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[jc040404]

What a great rest of the day!! And those buzz scores!!! Awesome!!!
Now that Christmas is over I am FINALLY getting excited about our trip! And reading this day in your TR really is making me even more excited. Just the thought that soon I can walk thru magic kingdom and stop and watch the parade for a minute as it passes, and carousel of progress, and i really hope that the Magic, Memories, and You show is still going! That will be new for us! And this trip I am riding that train all the way around the park!! I really hope I don't forget! Oh boy!! So excited!! :-D

Yay! I'm glad you're finally getting excited over your trip! It's almost time to go! Be sure to wave at everyone you pass while on the train.

Seems like a perfect end to a perfect Disney day to me!!!

I love the picture of Andrew's princess kiss!

I haven't seen the Magic, Memories and You show....I wonder if it will still be running in January? (9 days by the way!!) I feel kind of like you and have mixed feelings about it, but all the pictures I've seen make it look very well done so maybe I would like if after all?!?

Thanks for the warning about that M&M dessert...it is just the kind of thing that would suck me in!!!

I can't believe your trip is in nine days now!! Super jealous!! I don't think we'll be back until June. And we may just stay at Pop for the pic and go to Sea World instead! I'm working on our plans for next year and Disney isn't rating very high until MNSSHP this time. Hope you're planning a TR!

The castle show is probably AWESOME if you know someone on it anyway! I hope you'll be able to see it.. or something even better! I can't wait to find out next year's theme!

 

[jc040404]

It’s birthday time! In case you didn’t know.. With John, Andrew, and Blake all born on the same day in June (different years, of course!), we have a set Disney birthday tradition. It began with Andrew’s first birthday/visit and that pic I loved of him at Pop Century. When Blake made his big debut on the same day in 2008, we set the plan in stone for as long as the boys were into it.

Unlike years past, this time we wouldn’t be going to be staying at Pop Century. Thank goodness we snapped that pic the last visit! It was an odd shift in our planning, but we were happy about it. Our last Pop adventure had been a nightmare, and we had another resort in mind anyway. I’d booked and cancelled POR earlier in the year due to a lack of real interest, but now we couldn’t wait! It was time to celebrate!

Our visit would begin at MK, with an early goal to see the welcome show. Unfortunately, a slow start kept things from working out. We wouldn’t make it to the park until just after the show, but thankfully it wasn’t because of this..

Yikes.. Speed limit, people!

The boys had a morning race request that would be filled before much else happened. We’d been skipping the cars quite a bit, due to the changes and a now constant long wait time. No one was interested in hanging out here later in the day. It would be a perfect first ride.

Along the way to our destination, I snapped a much desired picture!

Those two must be popular because this was the first time in ages that I’d seen them without a crowd of adoring fans. I’m clearly not one of the big camera people on here, but I was thrilled to catch such a pretty shot with no one in it for once!

Away from Mickey and Minnie, it was race time. I did run over for a round of Buzz FPs first though! There wasn’t a line at opening, thankfully, but someone cut just as Andrew and I made it to loading! Some silly man and an almost three year old boy pushed ahead of us and laughed. How rude! It was John and Blake, of course. Andrew took this seriously and said we’d see them on the race track!

John should’ve learned long ago that cheaters never win, but he’d get another lesson today. He and Blake were directed to a car, but Andrew and I would be sent to one that left first! In fact, there were some technical issues going that had them waiting to move until our car was well into the race. Maybe he’d learn this time!

Andrew took his driver status very seriously and concentrated on the road ahead of us..

Not knowing about the issues that were keeping the rest of our family, I kept watch behind us to see when they might finally appear, hoping to catch a Blaker the driver photo. It took quite a while, but we finally saw them!

Blaker the driver!

We both waved like crazy people to the little guy, but I’m not sure he realized who we were! Hahaha!! John certainly didn’t and kept telling Blake to watch ahead of the car. He’d been running video of their ride and didn’t notice we were the reason for the distraction. Too funny! You can see Andrew and I race by in his movie! (That I would totally share if I had my computer fixed! I misss it!!)

