Lovely Little Blessings: Disney Birthday Extravaganza: Disneyland

August 16th- Matthew and Madison's birthday Day.

Mommy and Kennedy's morning started around 6am when the very loud, rude, and inconsiderate children from the next room woke up and started running down the halls screaming again. How did they have so much energy after going to bed after midnight?!
We did our best to stay quiet so Madison and Daddy could get more sleep. We made it to 7:15 before Madison woke up. Daddy peeked out from under his pillow shortly after.
The girls must have known it was Disney birthday day. They were climbing all over Daddy like monkeys as we tried to get ready for the day. We got dressed, packed up, and headed to the lobby just in time to miss the shuttle to the park. Instead of waiting 30 minutes we had a nice 15 minute walk over to the park. We all waited in line to get Matthew and Madison's birthday passes and every one's birthday buttons. The nice cast member at the ticket window let Kennedy have a birthday button, too even though her birthday is 3 days away.

* Ugh- blogger is doing something weird and putting extra spaces between my text and pictures- sorry this one is going to be even longer than it needs to be!*

Both girls donned their special birthday Minnie Ears Mommy made for them.

"Hey you- I'm FREE (aka three)"

Our first stop was the Princess line. As we found the last two visits, this line just gets longer as the day goes on.

Kennedy sported her Godfather face while Daddy held her.

Both girls happily stood in line (or were held in line) for the first 30 minutes. Then Kennedy decided she was done and wanted to cruise. She and Mommy walked around the Princess Pavilion, played in a water drinking fountain, and waved to passers-by. Then Madison decided to join in as Monster Mommy chased the girls around leaving Daddy in line to see the Princesses by himself.

As we got closer to the front of the line, there were plants and ledges to keep us busy.
Kennedy made the funniest faces while she played.

She loves to stick out those bottom two teeth. She has four more across the top, but you wouldn't know unless you looked for them since she hides them behind those funny bottom ones.

When it was finally our turn, the first princess we saw was Mulan.

We've never seen Mulan in real life before, so this was exciting for the girls.

Kennedy even gave Mulan a hug!

Next was our friend, Kailey Kate's favorite princess, Snow White.

Madison ran right up and gave her a big hug.

While Snow White was hugging Madison, she noticed another little munchkin toddling her way.

As Kennedy made her way over, Madison told Snow White a story.

Then Snow White told Kennedy a story about the painting on the wall.

Everyone liked the horsie in the picture.

Snow White was so sweet to the birthday girls.

She wished them both a very happy birthday before we said goodbye.

Then we saw another of Madison's favorites, Cinderella.

Mommy got to take a picture with all the beautiful Princesses, too.

Cinderella loved the girls' birthday ears very much.

Mommy was elated to have such a compliment from our royal friend.

After Princesses, Madison said she wanted to find Mickey.

Luckily we were right next door to Mickey's Toon Town so that was our next stop.

Mommy thought it might be fun to try and ride the Roger Rabbit cab ride.

The line was nice and short, but it was inside a dark building with kind of scary decor.

Madison did NOT like it.

She said the yellow car ride looked too scary and insisted we leave.

So we high tailed it out of there.

Little Miss Memory recognized the food area of Toon Town and remembered getting a Mickey ice cream with Daddy the first time we were all at Disneyland together for Mommy's birthday.

She asked if she could have one now.

It was just before lunch time but Mommy said OK.

After all, what better time to have ice cream before lunch than on your birthday!?

Madison was such a nice, big girl with her ice cream.

She shared bites with Daddy, Mommy,

even Kennedy!

This was Kennedy's first taste of a classic Mickey Ice Cream bar.

She thought it was a little cold

but kept going back for more.

When the ice cream bar was all finished, Madison got to open a birthday card.

(Mommy brought little treats for the girls to have throughout the day to make it even more special)

The card was from Gramm and Pop and had a little pink button on it that said Princess.

Madison loved it and insisted she wear it with her birthday button for the day.

Next she asked if she could look around the special treasure store (aka- a nearby gift shop)

She found a light up Minnie Mouse.

When you pressed the button her dress flew around and lit up.

Daddy and Kennedy walked in to join us when Kennedy was all cleaned up.

Kennedy walked right in the door in the background of this picture and toddled over to a display of Mickey plush by the door. She was so excited to see her very favorite character.

While Madison played with the Minnie toy, Kennedy and Daddy played with a light up Mickey ear spinner.

We explored the store a little more before heading out of Toon Town.

