4 x 2

On March 6, at 12:08 and 12:09pm, these little guys turned four!  Jack is one minute older, but Ben is the bigger guy in this picture.  He's still a little bigger- by about 3/4 inch and 1.5lbs.  But his big brother definitely runs the show.  And he knows it.  It's hard to describe how I feel about their birthday.  On the one hand, it seems like just yesterday that they arrived.  But on the other hand, it feels like they have always been part of our family.  The first six months of their lives is pretty much a blur, so that doesn't really help!  I am loving four.  They are funny, smart, kind, and curious.  They love each other so much and they are constantly saying and doing things to surprise and amaze us.  They truly are such great little guys.  They are kind to others, they love their big sister, and they are very polite.  They always want to learn more, and they are always fun!  I'm not saying we don't have our share of whining or 'testing limits,' but the good definitely outweighs the bad, by a lot!  Happy birthday, my loves!

 

When they came downstairs on their birthday, the famiy room was full of balloons and they loved it.  I love this tradition and hope we do it every year.

Mairead had school that day, so the boys and I headed to The Children's Museum in Dover, NH.  We loved it there!  It's much smaller than the one in Boston, but it was perfect for us.  They had a blast investigating and it was small enough that I could keep track of them pretty easily.  Their favorite exhibit was probably this submarine.  They stayed in there for a long time-- it was the first thing we saw and Jack didn't even want to check out any other exhibits- he just wanted to stay there all day!  fyi- in these pictures, Jack's sleeves are gray and Ben's are blue.

 Once we finally left the sub, we found a cool dinosaur dig where the boys put on their 'Bat goggles' and answered the 'Batphone.'

I recently lamented the loss of Thomas the train from our lives, as the boys insist that they don't want Thomas any more, only Batman.  Of course, though, where did they spend the most time at the museum?  At the train table, playing Thomas.  There's still hope!  It was nice to spend the day doing something special with my little guys.  I definitely recommend this museum for your 2-6 year old; I think 4 is probably the perfect age. 

That evening, I had to take Mairead to APT so Dave took the boys out to dinner at their favorite 'restanot,' the 99.  He also gave them their gifts, which were 'clicking on and off utility belts' that they had been asking for.  All in all, it was a pretty great day to turn four!