We are the champions!!

Moving into the Fantasyland routine, the boys saw Alice and the White Rabbit were out, so we hopped into their line to visit. It was few families long, but nothing terrible. I immediately noticed that this wasn’t Andrew’s Alice, but it was okay. The boys hoped to collect the rabbit’s autograph for their books.

When our turn came, Blake and Andrew raced forward for hugs. The CM with the characters immediately told John where to push the stroller, so he followed her direction. This didn’t please the woman when she noticed he was holding the boys’ books, opened and ready to go.

“They can’t sign all the way over there!” she sarcastically called to him.

Ugh! Why say it like that? John rushed the books back to the boys, but not before we shared a look over her tone of voice!

That CM drove me nuts during the M&G. She talked nonstop, asking the silliest things! Trying to listen to both conversations, I wasn’t doing well at keeping up with any of it. After a rapid fire line of questions about how often we come to the parks, she overheard Andrew telling Alice about the shared birthday. The CM jumped on for a new set of things to inquire about.

“Oh! It’s his birthday?? How old is he??”

I wasn’t completely certain what the woman had just asked me and said I didn’t know. Haha.. Yep, I’m the mom that has no clue how old her kids are! She shot me an odd look, so I tried to explain I was listening to the kids. Fun times! The boys finished up with their friends and we left. And not a minute too soon either!

Away from that fun experience, we walked up to see Pooh’s ride was at twenty minutes. With all the fun activities to keep the boys busy, we thought it was perfect. They love playing in here, but we usually rush through or do FP instead. We took our time this day and let them have fun along the way.

It turned out to be the perfect day for standby. The boys got to play with the bees and be hives for the first time! They were nuts over this thing and thought we needed one at home.

Finally on the ride, Pooh wasn’t feeling well again. Our big “Hooray!” at the end was missing the “Hooray!” part. Sadness. Luckily, my two silly boys are always sure to fill in, even when our Pooh friends just don’t have it in them!

We moved on to the carousel and a super important ride. Snow White was something I wanted to make a point of riding whenever we could after reading that it was going away. It had never been super important to us, but I was already mourning the loss. It was bumped up on our list. I can’t wait to see this new ride though!

Despite the twenty minutes sign, it only took five! Even so, Andy-Roo managed to get “sooooo bored” during the short wait.

Grabbing PPF FPs next, it was IASW time! My adorable little men caught the attention of an older couple in line when they decided to hug each other. The couple was all smiles and the man turned a video camera their way for a moment. He quickly stopped and apologized for it, saying they reminded him of their grandchildren. It was odd, but seemed harmless enough. I never know how to react to that in the parks. If someone at the mall walked up and wanted to video or take pictures of the boys, I’d be searching for security! This man was just recording his experience and caught sight of them. Not a big deal!

Knowing that someone found him completely adorable, Andrew was eating up all the attention and being super sweet to his little brother anyway. It made for an interesting little wait when Blake decided he’d had enough love for one day! He didn’t fuss, but matter-of-factly told big brother that they were done hugging now. Silly boy..

Next Up! Philharmagic!

We missed seeing this on our December visit! I just remembered it was on our list and we never made it back around the park!

We took a lunch break at our favorite place, in our new favorite spot upstairs. Lunch was yummy and the show was excellent. Show? One of the Haunted Mansion CMs must’ve had some princess ambitions. She was standing at the end where someone usually does, and spent her time twirling her dress and dancing around. I thought she was adorable! That job did look kinda boring though. She people watched and gave directions. That seemed to be about it. I’d probably be dancing, too!

The haunted princess inspired a trip to the Haunted Mansion next! I was sad to see that she must’ve moved on to more important mansion work when we got down there. I totally planned to compliment her! We took the scenic route and checked out all the nifty new’ish stuff.

Too creepy!

The boys love this area and want to play a lot. We took our time this day and let ‘em explore. It’s pretty nifty in here. Their favorite thing is the bookshelf and that piano.

