Ben Turns Two

Last week we celebrated a big birthday in our house...Ben turned 2!  (And he's been proving he's every bit of two by throwing big boy temper tantrums whenever the mood strikes him.)  We celebrated extra hard this year, even after deciding to forgo the traditional birthday party.  I figured with the timing of the birthdays in our house, people get tired of party-going anyway, and thought maybe we'd try to make plans to do something we normally wouldn't do as a family.  I already had a pretty good idea up my sleeve for Natalie's birthday, so it was really just deciding what to do for Ben.

We landed on taking the Lebanon Monroe Railroad for the Pumpkin Patch Express outing: ride a real train 45 minutes out to the pumpkin patch, participate in farm activities for an hour and a half, and then ride the train back.  It ended up being rainy and cold, but it didn't stop us.  The kids loved it!  And I left my camera, and my phone, sitting at home on the counter.  So, so bummed that I have not a single picture.

Then on Ben's actual birthday, the four of us went to dinner and celebrated low key with cake and presents at home.

after the train, we did have a Dusty Crophopper 

cake for those that came along with us

getting a little help from daddy

family birthday selfie!