Our Happy Noah Day

This year for Noah's 4th birthday we decided to take him to Disney World instead of throwing a big birthday party. We did the party thing last year and it was fun, but I felt like in the frenzy of the day I kind of missed out on appreciating Noah and remembering the gift that he is to us! So anyway, we decided that my parents would keep Levi for the day, and Mitch, Noah, and I would have a fun-filled Disney day.

Let me first say that my Dad works for Disney, I worked for Disney for several years in college, I basically grew up at Disney. While this really is a gift (that I didn't appreciate until just recently), the parks begin to lose some of their "magic" after a while. However, I can honestly say that it was a very.....at the risk of sounding like a tourist.....very magical day!

Some of the special memories of that day are:

* Holding Noah's hand - He's growing up so fast and is so independent it doesn't happen as often anymore. Plus I usually have a Levi and a diaper bag in my arms.

* Noah giggling all the way through Big Thunder Mountain, his first roller coaster.

* Noah wanting to stop and watch the ducks in a lake in the middle of all the "lands" that he could have been exploring.

* The way Noah calls Mickey and Minnie and the gang critters instead of characters.

* Noah playing so contentedly with his Star Wars action figures in lines (his souvenir of choice for the day). * When we asked Noah his favorite part of the day, he said, "The line for Star Tours." They have lots of characters from the movies in the line area. There was no wait so we just strolled through the cue while he and Mitch chatted it up about the "critters".

* Eating burgers with Mitch and Noah and having fun conversations with both of them.

* The way Noah loved studying the guide maps.

* Waiting for the parade and eating snacks. Noah made friends with several folks around us.

* Turning around to ask Noah what he wanted from McDonald's drive-thru on the way home and discovering he was sacked out after 5 minutes in the car.

* The way Levi squealed and ran to me when I picked him up at Mom and Dads. My kids hardly ever miss me because I'm always with them!

Both of our boys are so very special, but this was a special day to celebrate gift that Noah is to our family. Noah is such a blessing to our family and I'm so thankful to God for graciously giving him to us. We love you Noah!

Sporting the cool 3D glasses for the Toy Story Ride

The rockets were a big hit and a much shorter wait than Dumbo!

Noah and I made a cake on his actual birthday. Check out the "I" in the far right corner. That was Noah's personal touch. We are taking orders if you are interested in us catering your next event.