Ez's Birthday Week, Day 4

You didn't think I was done with the Disney posts, did you? I'm just getting to the good stuff! On day 4 of our Disney trip, Ez officially turned into a threenager. Like seriously, from two to teenager overnight. His birthday fell on Friday the 13th this year. He was the last to wake up (see what I mean? Mini teenager.) and I made sure his present was sitting on the hotel bed ready to greet him as soon as he opened his eyes. Eventually we couldn't take the suspense anymore and woke him up. His groggy little eyes were barely open before he was tearing the wrapping paper off his present and exclaiming "WOW!" over and over because he got an oversized Monster Truck. He also got a toy airplane, but the Monster Truck was definitely the star of the show. He insisted on bringing them both to Disneyland with us, which took up lots of valuable stroller space, but the birthday boy gets what the birthday boy wants. 

The four of us kicked off our Disney day with breakfast at Ez's favorite spot: Flo's Cafe. He got to watch Disney Cars while eating waffles. It really doesn't get any better than that. We also managed to meet Red. This is at least our fourth time meeting Red, but Ez was definitely the most excited this time. In the past he's always been shy with the characters, but this trip he absolutely loved seeing all his favorites. In fact, earlier this week he was watching Cars and he immediately told us, "It's Radiator Springs! I was there. At Disneyland." Clearly this trip made an impression on him ;)

After breakfast in Cars Land we headed over to Disneyland where we tried to get some fast passes and had just enough time for Joe and Ez to take a spin on the teacups before we met up with the grandparents and uncles for a special birthday lunch. My mom is a cupcake connoisseur and kindly took note that the best birthday cupcakes in the park are at Pooh's Corner, because those are the only ones with sprinkles. We picked up four of those, and Joe got a birthday candle and lighter for us earlier in the day, so we were all set for a little birthday celebration. We chose Orleans Cafe, which I don't think I've ever eaten at before. Their shrimp po boy was delicious, and Ez ate a mountain of fruit and some mac & cheese. Then we brought out the cupcakes and he got so excited, sitting up on his knees on the chair and bouncing up and down as we lit the candle and sang Happy Birthday. It took him four or five tries to blow the candle out, but unlike last year, when I accidentally stole his thunder and blew his candle out for him, he did it all on his own and was so proud of himself. 

Joe and I left the kiddos with the grandparents after lunch and headed over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain (now Hyperspace Mountain), and Star Tours where we happened to run into my brother. Afterward we got fast passes for Indiana Jones then headed over to Disney California. We wanted to ride California Screamin', but it was closed, and the Toy Story Mania line was long. My parents got us fast passes for Cars early in the day, so we rode that. It was Joe's first time and his impression was basically the same as mine: it's a good ride, but it's sad that the height limit is 40 inches and Ez can't ride it yet. He would love it so much. It kind of feels like we're betraying him to go on it without him. After that we wound up on the Little Mermaid, since it only had a five minute wait, then we took a walk through the play area across from Big Bear Rapids. I'd never been there before and didn't even know it existed, but it's a pretty cool little area with replica Redwood trees, rope ladders and bridges, and tire swings. Eventually we met up with the grandparents so they could go on some rides while we took Ez and Declan to cool off in the water area in Bugs Land. After that we went took them to the play area across from Big Bear Rapids where they both had so much fun running around. We probably would've stayed for a long time because they loved it so much, but they close early, like around 6ish. Then we found a quiet area next to the plane by Soaring Over California and let them run off some energy before we headed back to Disneyland to pass them off to the grandparents so we could use our Indiana Jones fast passes. They were so worn out by that time that the grandparents wound up taking them home, bathing them, and putting them to bed for us. Thanks Gangy and Grampa!

Joe and I got ourselves a cinnamon roll, happened to find some Haunted Mansion fast passes, and sat around resting our feet and waiting for our fast pass time. We happened to get out of the Haunted Mansion just as the fireworks were going off, so we watched those and then headed back to the hotel. By the end of the day we had walked 35,000 steps, or over 17 miles! 

Up next: Birthday brunch with Daisy and Stitch, followed by a long drive home. 

Day 1

Days 2 & 3