Superhero Birthday

On Friday, June 29th, we invited some of Ben's sweet friends over to help celebrate his fourth birthday and attend Superhero Training at our Superhero Academy. The boys were asked to come in their best superhero clothes/costumes and if they did not have anything to wear, we presented them with superhero masks on their arrival. Once each of the trainees arrived, we walked the boys through six different superhero training stations around the house. . .

Station 1 - We played Red Light/Green Light in the front yard a few times to see if the boys had any super speed. They all passed this first test with flying speed!

Station 2 - We taped pictures of superhero villains (Dr. Doom, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Venom, etc) to our garage door and then had the boys "vaporize" them with their "webs" a/k/a silly string.
The boys successfully shot all of the villains with their "webs" and advanced on to the third test.

Station 3 - For the third superhero lesson, the boys were to "diffuse bombs" by jumping on and popping black balloons on the back porch. Two boys were frightened by the loud popping noises and went inside to watch through the french doors, but the rest got into it once they understood what they were supposed to do. As they had done in their prior training sessions, they passed this test and moved on to test number four.

Station 4 - The fourth training station tested whether the boys could leap over tall buildings in a single jump, just like Superman. Upstairs, we had "buildings" that they all needed to jump over. Some buildings were tall and thin while others where short and fat.
The trainer (Thomas) told me that the boys had no difficulty in jumping over many buildings in one leap so on to test number five they went.

Station 5 - To test their x-ray vision, we had the trainees play Pin-the-Bat on Batman's chest (a large poster of Batman). These boys had never played "Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey" so they were a little unsure, at first, of what was expected of them. Once they saw Ben blindfolded and then lead just in front of the poster, they understood what they needed to do. (I should have taken a picture of the poster, but I was too busy getting lunch ready!) They all showed signs of having x-ray vision because their bat symbols all ended up on or near Batman's chest. On to the sixth and final test . . .

Station 6 - This final test checked for the boys' super powers. We had some kryptonite (green glow sticks) in our bedroom closet. The boys, individually, would walk into the dark closet with their trainer (Thomas) and pick up a glow stick. If the boys could walk out of the closet and not be hurt or weakened by the "kryptonite", then they must have super power. The boys loved this activity and were all so proud of themselves when they walked out of the dark closet holding on to their green glow sticks. They all passed this sixth test and therefore . . .

THEY WERE NOW ALL SUPERHEROS! Go boys! We told them that they could not divulge their super secrets to their parents and handed them each a graduation certificate from the Superhero Academy.Then, it was time for lunch. We served hero sandwiches and sides that would improve their super powers (boosts invincibility, improves laser vision, builds muscles, energy blast, etc). Finally, it was cupcake time!Ben was more than ready to hear "Happy Birthday" and consume his birthday cupcake. I got one last picture of the elated birthday boy
and one photo of his super friends before it was time for the party to end.
Happy Birthday, Ben!

Swimming Ben

Ben took swim lessons during the spring/summers when he was both two and three. Two summers ago, as a two-year-old, he "passed" his final test by swimming in a pool with heavy clothes and shoes on.

So, based on his success with his lessons, one would think that Ben would have no aversion to swimming in pools. Unfortunately, he has felt just the opposite. Once he conquered his swim lesson refreshers last spring, he took on the mindset that he was done with swimming for the year. He would get his legs and feet wet in a pool, but he would NOT put his head underwater. We've had a few visits to Mimi and Papa's house over the past 12 months, but before walking in their front door, Ben would make it clear that he would not swim in their pool on that visit. He would try to appease us by promising a better tomorrow by saying, "Its okay. I'll swim in their pool when I turn 4."

As we were pulling up to Mimi and Papa's house for this most recent visit, I threatened Ben with more swim lessons this summer if he did not start swimming like a big boy. (Yes, it is probably not what a good parent would have said to their kid, but it worked so I'm not second-guessing myself.) Within five minutes of our arrival, he had his bathing suit on and was out in the pool asking for someone to join him so that he could swim to them. He was a happy swimming machine for the rest of the week. I could barely keep him out of the pool. He would jump off of the steps and swim to someone (usually me or Eleanor) on the opposite side of the pool. He'd also belly flop jump off the side of the pool and swim to me. I could barely keep his head OUT of the water this trip, and am thrilled that we've finally overcome this swimming hurdle.