Kennedy was exhausted by this point since she didn't take a morning nap.

A nice bumpy stroller ride always rocks her right to sleep when she's over tired.

We laid down her seat, strapped her in and away we went to Fantasyland.

We were barely passed the Princesses when she conked out.

When we got to Fantasyland Madison couldn't wait to ride the carousel.

Daddy and Madison waited in line together while Mommy and Kennedy strolled through the park to keep Kennedy in a nice deep sleep.

Madison talked a mile a minute the entire ride- Daddy loved riding with his little birthday girl!

After the carousel, Daddy and Madison used all their combined birthday strength to try to pull the sword out of the stone.

No luck.

On our way to Fronteirland, Madison spotted a hat rack she wanted to play with.

Daddy held Madison's birthday hat while she tried on the others.

Daddy didn't know Mommy was behind them taking a picture.

"Hey Daddy, that hat looks lovely on you", turn, "click"- "Thanks a lot, Mommy"

When we got to Fronteirland Daddy wanted to show Madison one of his favorite things to do in the park. Madison was so excited!

She said the owls and rocks were not scary. It was fun!

While the birthday pair were shooting away, Miss Kennedy woke up.

Daddy got a round in by himself and we were off to another gift shop, at Madison's request.

While we were waiting in line at the Princesses earlier in the day, Mommy and Daddy spotted a Jessie doll another little girl had.

Madison found the doll in the Fronteirland shop along with a Jessie hat.

Aren't they a cute pair?

While Madison had her fun with Jessie, Woody, and Bullseye- Kennedy had HER eye on someone else.

A Mickey for each arm makes for a happy baby girl.

We made it out of the store empty handed and moved on to Adventureland.

Daddy LOVES the Jungle Cruise and was anxious to take the girls for their first ride.

Mommy and Madison were surprised by the squirting elephants.

Daddy said Mommy looks so silly in these pictures.

Madison thought all the animals and silly tour guide jokes were fun.

Kennedy enjoyed her view from Daddy's lap.

One of her favorite parts of the trip was holding or teething on the birthday buttons.

After Jungle Cruise we purused another shop.

These girls are wild about their animals.

After Jungle Cruise it was time for lunch.

We wandered back to Fronteirland and enjoyed our chicken strips, fish and chips, and apple slices.

After lunch, we followed the Fronteirland boardwalk around to Adventureland again.

Madison saw the 'fire building' and wanted to see what was inside.

Mommy knew the girls would love one of her favorite shows as a kid so we parked the stroller and went inside.

The dark room was the perfect place for Kennedy to relax and nurse a little under until the show started-then all bets were off.

In the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room, in the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room- All the birds sing words and the flowers groom in the tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki, tiki room

Kennedy was enthralled by the singing birds.

She perked up and signed bird, bird, bird over and over.

She bounced to the music.

Popped from Mommy's lap to Daddy's lap.

Yelled and reached out, but couldn't understand why she couldn't get the birds.

Madison thought the show was great, too- until the tiki statues started singing and drumming.

She informed us after the show 'I do not wike dos statue fings. Dey are too scary on deir drums'.

What a crack up.

We knew Kennedy was fading fast so we decided this would be a perfect time to head back to the hotel for naps.

Daddy decided the walk was not too bad, so we huffed it back to the hotel.

Daddy held Kennedy so she wouldn't go to sleep until we got back.

As soon as we walked in the door, Kennedy laid down, nursed for a second, and conked out.

Madison was quick to follow.

Mommy was almost asleep when the terror kids next door came back.

Luckily they did not wake the girls.

Daddy enjoyed some alone time with his good friend, the Captain (not hook) and some coke while the girls slept.

Madison napped so long we actually had to wake her to get ready to leave for our dinner reservations.

Mommy did not make reservations on her birthday back in May, but really wanted to eat at the Rainforest Cafe.

The wait time was over 2 hours so we decided against it.

Daddy insisted as we were planning this special weekend birthday trip- we were going to eat at Rainforest Cafe.

This time we made 6:15pm reservations.

We arrived at the restaurant with time to spare

and were seated upstairs by the gorillas just as they started talking.

Kennedy couldn't stop starring.

She thought they were so cool.

That's our little monkey.

Mommy's all time favorite Rainforest appetizer is back on the menu so we ordered some Chimi Cha-Cha's to start our meal.

They were not quite the same without the mango dipping sauce, but MMmmmm....yummy.

The girls shared kids mini cheeseburgers and corn.

Daddy had the Pastalaya- which made his tummy super happy.