I do admit that I’m not totally certain how this thing works. Are you pushing something through? I don’t get it..

Finally near the door, I love watching this one and caught her eyes!

The ride was fun, but stopped sooo mannnyyy timeessss! We didn’t get walked out for anything, so it was mostly annoying. We never get paused in any of the good parts on this one!

Can you tell I'm trying to get finished with the TR now? I see another update later tonight and the entire TR finished verrryy soon.

 

[jc040404]

We took care of those PPF FPs, with Blakers suddenly becoming mommy’s boy and ignoring the rest of the world. The little guy was glued to my side! It was sweet at first, but just the start of a phase where he didn’t want me out of his sight. He stuck close to me as we moved on to BTMRR to collect a FP set.

Along the way.. a white bird sighting!

Standby and our FP return time were both exactly thirty minutes away! It was a nifty coincidence, and we opted for the FP side of it. We could run off to POTC and be back in that time instead of melting in the standby line.

POTC was full of screamy girls. Enough said. It wasn’t one of our better experiences! We were happy to be done with it and on the way back to Frontierland. John and Blake headed down to play by Splash while Andrew and I rode the wildest ride in the wilderness! It was so much fun that we grabbed another set of FPs on the way back to our family! BTMRR was definitely one of the more neglected rides of our second AP year. Andy-Roo missed our late nights of riding it over and over, so I planned to try to make it happen this day! We both can’t wait until Blake is tall enough for this one.

Down by Splash, Blake knew that Goofy was out, so we joined his line for a picture.

By the end of it, we were all roasting and changing our plans for the day again. We decided to gift the BTMRR FPs to a family nearby and get out of here for an evening of pool time instead!

It was exactly 2:55 when we walked out of our shortcut through the Emporium. At such a time, we just couldn’t resist.. When is that three o’clock parade? In five minutes! We found our favorite spot unoccupied and waited for the fun to begin!

Awwwww.. Abu! Short story.. When Andrew was a baby, a little plush Abu was his most favorite toy in the world. My first tiny baby would lie on his back and hold Abu by the arms above him. He’d babble endlessly to that toy and never tire. I so loved watching him tell those stories to his monkey!

Seeing Abu come to over to visit and knowing that baby was just hours away from being a five year old, I was really fighting some tears. I felt silly to cry over the passage of time in such a ridiculous moment and could only imagine what the next day might do to me! Must they grow up so fast?

When the parade had finally passed, we were off to POR!

 

[CAStevens218]

Seems like a great birthday eve so far!! I can't believe I have been reading your trip reports for so long now....it seems like it was very recently that I was reading about the last birthday trip!!! I think I've mentioned this before, but my brother and I are 5 yrs and 1 day apart (Feb 17 and 18), so I love hearing about your boys' shared birthday!!

I'm so sad we didn't ride Snow White on our last trip...oh well, I just have to look forward to the new ride! I hope it will be as great as it sounds!!!

We enjoy Big Thunder Mountain...I'm sad that its going down for a refurb just a few days into our trip...we are making a point of getting to Magic Kingdom to do that and Dumbo before they close down!!

Very cute picture and story about Andrew and Abu!!!

 

[jc040404]

Seems like a great birthday eve so far!! I can't believe I have been reading your trip reports for so long now....it seems like it was very recently that I was reading about the last birthday trip!!! I think I've mentioned this before, but my brother and I are 5 yrs and 1 day apart (Feb 17 and 18), so I love hearing about your boys' shared birthday!!

I'm so sad we didn't ride Snow White on our last trip...oh well, I just have to look forward to the new ride! I hope it will be as great as it sounds!!!

We enjoy Big Thunder Mountain...I'm sad that its going down for a refurb just a few days into our trip...we are making a point of getting to Magic Kingdom to do that and Dumbo before they close down!!

Very cute picture and story about Andrew and Abu!!!