Light Sabers

After the trip to Target, the kids' interest in light saber fights kicked up to a new level. With the addition of a dual-sided red Sith saber and the purple saber of Mace Wendu, saber fights in Mimi and Papa's cul-de-sac quickly became a popular activity. The three of them even started to use some force-field-powers (hand held up) to try to intimidate their opponents.The kids' fervor over anything Star Wars began more than a year ago with our trip to Disney and Hayes's battle with Darth Vader. I never would have thought that this passion for anything Star Wars would still be going so strong!

Happy 4th Birthday Ben!

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet Ben! Unfortunately for him, he had to celebrate it with many of my high school classmates as part of a 20th high school reunion family event at the beach. Earlier in the morning, when we were all getting dressed for the beach, Ben chose not to put a bathing suit on because he wasn't going to "get in the water". Wouldn't you know, by the end of our time at the beach, his shirt was off and his shorts were soaked because he would not stay OUT of the water.

Playing in the Rain

Though we had sunshine for most of our time in Florida, one day was a total washout. The kids started to go a little stir crazy inside so once the thunder and lightning came to a halt, out they went with their umbrellas. A few minutes later, I found the umbrellas back on the front porch steps . . . but the kids were still having a ball outside. I have fond memories of playing in the rain (making mud pancakes and placing them across our street for cars to run over) growing up in Florida so I let them have their own fun. And boy, did they have a blast!

Target Shopping

In the name of doing some "early birthday shopping", Mimi took the kids to Target. She bought each of them a shirt of their choice. Since I did not join them on the run to the store, it is always fun for me to see what they pick out since their choices reflect their current interests. Ben selected a Spiderman shirt, Eleanor chose one with nine of the Muppet characters and Hayes picked an LA Lakers shirt since the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls shirts (his first and second choices) were all too big for him.

Who knows what they will be into this time next year?

Early Birthday Cake

As I mentioned in a prior post, we spent Father's Day driving down to Mimi and Papa's house. The kids and I are spending the week here before I celebrate my 20th high school reunion this upcoming weekend. Mimi and Papa will be leaving on a trip towards the end of our visit so we decided to celebrate Ben's June 23 birthday (and Father's Day and Hayes's 7th birthday on 7/7) the night of our arrival with an Avengers birthday cake. Ben was a very willing participant andwe've sure enjoyed eating the cake all week.

And so the weeks of summer birthday celebrating beings!

Can You Guess the Superhero?

Ben is making his way towards turning into a superhero fanatic. This artwork was his first attempt at drawing a superhero. I must admit that this picture caught me off guard as he usually does not draw figures.

Can you guess who it is? Here's a hint if you need one: The superhero's secret identity is Bruce Wayne.

Westminster Camp

For the last two weeks, Hayes has spent his days at Westminster's Summer Camp. This summer was his third time attending, and he loves it so much that he was willing to go without having a buddy attend with him. It turns out that he did have a good friend going (Patrick Busby) and they ended up being in the same group, the Blue Frogs. Like Eleanor's Camp Greystone, the camp posts pictures each day to enable parents to see how their kids spent their time at camp. Since I got very little out of Hayes after picking him up each afternoon around 4:00, I was grateful to locate him in a few pictures. Here he is with his Blue Frog-mate, Joseph. Each year, Snake Man Steve visits the camp to talk about . . . you guessed it - snakes. Hayes has on the red hat and his blue Super Mario bag is at his feet. Hayes discovered that he had a friend attending the camp from his year at the Cathedral Preschool named Will. Hayes says Will (in the yellow Choctaw shirt below) is hilarious. This year, his age level was allowed to canoe, do the zip line (here his group is doing the "Bacon" to help someone get up to the top of the zip line), and make camp crafts for the first time. Hayes's favorite activity each year has been Global Games where the kids play games on the big sports field in the middle of the camp. The picture below shows them playing Mr. Mars/Little Pigand some sort of tag.
As always, Hayes had a blast at camp and is asking to return next year.