He can't wait to try to make it at home.

Mommy had another favorite- Rasta Pasta.

For dessert, Mommy brought bundlets from our favorite cake place.

We had them with us all day in a cooler bag, (because bundlets are best served room temperature-not completely cold) along with candles because Mommy wasn't sure when would be the perfect time to surprise the birthday kids with a little treat.

We were too full after lunch and there wasn't a great snack time late in the day, so dinner dessert it was.

Our server insisted they sing to us Rainforest style even though we had our own treats.

We put the candles in her cake and waited for our server to come back with a lighter and singers.

Madison kept asking, 'When is the man gonna bring the fire?'

She LOVED all the clapping and singing for her birthday

and could hardly wait

to blow out her 3 candles.

We lit one for Kennedy, too and Mommy blew it out.

Kennedy was so confused.

Daddy insisted NO singing for him, but he was happy to eat cake.

Madison decided hands were the best utensils for the job.

Daddy and his birthday girl.

CHHHEEEESSSSSEEEEE!!!

Kennedy agreed- hands were the best way to go.

Her cake made her very happy!

She just couldn't decide if she wanted to eat it, or hold handfuls of it.

Guess she thought she needed to save some for later (doesn't she know there are two more in the fridge at home waiting for her REAL birthday?)

After dinner, Daddy ran back to the hotel to drop off our leftover pasta.

In all the excitement over dinner, we managed to leave the most important bag -the diaper bag back at the hotel, so it was the perfect excuse to take the food back instead of carrying it around the rest of the night.

California's Downtown Disney has musicians sprinkled throughout the shops playing everything from chello to jazz to country to blues.

Mommy and the girls stayed and listened to Brother Yusef jamming on his guitar.

He even played one of the songs (hey Diddle Diddle) from his kids album.

Madison danced in her stroller seat

but Kennedy wanted to get out and get down.

She was bouncing, walking, clapping, and swinging her arms all over the place.

This was the one time on the trip it would have been nice to have the video camera with us.

Maybe we will order his album so the girls can jam at home.

Daddy arrived back at Downtown Disney just as our new musician friend was taking a break.

Perfect time for another special birthday surprise for the girls.

Madison absolutely LOVES Build-A-Bear.

(I've mentioned before, but it's worth mentioning again- Build-A-Bear was started by a University of Georgia Alum- GOOOO DAWGS, Sic 'em! **thanks to Aunt Kristi for the info)

Madison currently has 3 of the $10-$12 animals she's aquired as treats here and there.

We've only ever created an animal, not dressed it.

Her current favorite is her orange 'CeCe Hello Kitty' who came with us on our Disneyland trip and got a special paw pass to cruise the store with us.

Our little 3 year old loves her sister, but does NOT love sharing with her.

On this trip, Kennedy got to pick out (with some help) any animal she wanted.

The monkey seemed fitting for our little monkey.

Madison was kind enough to help make the monkey for her baby sister.

First she helped stuff it.

then she gave it a hug to make sure it was squishy enough for her sister

next she picked out a heart and shook it up high

down low

rubbed it on her tummy so the monkey wouldn't be hungry

rubbed it on her leg so the monkey could walk

rubbed it on her cheek so the monkey would be pretty like her

(I'm not making this stuff up, this is what they made her do)

Kennedy and Daddy watched in amazement with 'CeCe Hello Kitty'

Lastly, Madison rubbed the heart between her hands to make it nice and warm

gave it a kiss

let Kennedy give it a kiss

and gave it to our beary nice helper to put insde and close up Kennedy's monkey.

When the monkey was all finished Madison gave it a bath

which she likes to do with her animals any time we are near a Build-A-Bear store.

When she was finished with Kennedy's animal, Madison got to pick out her very first outfit for CeCe Hello Kitty.

She chose a Princess Belle dress that is only available at Downtown Disney apparently.

Mommy tried to convince her to get the Ariel costume because it came with a cute red wig, but Madison was insistant on Belle.

Instead of matching sparkly shoes, we got cowboy boots for CeCe to wear later when Madison wears hers (so they can match, of course)

Kennedy's monkey got an exclusive Disneyland t-shirt and Mickey Ears (which will also fit her very favorite baby doll-double score!)

We paid for our birthday treats

but not before Madison managed to get a Beary Special Birthday sticker from one of the beary nice helpers

and we were off to Disneyland again to see the evening firework show in front of the castle.