Is Snow White's ride closed now? It was still up and running when we were there earlier this month. I think you'll still get a chance! BTMRR was one we were sure to catch a ride on because of the closing soon. Glad you'll be able to do MK in time to ride them first!

And how nifty about your birthdays.. I do remember this and can't believe how common close/same birthdays like this really are! We thought it was so incredible just when Andrew was born on John's birthday. Umm.. Not so rare after all!

 

[CAStevens218]

Is Snow White's ride closed now? It was still up and running when we were there earlier this month. I think you'll still get a chance! BTMRR was one we were sure to catch a ride on because of the closing soon. Glad you'll be able to do MK in time to ride them first!

And how nifty about your birthdays.. I do remember this and can't believe how common close/same birthdays like this really are! We thought it was so incredible just when Andrew was born on John's birthday. Umm.. Not so rare after all!

Ohhh maybe it is still open...I haven't been keeping up on it very carefully! I hope we get a chance to ride!

Even if close/same birthdays are common, I still think the situation in your family is rather extraordinary! 3 on the same day!!!!

 

[jc040404]

Ohhh maybe it is still open...I haven't been keeping up on it very carefully! I hope we get a chance to ride!

Even if close/same birthdays are common, I still think the situation in your family is rather extraordinary! 3 on the same day!!!!

I think you will. I can't find when the ride is closing anywhere.

3 on the same is pretty awesome, even if it might not be as rare as we first thought! I do asked what's so special about September a lot though. It's such a crazy coincidence really!

 

[jc040404]

POR Check-in was mostly a breeze. We were called to a CM immediately and the process began. There was a slight issue with Blake’s KTTW and one that I’d gone over with another CM when booking this one. I get super confused over the “turning three” issues and didn’t know how it would be handled since his birthday was in the middle of the stay. We messed up with Andrew’s third birthday and paid for things that we didn’t really need to. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice!

The phone CM assured me that, by checking in at age two, Blake was a Disney 2 for the entire stay. Despite this, his keys printed with him as a child already, not as an infant! I questioned whether or not I now needed to have park tickets for him, but was again told he was fine. I didn’t really like that our keys seem to disagree with that, but we didn’t have it changed. It did make for some nerve-wracking entrances to the parks in the next two days though! I was so worried a CM would question Blake’s age and then argue with the misprinted keys. I prepared myself for the possibility of needing one for him, but we’d never have an issue. Thank goodness! We were still a little undecided on what to do about our WDW future back then.

After that was mostly settled, we were out in search of our room. I’d made a request for Magnolia Bend and it was granted! Our room was whatever the “standard” level is here, but I’m not certain if that’s how we’d end up. This room was amazing. It was on the river in Parterre Place, in building 95. It was a corner room and absolutely perfect. We were right beside a pool and soo close to the bridge. I think I’d be fine living there for a while.

Before we even saw the inside of our room, I was in love. I admit it made me nervous. I had the same reaction to CBR the first time we stayed there! That didn’t exactly work out well on the repeat stay. Andrew was excited over the river and couldn’t stop saying how much he loved the place. He was so excited over it that he ran right into a column! While we all loved POR, it will prove to be a little dangerous for my boys.

The room!

The only thing we didn’t care for about this resort was how cluttered the room felt. They really stuff a lot in there, and the mirror on the wall seems “off” to me. Maybe it needed relocated to another spot? Despite, we still loved the place! I think it’s been refurbished since we stayed here, and this building will have the royal rooms. I could be totally wrong, of course.

After we had all of our things brought inside, Andrew and I got to work on those birthday buttons! We buy special stickers for the names (JoAnn Fabrics) but found some cute Mickey head stickers to make this year extra special! We decided to skip the ages this time because there just weren’t enough 5’s in the package.

Buttons ready to go, it was time to explore!

They loved this!

After some fun, dinner was needed! We went off property this night, but I’ve forgotten where. We did need to make an important stop at Publix before going back to the resort though. Being on the water, the mosquitoes were extra vicious and I’d forgotten the insect repellent! That wouldn’t end well for me and Blake. I did take pictures in the grocery store though!

