For Mason's 1st and 2nd birthdays, we had parties. We had joint parties with my niece, Addison, because her birthday is 2 days after Mason's (technically 2 years before and 2 days later which I guess is really 1 year and 363 days before, if you're being technical) and it just made sense. (In case you're interested, for Mason's 1st birthday, we had a Muppet themed party and for his 2nd birthday, we had a Pirate/Princess themed party). But this year, I just wasn't feeling the party. Parties cost a lot and let's be honest, he's only 3 and probably won't even remember. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not against parties by any means (I LOVE a good party!), but I was thinking I wanted to do something more for him, something where even if he didn't remember the day, I would remember how much fun he had, so, I decided we were going to Disneyland.
I didn't want his birthday to go completely unnoticed and I still wanted to celebrate with our family, so we had a small, family only, BBQ dinner/party on his actual birthday (that I recapped yesterday) and then... we went to Disneyland on Sunday!
Now with the threat of rain all weekend (and with it actually raining on Saturday), the smart thing to do would have been to postpone, but I was dead set on going for Mason's birthday so we still went. Thankfully it didn't rain until around 4:30/5 but it was HOT and HUMID and I pretty much looked like a sweaty mess all day. AND because I was sweaty, when I re-applied sunscreen to my chest and back, apparently it did nothing and I now have a sweet tan to commemorate the occasion :) BUT regardless, we had the best time and I'm still trying to get Seth to agree to annual passes (please?).
I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Warning! There's A LOT...
Casey Jr. train
Dumbo
It's a Small World
Autopia
Matterhorn
I LOVE Disneyland churros and this was my churro... and someone wanted one...two...three bites...the whole thing! Good thing he's cute!
My FAVORITE thing at Disneyland (really in California Adventure) is Carsland.
Looks IDENTICAL to the movie!
He's not looking but... his face! He was SO excited to meet Lightning McQueen! Plus he was wearing a Lightning shirt so that made it extra special!
Radiator Springs
Heimlich's choo choo
King Tritan's Carousel
We had the BEST BEST BEST day. Mason refused to nap because he was having so much fun but it worked out well because we got to go on so many rides and really enjoy ourselves. We picked up a little Matterhorn macaron cookie on the way out and the birthday boy licked all the chocolate right off that thing.
And then the second we got into the car, he fell right asleep. We stopped to get dinner and he slept. We got home and got him out of the car, he slept on the couch. Finally at 7pm, we decided to put him to bed since he probably wasn't going to wake up, and lo and behold, he slept straight through until 5:45am on Monday morning. Guess someone had a little too much fun at Disneyland :)
And Seth and I? We pretty much fell asleep shortly after putting him to bed, but not before I checked my Health app on my phone which told me...
... that I walked 16,600 steps and over 7 miles! WHOA. Who knew exercising could be so fun?! Think I could use that in my favor when trying to convince Seth we need Disneyland passes? =P
Needless to say, we had the best time celebrating our birthday boy turning THREE and can't wait until our next trip back. I didn't miss the birthday party celebration one bit and think maybe we could turn this into a tradition and as he gets older, he can invite a friend along?
But that's too far in the future to even think about! For now, I'm just so happy my boy had a great birthday!
Happy THREE my sweet boy! xoxoxo
So fun! I'd totally skip a party if Disney was the alternative! In a few years we plan to take noah to Disney world and I'm so excited! We get to relive our childhood through our kids!!! Happy Birthday to Mason!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love that you took him to Disneyland! It really looks like the perfect day, minus the heat. And I definitely think Seth should get you all annual passes! :)
ReplyDeleteyou TOTALLY need disneyland passes. obviously. and this post made me so excited to go back to disneyland!! mason looks so so so happy in every picture! you guys had like the best day ever!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the pictures!! Oh my gosh, this makes me SO excited to take Mia (in December- we will nail down specific dates once baby boy is born, just to make sure all is well) I'm so glad you did this for his birthday!!
