun

On Saturday my parents gave him a buzz lightyear shirt and he immediately put it and ran around the backyard screaming "to infinity and beyond!"  It was hilarious!  He truly thought he was buzz lightyear.  He also got a fantastic blues hockey jersey with his name and the number 3 on it from his godmother.  He will definitely be wearing that this week at hockey.  Along with some roller blades from us so he can practice hockey at home without having to find open skating at an ice rink.

"To infinity and beyond!"

admiring big brother

hockey

All in all - it's been another fast year for a wonderful little boy.  He is the best big brother you could ask for.  He always takes time to give Ashley a hug and kiss randomly when they are playing and is very good at making sure she isn't doing something to hurt herself.  His favorite sport is by far hockey and essentially he is either doing that or lining up his cars.  He's very active, but also very loving and a great little boy.  I can't believe he is already 3.

Swingset

Last week Brian and I took a day off work to build the kids a swing set.  It of course took a lot longer than expected, but Ben's face when he saw it was priceless.  He was very excited about being able to swing in his own backyard instead of having to go to the park.  Ashley was excited for something to climb on as well.  She's all over the place exploring and loves to climb on things so this summer should be nice with the new patio and a swing set.  Here's a couple pics of the kids (including Brian) enjoying the new swing set.

Hockey

Ben definitely has a favorite sport and it happens to be hockey.  Of course this makes me very excited since I grew up around an ice rink, but for Brian it's not quite the same feeling.  Brian has admitted that he's excited about Ben wanting to play a team sport and a 'manly' sport, but nonetheless has admitted he is sad this is one sport he can not help Ben play.  First off, he knows very little about hockey although he's willing to learn.  And secondly, Brian can't really ice skate.  He's gotten better since I've met him, but he looks like Ben currently does out on the ice.  He probably would kill to have a walker at times.  Of course you didn't hear that from me though.

Anyways, we started Ben off in a learn to play hockey program which basically means they teach him how to skate with a helmet and gloves on.  He's very excited each week to go and it's all he talks about even though each week it takes some time for him to get adjusted to wanting to join all the kids on the rink without Brian or I.  This past week I was very impressed with him being able to make it back and forth on the ice with only one fall.  The teacher kept trying to get him to sit on the ice so he could learn to get up and he flat out ignored her to keep slowly chugging along to make it without falling.  I explained to him the importance of falling and learning how to get up and once we got home he 'practiced' in our kitchen while playing hockey the falling down and getting up piece.

Overall I think hockey will be more of a success than soccer was last year, but it's probably too early to tell at this point.  Each week I hope he continues to try and enjoy the ice time while he can.  Especially since hockey is really all he talks about....besides Buzz Lightyear of course.