No, we weren’t loading up on alcohol! This is also the bread aisle and I couldn’t believe how bare the shelves were.

We weren’t buying bread, so I don’t really know why were in that aisle at all!

The grocery trip behind us, it was swim time! We spent the rest of the day at the pools and had a great ending to the day!

 

[CAStevens218]

Ohhh, Port Orleans Riverside looks great! This resort is on my list for sure!

Cute picture of Blake with the towel Mickey!

Those sure are some bare shelves....crazy!

 

[Dugette]

Hope you guys have had very happy holidays!

Just got caught up on your three parks in one day. Very cool!

Yum, I remember having those green beans at Yak & Yeti...very tasty!

And super awesome about you and Andrew both maxing out Buzz! That is so cool that you both did it on the same ride. (And, by the way, based on our experiences, having the ride stop is almost a necessity to maxing out).

You stayed in the same POR building that we were in when we stayed there. Loved the river and the location was great. That's cool how you put the names on the birthday buttons! Very cute pic of Blake on the bed w/the Mickey towel!

 

[jc040404]

Ohhh, Port Orleans Riverside looks great! This resort is on my list for sure!

Cute picture of Blake with the towel Mickey!

Those sure are some bare shelves....crazy!

It was so nice! I definitely want to stay there again someday.

I loved Blake's little pose with the towel and had to snap a pic. He's too cute.

I think it's a little nuts that I took a bread aisle picture. It had me thinking hurricane season though.

Five more days!!

Hope you guys have had very happy holidays!

Just got caught up on your three parks in one day. Very cool!

Yum, I remember having those green beans at Yak & Yeti...very tasty!

And super awesome about you and Andrew both maxing out Buzz! That is so cool that you both did it on the same ride. (And, by the way, based on our experiences, having the ride stop is almost a necessity to maxing out).

You stayed in the same POR building that we were in when we stayed there. Loved the river and the location was great. That's cool how you put the names on the birthday buttons! Very cute pic of Blake on the bed w/the Mickey towel!

Hope you had a great holiday, too!

I think I hit 999,999 the first time without a pause, just stupid luck along the way. I didn't even know what I was doing! This double maxed out scores was too amazing. Best Buzz ride ever!

Super cool that you were in that same building at POR, too! Wasn't it perfect? I wished we'd booked a couple more nights and hope to return to that one someday. There was so much more we wanted to check out here, but didn't get to. I'm considering it for sometime this year, since we're not doing APs but still want to hit the important stuff. (Birthdays, MNSSHP, Christmas stuff)

 

[jc040404]

The Big Birthday!!

I couldn’t believe this day had come again so fast. It was June 13th, and all of my boys were getting older.. again! Before the trip, they had given me their Disney birthday wishes and one park could easily grant them all. We were up and out early to make rope drop at DHS!

TTFN, POR!

We made it inside the park and did our usual split by 8:45. John would take Andrew to get ready for his first Disney wish, Jedi training! Blake and I would be braving the crowds to collect our TSM FPs for later. It was routine and worked very well. The only difference this morning had from all the others was that icky June weather. Fifteen minutes packed in like sardines was miserable! Blake wasn’t happy about it, and neither was I. We couldn’t wait for this crowd to get moving.

Our separate missions went well enough and we all met back by Star Tours. Andrew’s training wouldn’t be until after noon, so we had plenty of time for fun before. Our first stop wasn’t terribly far away. Since our last visit to this park, Phineas & Ferb had finally started their M&G and we couldn’t miss it! The boys made sure to wear P&F shirts just for the occasion! Blake gets so excited to wear brother’s clothes, so that silly Perry shirt was a HUGE deal to him! We couldn’t find any P&F stuff for little guys. Silly Disney, this is one of Blaker’s favorite shows!

We were at the M&G area very early, of course, so John asked a nearby CM about times. We didn’t have too long, and he advised us to stay put. He’d open the chained off area soon and crowds would be ridiculous later on. I took a bench while John waited at the entrance for now. The boys were nuts over all the P&F stuff here!

