Ben's Party

We waited until school was back in session after the holiday break to have Ben's 4th birthday party.

There were two kids from preschool, a girl who lives across the street, and several families from Mike's squadron.  There were a couple older siblings and really young ones.  Since we'd never thrown a birthday party for Ben we weren't sure of what to do or how structured to be.  I went with the "they'll play with toys" strategy.  That worked.  The cash register and play tent with tunnel were popular.  The kids also discovered the play area and toys in the basement.

The only game we planned was "pin the nose on the lion."  As Mike put it, it went over like a lead balloon.  Ben went first and didn't understand the concept.  He wanted to take the blindfold off so he could put the nose EXACTLY where it's supposed to go.  He had a meltdown.  Most of the kids cheated.  Lesson learned: preschoolers don't need games, just toys.  And cake and ice cream.

Toys.  That's all they needed.

The theme for the party was "stuff Ben likes."  It was a mish-mash.  Mike ordered an awesome cake that had a Mickey Mouse pilot figurine.   The cake was half yellow, half chocolate.  But I forgot and thought it was all yellow, which was what all the kids got.  Then the yellow ran out and the adults HAD to eat the chocolate.  Honest, I didn't plan it that way...

Ben already looking pretty beat.  And he hadn't even opened presents yet.

I was prepared for the swarming that would happen when Ben opened his presents because we saw it happen at a different birthday party.  It was controlled chaos.  Ben was a little overwhelmed and needed help tearing off wrapping paper (funny, he didn't need help at Christmas), which our neighbor was happy to help out with.  They made a good team.  Ben was thrilled with every single present.  He got some great ones.

Here's the last few seconds of the birthday song.  

It was a great party and Ben had a blast.  Oh, and seeing all those kids playing with his old toys that he's been ignoring for months suddenly made those toys seem interesting again.