Celebrating Six

Ben's sixth birthday is next week but we decided to celebrate a few days early so that everyone could participate.  We kicked off the day with a little family celebration at home.  Ben was so excited to have all the grandparents and Aunt Amanda over.  We wish Aunt Stacey and her family weren't so far away but we'll get to catch up with them once school is out.

 Didn't take long to get to the present opening!  Ben didn't mind the paparazzi early on but got tired of cameras in his face by the end of the day.  It's so hard being cute!

The highlight was the brand new jeep from the entire family....this boy was HAPPY!!  We had no idea that last year's secondhand yellow jeep would be such a hit and decided it was time to get a new one with working wheels.  (and now we have two jeeps!  so Ben and Alex have started racing)

And, they're off!

Turns out the balloons were a bit of a hazard out on the open road, but we remedied that and had to peel Ben away to get to his party in time.

Ben's only request was a Chuck E Cheese party so we took part in the madness there.  He was so happy to see his neighborhood and school friends there.

Alex was busy burning through tokens and collecting tickets.

Ben and Presley loved Chuck E.

...and they enjoyed seeing themselves on TV as well.

The grandparents had lots of fun playing and seeing their grandsons so excited.

We had 15 little friends to help celebrate with Ben!

King for a day...who wouldn't want that?

Ben got a visit from the big guy himself.

 

 After pizza and some entertainment (which appealed to everyone BUT Ben, who was ready for cake) it was time to sing happy birthday.

Definitely tired of pictures by this point!  But I wanted to remember his cake that Ben specifically requested to be "as chocolatey as possible".

 Blow out those candles!

Next up was the ticket blaster.  Ben looked a bit nervous so I'm not sure how he felt about going in there.  

I think he loved it!  (sorry the picture uploaded sideways)

 After cake, most of the kids ran off to play again but Ben had his sights set on something a bit more exciting - presents!  He got some really great stuff, even got a Lite Brite!  I may play it more than the boys :)

 Back at home, we tried out a new sprinkler toy, which turned into a water gun fight.

And that led into water balloons!

Ready, set, FIRE!

When I asked Ben how he enjoyed his party day, he said it was the best day of his life!  He got to spend it with his loved ones, his friends, and his neighbors.  It was the first "real" party we'd done for him and Matt and I were both so happy to see that he felt loved and special.  Thank you to everyone who took part in his big day.  Now we can look forward to making his birthday special, too!