Ducky Momo!!

Soon enough, the chain was down and we were first in line!

It seemed like a long wait already, but we knew it would only be worse later in the day. Our total time here was about thrity minutes, but the boys loved every minute of it. Another mom with a couple of children older than Andrew joined next. Andy-Roo had the best time playing with them and they got each other so excited over it! I loved listening to the kids talk about their favorite episodes. It soon had the adults joining in, too! P&F is such a fun show. The entire time we waited, P&F music was playing, too. Loved it!

A short bit later, a CM came out to get the crowd excited over the two special characters we were about to see. The kids went nuts as the boys started to run out with their guitars!

My boys hurried over to collect autographs and birthday hugs. It was very rushed, but very cool. They were so excited to have met these two!

The next stop for me and Andrew was Star Tours. I believe John took Blake to see the Muppets while we were away. I know they stayed close.

Our trip this time was even better! Darth Vader tried to hold us at the beginning, which you know I loved! We went to Hoth this time, with the AT-AT walkers. I think I have that right! It was very snowy anyway. Haha.. That one is a crazy ride!

We collected a set of FPs and joined our waiting family to run to Pixar Place next!

After each boy had his turn, we had just enough time before Jedi training to check out something new. One Man’s Dream was something we’d never taken a look at, but we’d try to fit it in this time.

It didn’t turn out very well. We spent so much time looking at everything in here (sorry no pics!) that there was no time to stick around for the next show. It was really neat to check out what we did anyway. We turned to run back for more Star Wars fun!

This was not our favorite Jedi training experience. For one, the sun was brutal! It was mid-June and you could definitely tell. I think my family needs to change their birthdays to a cooler month! We were all roasting and not really enjoying the location. Even the light saber instructor (only one I’ve ever heard introduce himself as that) looked ready to melt through the show.

Added to that, an awful little boy was part of Andrew’s group and was really getting to me. The boys was a little older than most of the rest and spent the wait making fun of them all! I love how Andrew handled this and just kept talking to the others, completely ignoring the little brat. He eventually left them alone, but I had a tough time not saying something to him. His parents even seemed to be cheering the child on. I can’t imagine where he'd learned to behave this way..

Andrew’s turn came near the end and he really got into it this time. He literally jumped for the head shot! It was great and so funny!

So funny! I'd once mentioned that Andrew never looks at me when he's up there. This was his special "just for Mommy" moment.

At the end of this Jedi project, Andrew decided it would be okay to skip doing this again until Blake was old enough. I know it was mostly inspired by the terrible heat, but it sounded like a sweet plan to me. We couldn’t wait to get some cold drinks and get out of the sun. The timing was perfect for it. We had an ADR at Sci-Fi that was just twenty minutes away.

Sci-Fi was one of the boys’ shared Disney birthday wishes, and very easily granted. We all love the place. (In case you hadn’t noticed yet!) For the first time, the CM that seated us was on roller skates. The boys thought that was great. The meal was the usual, but with a fun ending. This time, the boys’ ice cream desserts came with birthday candles!

We had just one more birthday wish for DHS, but it would unfortunately have to wait. It had been Blake’s request for a “muffin with sprinkles”, which I knew meant a cupcake. I thought we'd check out Starring Rolls for the first time, but we weren’t going to last long enough to be hungry again for it. The humidity had already gotten to the little guy and he was in need of a break soon. We decided to save it for now and get Blakers out of the park before he got terribly upset.

 

[AprilRenee]

Sounds like a fun day so far even with the heat. I'm glad you guys finally got to go see the One Man's Dream displays. The movie is cool but really I like the museum area better anyway!

 

[GaRain]

Let's move their birthdays to March and then I can celebrate with them. Cause that sounds like a great birthday day at Disney so far!!

 

[jc040404]

Sounds like a fun day so far even with the heat. I'm glad you guys finally got to go see the One Man's Dream displays. The movie is cool but really I like the museum area better anyway!

