a garden party

this year we decided to have a destination birthday party for ben.
our destination - botanica, the wichita gardens.
not only does ben love visiting there, but they just opened a children's garden over the summer -
it was AMAZING!

dad made an early morning run to get donuts to start the day.

 listening to raffi radio on the way to wichita.
ben still has no idea "where" we are going.

 totally spoiled with undivided attention from nanna and grandma.

 the butterfly house

the vegetable garden

 the playhouse - complete with a great kitchen for our chef

 making music

 so much fun!

in fact we were having so much fun,
we missed taking pictures of many other features in the children's garden.

so you'll just have to go yourself to see it all.

after exploring the gardens, we had our picnic lunch.

ben opened his gifts - playing with each one before going on to the next.

then it was time for cupcakes - YUM!

happy birthday ben!