Benji's Birthday, part 2: A big birthday day

We decided to hold Benji's actual party a week late since his birthday fell over spring break and because we had so many other activities pre-scheduled for April 10th. As per family tradition, Kevin and I snuck in and decorated Benji's room for him the night before:

We hung pop-pop's poster while Benji slept

Birthday morning:

He crawled under to come get us because he wanted us to watch him break the streamers

Birthday muffin (which he gave to Abby so he could have an Asiago bagel from Panera instead)

Exploding Kittens

Card from Abby made him smile

Because it was Sunday, we had Sunday School, where I had volunteered to be parent-of-the week so that I could bring birthday treats:

We started at dance, where Benji partnered with the teacher Latifah

The kids made dog biscuits for the SPCA

Birthday brownies

Sunday School was followed by Cub Scouts and then an Odyssey of the Mind wrap-up party. In between each event, Benji and Abby played with his new makey-makey (a gift from Gammy):

Making a piano out of spoons

Playing pan man with bananas

Abby decorated a birthday cake for Benji for the OM party

And Sam D'Alessio was sweet to put candles in it and gather all the kids to sing happy birthday

 It was a busy day and we had not even had his party yet!

Benji's Birthday, part 1: The Melting Pot

Because Benji's birthday fell on a Sunday, we decided to have his birthday dinner the night before.  This was an especially good decision, since he chose the Melting Pot, which is a slooooow dinner:

All dressed up

Kevin took a picture! (only a little blurry)

They brought him birthday balloons

And whipped cream and cherries on his chocolate milk

Gammy got a fun drink

AND they put candles in his dessert

The staff was super sweet to Benji. They even gave him a card telling him that he should remember that it is his birthday when it came down to the last strawberry.  He took that to heart and literally stole the last strawberry off Abby's dipper, much to her chagrin.

Florida Wrap-up

We had a quiet Thursday in Palm Beach, followed by a half-day relaxing ahead of our flight home on Friday. We decided not to try to squeeze in a Friday activity before our afternoon flight, and this left as time to be silly at home.  The kids let me snap some pictures:

We headed to the airport early to eat lunch and watch the planes, which Benji enjoyed:

Despite a long layover in Atlanta, the flights were good and the pilot even invited Benji up to the cockpit for an instrument tour.  They ended up talking for a while because Benji had a lot of questions and I think the pilot saw him as a fellow enthusiast:

Florida Day 3: Miami Excursion

In all of our visits to Florida, we have never before headed south from Palm Beach. We decided that this was our year, and set aside a day to explore the Everglades and Miami. We chose to head a little further into the Everglades so that we could do our airboat tour on the Micasuky Indian Reservation (good choice). The day was chilly and a little rainy, but our tour was fantastic:

Benji, with the stuffed gator while we waited for our tour

Group shot, right before we got doused by a departing boat

On the airboat

Spotting our first gator

baby gator in hiding

Crawled right up to the boat

This is a young adult

After the gators, we headed to Key Biscayne to check out the beach for a little bit (and say we'd visited a Key!). We found a lot of neat aquatic life that was different than in Palm Beach, including natural sponges, hermit crabs and coral:

checking out the hermit crabs

Walking with Grandpa, with the Miami skyline in the background

Sponge!

 Lastly, we headed into the Art District for dinner and to check out the Wynwood Walls, which were as cool as promised.  Abby took a million pictures to show her art teacher:

Even the sidewalks had cool art

This was Abby's favorite

By the time we got home, everyone was worn out, but it was worth the trip!