Birthday Party

The way I see it, there is no time like Thursday to write a blog post about what happened last Saturday, so here it is!  On Saturday we had a family birthday party for our boys and two of their cousins down at the property that Dad and Diane own in King George.  They have ten acres (correct me if I am wrong, please) and the front five or so have been cleared.  They even have a shed with a chemical toilet (hooray for not having to go in the woods!).  They have cleared a huge swath of land and grassed it in (seen below), a hunting platform high in a tree and they have some nice big equipment (also seen below).  We had never been before, but we had a blast and need to go again to do more exploring on the back five acres.

Ben was drawn immediately to the sit down mower in the shed.  He was going nowhere but loving life.  I swear they come this way as I have put some time in on this kind of mower and it holds no attraction for me.

The weather was gorgeous (just like I ordered) and the kids all had a great time playing on the grass with soccer balls and footballs.

Josh showed off his mad soccer skills - he is totally into soccer now that he doesn't play on a team.

Ben appropriated Uncle Aaron's hat because he (Ben) is a cowboy.  Looks pretty good on him, too.  I am sure in a couple of years he'll be asking for some boots, too.

After a picnic dinner, hot dogs roasted on the campfire, awesome presents and dessert, this is how we ended the party:

While Ben loved exploring and eating, he spent a lot of time trying to sneak over to the mower and this tractor (read: the ultimate toy).  So he and Michael climbed up with Opa's supervision.  Based on how Jason was eying it, I think he would have liked to sit up there, too. 

It was a great time and a great end to a very busy day.  Sadly, the boys stayed awake the entire one and a half hour drive home, but we did get them bathed and their new toys kept them busy all Sunday morning so Jason and I could recover.