Ez's 4th Birthday

Ez's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so after a full week of celebrations and excitement we capped off our Disney trip with a birthday brunch alongside a few of our favorite characters: Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, and Stitch. I'll give more details on our Disney trip a little later, but I will say that this was by far Ez and Declan's favorite Disney trip yet. Their excitement each and every day is what we live for as parents and I'm so happy Ez's birthday was extra special and memorable for him.

As soon as the birthday boy woke up we gave him a giant box full of presents right there in the hotel bed. Then it was off to brunch with two sets of grandparents and the uncles. Ez was so, so excited to meet all the characters this year. Last year was the first year he went from terrified to happy to see his favorite Disney characters, but this year his excitement skyrocketed to a whole new level. He was jumping up and down with pure glee on his face, then he would run up for a quick hug before sprinting away, jumping and pointing excitedly, "There's Stitch! It's Stitch!" Joe would ask, "Where?? I don't see Stitch." "THERE!! Right THERE!!" I thought he was going to explode from the excitement of it all.

Since this is the year of the Garbage Truck for Ez, he got a few new ones from the grandparents and the day was pretty much cemented as the BEST DAY WEEK EVER. He was in such a generous mood he even gave Daisy a cupcake, which she graciously accepted even though she was trying her best not to get chocolate all over her white gloves. However, when Stitch tried to make off with one of Ez's garbage trucks the smile fell right off his face and he refused to take his eyes off his truck until it was safely back in his hands. That boy loves his garbage trucks.

Declan went from being scared of the characters last year, to ready to rip their faces off this year. He was especially fascinated with their noses/beaks and would latch onto them with his tight little death grip every chance he got. Poor Minnie was sitting there with that smile plastered to her face while trying to gracefully get away with her nose intact. Stitch was a little less polite and just poked Declan in the nose right back. That's probably why Stitch was Declan's favorite, they're two mischievous peas in a pod, those two.

After all that fun and excitement came the considerably less fun portion of Ez's birthday: 8 hours on the road to get back home. The actual drive is about six hours but we like to stop and let the boys run around a bit. They were troopers and made it through the majority of the trip without any meltdowns but Mickey Mouse on YouTube definitely saved our asses for the last ninety minutes or so. Then came the birthday withdrawals, which we're still not quite over. If it wasn't for that drive (and those crazy Disney prices) we'd go right back and do it all over again.