When we entered the park we ran into Kennedy's very favorite friend

Madison and CeCe Hello Kitty got first hug

then Kennedy and her new monkey went for kisses

Kennedy just loves Minnie

so does Madison

After lots of birthday hugs and Kisses from Miss Minnie we walked over to the card at the end of Main Street.

There was a not so friendly Disney photographer

(yes, I said NOT so friendly- it's just not the same in California, Sam)

set up with a tri-pod taking photo pass pictures.

He kept taking grown-ups pictures and skipping over our turn.

Madison was hilarious standing in the background of several people's pictures as she waited

The girls finally snuck in for their shot in front of Mickey's celebrate card and balloons.

They look so tiny in front of the huge display

and so funny with their silly faces and animals

After pictures we wandered thru the crowds up people setting up shop in front of the castle

We finally decided we didn't have enough time to do anything before the show so we looped back around and found a spot in the middle of Main Street (which was completely roped off by now) to watch the 9:25pm firework and light show-Magic.

Before the show started, Kennedy was determined to escape our little roped off jail.

There were a couple college girls sitting near us that thought the girls were hilarous.

Kennedy made faces for them and hugged them.

They asked Kennedy what her monkey's name was and we told them they could name him.

One of the girls picked 'Bananas'. So now we have Bananas the monkey and CeCe Hello Kitty.

They shared in Madison's excitement as CeCe Hello Kitty donned her special Belle dress and crown.

and listened to Madison's stories of her adventures from the day while we waited for the show to start.

Most of the big fireworks were blocked by a huge tree since the majority of the show was left of the castle not directly behind it.

Madison and Kennedy weren't the least bit phased

Madison watched the show from Daddy's shoulders and had a great view of Tinkerbell and Dumbo flying through the sky at different points in the show.

Madison's favorite part was when the wishing stars shot back and forth across the sky.

At the end, she sang Cinderella's song with Mommy,

A dream is a wish your heart makes, when your fast asleep...

Kennedy was so tired but didn't want to miss a second of the show.

She cuddled up cheek to cheek with Mommy and hummed during the entire show.

The Mickey shaped confetti falling from the sky at the end of the fireworks and the wonder in the girls' eyes was too much for Mommy

It brought tears to her eyes.

What an indescribable feeling watching as your two little girls experience the magic of Disney in the same way you did as a child.

Such a precious moment.

After the crowds cleared out, we laid Kennedy down with her monkey in the back of the stroller and whisked away to the back of the park.

Within minutes she was asleep.

Daddy decided this was the perfect time to take Madison for her first ride on It's A Small World.

There was no line for the first time all day so they jumped right on

Daddy said eagle eye Madison spotted Tinkerbell and Peter Pan flying way up in the sky at one point. She spotted things he's sure he's never noticed in all the times he's riden before.

Madison told Daddy "It wasn't scary, it was atchually weary fun!"

When the ride was over we high-tailed it to the other side of the park to the Rivers of America to see the last super cool show of the evening, Fantasmic!.

Kennedy was still asleep and Madison was content with Mommy so Daddy decided he wanted to ride a few 'grown-up' rides.

He ran over to Haunted Mansion since we were right next to it.

It was down.

Then he raced over to Pirates of the Caribbean.

The line was huge.

All day he wanted to ride Space Mountain, so he decided this was the time.

Fortunately, we both had cell phones (how did we do things like this without cell phones?!) so he texted us he was heading back to Tomorrowland to jump in line.

Daddy missed the show, but he didn't mind.

Riding Space Mountain reminded him of when he was a kid visiting with park with his parents and Uncle Dan.

The ride was a lot shorter than he remembered- isn't that always the way it is when we grow up?

Back at the show, Madison and Mommy got a frozen raspberry lemonade to slurp during Fantasmic!

Mommy held Madison so she had a better view.

She was only scared a little (she turned around and cried out for Daddy) when Malificent turned into a dragon and spit fire across the water (I was even scared for a second!) but Mickey came to the rescue and brought out the river boat full of her favorite characters- all the Princesses, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Mary Poppins, Buzz, Woody- you name it, they were all there.

It was such a great show!

It's no wonder that's Disney's longest running night time show.

When the show was over we met up with Daddy, contemplated turning Madison's free birthday ticket into a California Resident annual pass, but decided Disney can be a special treat whenever we can get tickets for now (I'm sure Mommy can change Daddy's mind when the girls get bigger, wink) and strolled our babies back to the hotel.

On our way out we stopped for one last hug with Mickey for the birthday Daddy/Daughter combo