Six

My baby turned six.  This is the first year that I've had to start thinking about how to differentiate the actual day of June 20 in order to make it special for both Claire and Ben.  It turned out to not be a problem at all considering we partied multiple times prior to the day.  While Claire and Erin were away for the week at camp, I had a small party for Ben and three of his friends.  We went to Bounce Party and then came back to the house for presents, cake, and of course a basketball pinata.  Then the next day Jerry and I took Ben to Chicago where we visited the Legoland Discovery Center in Schaumberg.  It doesn't compare to the Legoland in California which I've never been to, but it was perfect for Ben.  He got to build and test out Legos to his heart's content, ride a few tame rides, see some short 4-D movies and have the full attention of both his mom and dad. We stayed in downtown Chicago, and Ben could not have been happier to have his own bed with a tv in front of it.  We walked around Navy Pier, went swimming at the hotel and watched Wipeout on tv before going to bed.  I didn't know until the next day that Ben had made a "nest" in the chair by the window so he could look at the city lights.  That is where he slept and probably a big reason why he was pretty crabby the next day.  On Friday we went to Shedd Aquarium.  Really we should have just driven home because once Ben saw the sharks all he wanted to do was leave and he asked nonstop if we could until we did. Monday the 20th was the acutal day of Ben's birthday...see Claire's post for details on what we did that day which included a movie, Chuckee Cheese, and grandma and grandpa....a perfect day for a 6 year old! Ben is my homebody, Lego engineer, math whiz who loves anything involved with a screen (tv, computer, wii, my iphone, and grandpa's ipad).  He's my pickiest eater although I recently discovered he loves peas so we have those ALOT,   He'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall-3 full days-which I know he is so ready for, but I'm not sure I am!

 There was no stopping for a posed picture for these 4!

 Pinata time!

 

 Legoland Discovery Center...Ben, Batman, and one Batman wanna-be

 "Mr. President, can I really trust what you say?"

 This is Ben's perfect ride:  tame and quiet

 Building and racing legos

 If you ask Ben, he'll say swimming at the pool was his favorite part of the trip.

 Hey, there's Jerry and Ben at Ben and Jerry's!

 We had a lot of fun with these mirrors.  You can see that my body ends mid-torso.

 Outside of Navy Pier

 One of about 3 pictures I took at Shedd.  Beluga in the background.

 Ben saved up his money for his entire life to buy this Lego this past week.  He had $32 in bills, about $40 in change that we painstakingly rolled, two giftcards and some birthday money.  He pretty much locked himself in his room for three days and this is what emerged....

Complete!