It was really nifty in there. The CM at the entrance was especially awesome with the boys when we went in, too. I remember Blake being nuts over Walt's school desk, I think. And Andrew posed with some Alice stuff. I was surprised by how much stuff was actually in there. Very neat! Someday we'll get to the movie part of it.

Let's move their birthdays to March and then I can celebrate with them. Cause that sounds like a great birthday day at Disney so far!!

March would be perfect!! Andrew is sad his birthday isn't in the school year, so that would be awesome for him. The day was a lot of the same, but exactly what they asked for.

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a pretty good start to the birthday celebration. I know nothing about P&F, but it seems like the M&G was a big hit. Too bad that it wasn't the greatest Jedi Training Academy, but the pics are still cute! And I bet it was wonderful to escape from the heat at the Sci Fi!

 

[jc040404]

Sounds like a pretty good start to the birthday celebration. I know nothing about P&F, but it seems like the M&G was a big hit. Too bad that it wasn't the greatest Jedi Training Academy, but the pics are still cute! And I bet it was wonderful to escape from the heat at the Sci Fi!

You should totally check them out! Phineas & Ferb is one of those silly cartoons I'd watch, even if the boys aren't around. It reminds me more of the fun cartoons I watched after school than the goofy stuff they produce for children now. It's too funny and the songs are great!

Disney in the summer is so tough for us to adjust to, despite living in Florida. I think we get too used to one style of park touring in all the nicer months and forget that WDW in the summer isn't exactly the same as being here. Sci-Fi was a nice escape from it!

 

[jc040404]

Driving away from DHS to go back to the resort, both of the boys were soon asleep in the car. That’s never good. Naptime wouldn’t happen, so we chose to keep driving to let them sleep. I began to feel bad about the skipped cupcake, but we had made the best decision for him, if a bit too late. We could get one later. Even so, this whole trip felt Andrew focused and I couldn’t stop feeling that I’d let my baby down. I told John to take me to Publix again. Gotta love the mommy guilt!

Leaving John in the car with our sleeping boys, I ran into the store to pull something together quickly. While we were shopping the evening before, Blake had spotted a balloon cake by the bakery that he loved. Lucky for me, it was still there. We already had a special cake set up for when we got home again, but this was their birthday. I couldn’t let them celebrate with nothing and should’ve known better when I didn’t order a Disney cake to begin with. Lesson learned. I grabbed some candles & party plates, and we were on our way back to POR with a surprise!

John kept the boys sleeping the car while I set things up inside. I’d told him to wait maybe five minutes before bringing them in, but it wouldn’t be quite long enough. I just don’t have much experience with lighters and had the worst time trying to light those candles. I just couldn’t make the silly thing light at all! I had two to go when a couple little boys started knocking on the door!

Blake and Andrew both looked a bit more refreshed, but very confused that I was in the room before them. They rushed in and saw the surprise on the table.

They loved it! Blake didn’t quite understand how it had gotten to our room, because he knew we didn’t get it the night before. My silly, last minute cake idea was a huge hit. I really wish I’d just ordered a Disney cake after all, but this worked out great. While they’d gotten to blow out a candle on their Sci-Fi ice cream, Andrew declared that he wasn’t really five until he’d blown out cake candles. Now, they were all officially one year older.

Excited over their new ages and with a fresh sugar boost, the boys were bundles of crazy energy again. They started to notice all of the little things mousekeeping had done to our room that morning. We had some towel creations that they’d never seen before!

Poor, Andy-Roo.. His toothbrush is one of those battery operated things, so his was skipped!

Awww.. Bear & Eeyore were cuddling!

The boys started getting extra crazy as they tried to race the towel cars. They definitely needed to get out and run for a bit. John decided to take our two little animals to get some birthday sodas so I could shower before the next part of this birthday adventure began. I didn’t even pretend to understand why soda was needed. It’s their birthdays! They were bouncing off the walls in excitement over our evening plans already.

