Ryan’s Birthday Bash

The indoor amusement park party, was a bit hit!  There were lots of fun rides, for kids of all ages including a suspension bridge ending in a slide, a carousal, a giant ball pit, a tea cup ride (think of the tea cups at Disneyland), and an enclosed Ferris wheel to name a few.  Even my 9-month old niece had fun on the rides.  But by far, Ryan and Cole’s favorite ride was the train, that went around on a real track.  I think we ended up riding it no less than twenty times.

We arrived at the building and saw Joe’s sister, with her three kids, getting out of their car.  Cole had fallen asleep on the ride down, so Joe opted to stay in the car with him for a while and let him sleep. My sister-in-law helped me bring some of the food in, and as soon as we checked in, she took Ryan off with her kids to start playing.  My brother and sister-in-law, arrived, and my brother helped me carry in the rest of the items.  My brother’s wife told me that she used to come to this place when she was a child, and loved it!  She took my brother around to show him all the fun! 

It seems like everyone started arriving pretty much around the same time.  There were other families, and parties there obviously, and everyone was off with their kids, enjoying the rides.  I would catch a glimpse of  a friend or family member, and try to get over to them to say hello.  At 12:15 it was time to eat. We had some pizzas, vegetable and fruit trays.  After the kids were done eating, they wanted cake!  So we obliged.  Ryan loved his Thomas cake.  Joe was filming the singing and blowing out of the candles, but told me on the way home, the camera wasn’t on!  Fortunately, some of my family at least got some good pictures of Ryan blowing out his candles, so I’ll have to get those pictures from them. 

After lunch, most of my family left- they had another party to go to, but it was nice that most of our friends were able to stay and play longer.  It seemed like everyone was having a fun time.  We had to drag Ryan and Cole out, around 2:45- they were both so tired, but didn’t want to leave.  They wanted to ride the train one more time.  🙂  We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends who helped us make Ryan’s day so special!

Ryan kept saying on the way home, what a fun party that was.  At one point he said, “Man, that was fun!”  He sounded so grown up.  After some naps (Mom and Dad included), we headed out for some dinner, and then dropped by Joe’s parents house, to finish off the birthday cake with them.

This morning at 8:04 (Ryan’s birth time), I hugged him and told him, “Happy Birthday.”  He hugged me back, and said,”Happy Birthday Mom- I love you so much.”  I got tears in my eyes.  That was the sweetest thing, I think I have ever heard. 

Ryan wanted to play with his gifts the rest of the morning, and Joe and I did some serious cleaning of the house, re-organization, and put all the Christmas stuff away.  It was sunny, but a bit cold, but we decided to take the boys to the park anyway.  We lasted about half and hour, before the wind was just too cold.

We had a pretty low-keyed evening and I gave Ryan his toy trumpet, which he just loved!  Unfortunately, Cole loved it too, and wants one.  He followed Ryan around crying, trying to grab it from him.  I may have to have a relative get another one from the toy store “in the big city” for Cole.  But Ryan could blow into it, and make notes.  He was even marching in time to his little songs. 

Before the boys’ bath, they had some ice cream, and we put a candle in Ryan’s, and sang to him one last time.  Before bed, I curled up with Ryan and read him one of his new gifts, Farmer Boy Birthday, from Little House on the Prairie.  He loved the story, and wanted Joe to read it to him again.

Now that his fourth birthday is over, I can’t wait to see how my little guy changes over the course in this next year.  One thing is for sure…I’m sure it won’t be boring.