There is a 7 Year Old in the House!

As of September 28, we have a 7 year old in our house! It's amazing to think we've had this amazing little man living in our midst for 7 years already! It seems like only yesterday that we were discovering all the joys and challenges of becoming new parents. Phew! We've survived 7 years now!

Well, this year Benjamin decided that he wanted to have a Thor and Captain America themed birthday party. Much like his daddy, he loves his super heros! 

We rented an inflatable bouncy slide and we were fortunate to have unseasonably warm and sunny weather on the first Saturday in October! We celebrated with a few neighbor families as well as a few classmates. Overall, a perfect turnout to help celebrate his big day. 

The kids all received super hero masks as they arrived then had a blast on the inflatable slide, played a few games and decorated little pumpkins. Then we enjoyed some sandwiches, snacks and cake. Before we knew it the party was wrapping up and Benjamin was giving out his party favors and saying farewell to his guests. 

We are so proud of Benjamin and the amazing guy that he is. He loves to sing, laugh, build with Legos,  and race his neighbor friend to the bus stop every morning to be first on the bus. He plays soccer, is discovering what being a Boy Scout is all about, and continually amazes us with new facts he learns and is continually discovering things in our world to be fascinated by.

It's been a great journey parenting Benjamin and we are so thankful that God blessed us with him.

The Chapmans in Paris

Recently, some friends of ours contacted us to let us know they were headed to Paris and to see if we could meet up with them somewhere. We had yet to take the kids to Paris and although we wanted to this past summer the opportunity wasn't there once Don had to go to the states for over a month during the summer. 

So we had a nice weekend in Paris over Columbus Day weekend! We took the train Saturday afternoon and didn't get to Paris until almost dinnertime. So, we checked into our hotel and met our friends near the Eiffle Tower. We enjoyed dinner with our friends (some former neighbors from Ashburn who were in Paris for a week) and then headed back to the hotel. 

On Sunday we got an early start and boarded the train to head outside of Paris over to Disneyland Paris. It was pouring rain when we got off the train. 

But we were all still happy to be at Disneyland. There are two Disney parks there. One is based on the Magic Kingdom in Florida and the other is Disney Studios. We chose to go to Magic Kingdom for the day. So, our first stop was to purchase some rain ponchos for those of us that weren't quite equipped for the rain for the day. Then we went on the Buzz Lightyear ride which all the kids LOVED! Then we headed for It's a Small World, the Tea Cups and then lunch. 

After lunch it wasn't raining so much. Thank goodness!!!! So, the rest of our day was a bit more enjoyable. There were character shows outside with Halloween themes and we enjoyed some more rides, shows and food! The boys even got to meet Darth Vader at the Star Tours ride. Overall, a fantastic day despite the rain.

Then we headed back to the train (there is a train station that goes right to the Disney parks!). It was already dark out and the kids were tired out (except for Grace who had napped in her stroller earlier in the day). Both Benjamin and Samuel fell asleep hard. The train ride was about 45 minutes and then we had to switch trains in Paris. The boys were tired, crabby and disoriented. We all just wanted to be back at the hotel. But luckily our hotel was very close to the train station... literally across the street. So, it wasn't so bad.

On Monday, we aimed for another early start but everyone was still pretty tired from Disneyland. We made it to the Eiffle Tower around 10 a.m. and met up with our friends again. We got in line for the elevators and took the elevator to the 2nd floor and enjoyed some views then continued on to the top floors. It was rather cool and windy up top with some very high (airplane like) views of Paris. The kids really enjoyed it.

After spending time in the Eiffle Tower we walked across the street and picked up some crepes (yum!) and sandwiches from one of the stands. We visited with our friends some more over lunch then headed back to our hotel to pick up bags then back to the train. 

The kids all slept pretty hard on the train ride home so I guess that's a sign that we had a good trip! They were all tuckered out.