Alone in the quiet room, I first cleaned up that cake mess. I didn’t see us eating any of it later, so maybe it wasn’t so bad that I was cheap about the WDW cake. Rinsing off the happy face candles they both begged me to keep, I started reflecting again. It’s really inevitable. Each of their birthdays is bound to bring the tears at some point.

I wouldn’t want them to stay little forever, of course, and I am very proud of the wonderful boys that my little men are becoming. I can't help but be amazed at how fast time goes though. It seemed just yesterday that John and I began to seriously discuss the possibility of having children together. A blink later and I’m watching the joyful tears filling my husband’s eyes as we welcomed our first little man into the world.

Blink again and “Baby Blake” was in my arms.

I can't resist looking at their baby pictures again. I even tossed in one of me for you. It was tough to believe that those sweet newborns were now three and five years old already!

Not only an important day for those two, it also marked my wonderful husband’s 55th birthday. His day gets pushed to the side with the boys’ celebration, but that is his wish anyway. Each year, he reminds me that there’s no greater gift I could ever give him than our two beautiful children. Fully aware of what the two of us face in the future, knowing he’s also getting older isn’t exactly my favorite part of the day. If losing my mother taught me anything, it’s that life can be completely unpredictable.. and much too short. Each moment is truly a gift, but it sure would be nice to hold onto a few of them for a teeny bit longer.

I stood drying my hair, and my eyes, when my birthday boys came bouncing into the room again. They were ready for more action and a brand new adventure. Our journey this time would take us across that bridge and around the resort to catch a boat. This was all new to us, but the plan was to head to DTD for some gift shopping.

Finding our destination easily enough, the boys’ buttons caught the attention of a couple of CMs nearby. It wasn’t the first time, and we’d spent much of our DHS morning explaining the birthdays to various CMs that inquired. (Lady at One Man’s Dream, I sooo wish I’d remembered your name to send a compliment.. You were awesome!) These two would load Blake and Andrew up with lots of “presents” to go along with the happy birthday wishes. The boys walked away with lots of beads, stickers, and temporary tattoos. They thought it was great!

It was such a relaxing little journey and made me really love POR even more. We don’t do DTD at all really, but having this mode of transportation to get us there made it a sure thing. It was especially awesome not to deal with that parking lot! There was so much to see along the water, and just spending the quiet time with my little family was heavenly.

We passed the rest of the day checking out stores and letting the boys choose their Disney presents.

Quite a bit of time was spent around the Lego store, but it was one place they didn’t buy anything! That place was total chaos and I couldn’t wait to escape it. I was a little surprised at the selection of Lego sets. They really didn’t have anything terribly special, IMO.

On the boat ride back to POR, we took advantage of the stop at POFQ and jumped off the ship to explore here as well. It was cute enough but I don’t see us choosing this one. I didn’t really like the look of the buildings all that much. It felt crowded and much busier than POR ever did. The boys thought all the alligators were pretty cool though!

We grabbed dinner at the food court here, complete with another special dessert for Blake. After reading such wonderful things about the beignets here, I had intended to try them after our meal. Unfortunately, the lines only seemed to get worse as time passed so I simply skipped going back for anything. I think I like keeping a “Next Time” list anyway.

More pool time back at POR finished the big day. While it may not look like anything terribly special, the boys had the exact Disney birthday they asked for. Andrew declared that it was “perfect” and Blake was especially crazy over stuffing another box with potato head pieces and going to Sci-Fi. They fell asleep as soon as their little heads hit the pillow, excited for whatever the next day might bring.

 

[AprilRenee]

Sounds like a great day!
I loved seeing the baby pics of the boys! Can't wait til I have my own pics like that...it's so soon!!! Though at the same time, I'm kinda enjoying him being inside me where I know he's safe and I can keep him all to myself and don't have to share.

 

[Dugette]

Sounds like a great triple-birthday! Glad you pulled off the cake surprise!

Your mousekeeper was sure creative with the towels. I've never seen toothbrush holders and cars before!

Very cute baby pictures of the boys!