A Georgia Girl in Germany

As difficult as it is for me to accept how much MacKenzie’s growing up, it’s even more difficult to watch Benjamin grow up. After all, he’s my baby. And he’s now 7! For the past several years, Zachary’s been camping on MacKenzie’s birthday, but not so this year. Instead, he was camping on Benjamin’s birthday. Because of his absence, combined with the fact that Benjamin’s birthday was mid-week and we were moving on-base that week, Benjamin’s big day didn’t have much fanfare. He was a good sport about it, and decided to only open two gifts on his birthday, and to save the rest for his party the following weekend.

Just like MacKenzie’s birthday party, Benjamin’s was organized at the last minute. I was very grateful that some of his friends were able to join us at the Kid Zone to help him celebrate. Jordan and Gracie (left) just moved to Ramstein, so this was a great opportunity to introduce them (and their parents) to the Kid Zone (I’ve been stationed with their mom three times now!).

Even though I had set aside a cake mix, frosting, a handheld mixer, a cake pan, etc, I didn’t have time to bake (let alone decorate) Benjamin’s cake while in the midst of moving on-base. Thankfully, he acquiesced and allowed me to buy a cake at the commissary and personalize it for him. Whew! Thank goodness for the little things!

Benjamin enjoyed listening to us sing “Happy Birthday” to him, while sitting next to Nicholas and Bryson. Pizza, games, presents and friends were all Benjamin needed to make the day special! This was actually a very busy and celebratory day for us -- it started out with Benjamin going to Bryson’s birthday party at the base pool, followed by his own evening birthday party, then us dropping off MacKenzie to one of her friends’ slumber birthday party (after picking up Zachary from his campout return). I was definitely tired out at the end of the weekend! Thankfully, it seems the birthday party season is over for us.

Labels: Benjamin, Birthdays, MacKenzie