ReplyDeleteI smiled through this ENTIRE post!!! You know our love for Disney runs deep. :) That place truly is magical, it doesn't matter how hot or humid or crowded. You just can't help but love the place.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh my gosh, it's so obvious Mason had THE. BEST. TIME! His big smile just beams. I love it so much. You need season passes. *NEED*
Ok, tell me more about this health app. I had a Jawbone but the thing only lasted me a year before it shot craps and there are so many days we do things and I wonder just how much we moved.
That's so fun! I wish we lived by a Disney and could do that! I'm happy you all enjoyed yourself!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing day for Mason!! That pic of Lightning McQueen!! <3 These are the times I wish I didn't live in the middle of the U.S. and Disleyworld/land was a bit more accessible!
ReplyDeleteLooks like the birthday boy had a great time & how could he not?! :)
ReplyDeleteI too would have eaten the whole Churro instead of just taking a few bites. Ha, ha!
Mandie ~ http://badbrewpack.blogspot.com/
oh my goodness! just the funnest place ever!! what an incredible way to celebrate a third birthday. :) i would love to go to disney for my birthday even now. ha!
ReplyDeleteWhat a place to spend a third birthday! My husband and I are going out to the Beverly Hills/Santa Monica area in a couple weeks and are considering doing a day trip out to Disney so it was a blast looking at all your pictures! We've been to Disney World many times because easy from the East Coast but we've never done this stop while in CA and always wanted to.
ReplyDeleteIve waited ALL week for this post!!! So many great pictures! You should make this a yearly birthday tradition, you would have terrific memories and think you could take the same picture year after year and see how much Mason had grown since the last year! Here I am making plans for you lol.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the picture of the three of you at the end. It made me smile so big because it's such an unbelievably happy picture!! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd holy crap to the steps. No wonder I was tired after DL when I was pregnant LOL
What an awesome and special day!! Sounds like you all THOROUGHLY enjoyed yourselves. That had to be SO FUN watching the excitement in Mason all day. What a memorable birthday. :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. Cute shirt. :)
Oh man. soooooo fun! All those steps, too! This was the perfect way to celebrate!!
ReplyDeleteI agree about disney instead of a bday party esp when older. I think it would be fun to take Aria and a bud for the day. I did when I was younger. Middle schoolish. I don't really recall ever having a bday party apart from having the fam over. Did I care? nope!
ReplyDeleteI love that he slept that long, that is too funny. Disney tires ya out. Aria usually takes a nap when we go. I don't think she'd make it the whole day if not. I want to go to Disney now! Or Disneyland! I want to see Cars Land. And compare pirates and haunted mansion =)
I am sitting here asking myself "Why don't you have season passes?" I know for sure that if we lived within driving distance we would have passes and be there on the weekly!!! Looks like a busy day going to both DL and DCA!! What a trooper. I love that Mason got a Happy Birthday Button...I will have to tell Thomas about that and I can pretty much guarantee that he will want to make a trip around one of our birthdays!! haha
ReplyDeleteWe are heading there in September, maybe we can meet up?!!!
Nathan would totally be on board with skipping a birthday party and going somewhere or doing something like this. And I love that idea too, but as they get older they ask for parties with their ‘friends’. We’ll see next year! I love that y’all went to Disneyland. Seriously…how do you beat that!? How far is that from you guys? I was so bummed that Disney World didn’t have the “Cars-land”. I guess we need to visit Disney Land! Looks like y’all had a wonderful time and you got some great pictures.
ReplyDeleteWow, what an awesome birthday! You definitely need annual passes! I cannot wait to take Liam to Disney for the first time.
ReplyDeleteSo fun!! I'm already planning our first trip to Disney World. In 2018. I'm so excited; there's no place like it!
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely fantastic day! Love, love, love! I would spend every birthday at Disneyland if I could. Who needs a party when you have Disneyland?!
ReplyDelete16,000 plus steps is crazy awesome I think the most I have gotten was 25,000 something and that was on a day I ran a half marathon.
So much fun! Disney is the best!
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