Birthday Cake (Thanks Trini!)

Thanks Trini for making dinner and the birthday cake. It was yummy! Connor and Ryan were thrilled with the cake. Below is Connor and Ryan admiring the cake while waiting for us to sing to them so they could eat the cake.
The below video is us singing Happy Birthday to Connor. Connor was laughing so hard that Ryan needed to help him blow out the candles.

4th Birthday at Disneyland

Happy 4th Birthday Connor and Ryan and happy (... 5th?) birthday Granny! We spent a memorable day at Disneyland to celebrate the special day.

We started the day before the sun came up by leaving Arroyo Grande at 4am to drive down to Mickey's house. It was a hot day, lots of people and long lines.

In the below picture Connor is riding It's a Small World with me.
Connor and Ryan are 41 inches tall, so they can ride everything at Disneyland except Indiana Jones, which requires a height of 46 inches. The boys loved all the rides. The biggest complaint was Splash Mountain. They liked the ride, but Ryan (and Granny) got COMPLETELY SOAKED. Luckily I brought the boys a change of clothes.
In the above and below pictures, Chris, Ed and Ryan are riding Matterhorn.
On this trip to Disneyland, the boys absolutely loved the characters compared to last time when they were scared of them. Pluto was the first character we saw.

Connor, Ryan and I are riding Roger Rabbit. I am being goofy while the boys are just taking in all the sights.

Mickey Mouse! The boys had to give Mickey a big hug. But, boy, doesn't Mickey have a big head!

We actually got a picture of all of us together!

We weren't going to stand in line for pictures with Minnie Mouse, but Ryan started throwing a fit because he wanted to see Minnie. So, we waited in line....

We signed up for the Disneyland birthday party to celebrate the three birthday. Here we are waiting in line (yup, another line!) to go in to the party. Don't you like the pointy hats?

Connor and Ryan wouldn't wear their pointy hat. Maybe they were the smart ones?
The three birthday kids get to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Everyone got their own birthday cake to decorate for the birthday party. This is the "before" cake.Connor and Ryan concentrated so hard on decorating their cakes.

We managed to get a family picture.

Connor and Ryan pooped out by 4pm and were begging to go home. Granny and Grandpa took them back to the hotel while Chris, Ed and I stayed at the park battling the lines and crowds. The castle was pretty lit up at night. We watched the fireworks show by circling the walk way in front of the castle to see the light show and fireworks. We didn't want to wait hours to get a good seat, so walking in front of the castle worked well. We kept getting yelled at to keep moving, but we could only walk as fast as the people in front of us, which wasn't very fast.

Birthday Cupcakes

Next Friday we are celebrating Connor and Ryan's 4th Birthday at Disneyland, so this weekend we had birthday cupcakes with Grandma and Grandpa. Connor and Ryan decided they want a Nemo cupcake cake for their birthday.
Birthdays through the eyes of a child on their 4th birthday is just amazing. You can just see the magic and excitement in their eyes and smiles as they look at their cake and we sing Happy Birthday.


We sang Happy Birthday to Connor and Ryan separately so they each got their own song and their eyes just lit up the whole time. Below is Connor and we were singing to him.

And Connor blowing out his candles with Ryan watching.

I just love the smile that is on Ryan's face in the below picture as we sing to him too.

And Ryan blowing out his candles.

Spit and all!
Yummy! And, these cupcakes weren't as toxic as the green alligator from last year.

Cupcake faces!

In the below picture, it looks like the boys are looking in a mirror, but they are going to give each other a kiss.

A magical day, but the celebration is just beginning. On Thursday we are bringing cupcakes and goodie bags for their friends at school. Then Friday we will be at Mickey Mouses House (aka. Disneyland).

The Jungle

On Saturday we went the The Jungle to celebrate the Connor and Ryan's pre-birthday weekend. When we told the kids we were going to the Jungle, they thought we were going to the zoo.

It was our first visit to The Jungle, and I didn't think the boys would ever want to leave.

They had too much fun running around, climbing, sliding, jumping, laughing, and stuffing the ball pit balls in the play house oven. They have slides, jump houses, ball pits, play houses, climbing structures, tunnels, etc.

It really is a great place to let the kids release all their energy. Our only mistake was giving them their birthday cake AFTER they spend the day playing instead of before. The sugar gave them another burst of energy after they should have been worn out with a day of playing.