Benny's Birthday

 Yesterday Benny turned 4! Benny is my sweet boy. He loves to snuggle (probably because he's always cold). He loves to be loved on. He is *typically* very good at sharing. He hates being alone. And he feels emotions very deeply. When he is upset, the whole world knows.

We started off his birthday by opening cards. Why cards you ask?Because that's where the money is at!

Just like Steven, he got completely spoiled so he got to go crazy at a Toys R Us. He got a Spiderman Lego Car, a Spiderman Motorcycle, a play set for cars and an Angry Bird Board Game. After we finished up at Toys R Us we ate lunch and then headed to the zoo. Lucy, our little pink monster, took a nap on the way there:

For his birthday he was presented with several options on how to spend the day and he chose to go to the zoo where he would be allowed to pick out a "baby" (aka a stuffed animal). Last time we went to the zoo, it was very cold and he complained a lot. I think he just wanted to go this time with the sole purpose of picking out a "baby." 

The weather was much better this time (no snow/rain, little wind, and temps in the high 30's) but he was still a complainer. "It takes sooo long" he would cry as we walked to each animal exhibit. Once in the exhibits he had fun. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. But we did see a couple exhibits that we didn't see last time. Like the amphibian house, which oddly enough housed a Sting Ray that Steven was OBSESSED with: "Will it kill you if it stings you?" "What if it stings your jacket?" "What if you touch it?". And we saw the butterfly room for the first time:

And we saw a lot of the same animals (because they were inside and warm). This time we didn't see the penguins during feeding time so the kids were a lot less excited by them:

And some more zoo pictures:

When at last we were all done, Benny had fun picking out a baby. He decided to get a giraffe because it was pretty much the only animal there he didn't have:

For dinner we went to Big Boys and they sang to him. It was pretty adorable how shy he got. He tried to hide behind me. When we came home we had some shark cake (a creation by both Tyler & I) and then he opened presents:

It was truly a fun day! 

I feel so blessed with where we are at as a family right now. For so long, Tyler couldn't be involved in a lot of our family outings and if he was, it was completely difficult for him to be there. Now, he can just come. No stress of what he should be doing when he's hanging out with us. We can be a family and do normal family things together- like go to the zoo! Though life is cold here and I often find myself missing our extended family, I know I am blessed and life is truly good.