Thomas turns 5!

For Thomas' special birthday we went to Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. We have been planning this trip for quite a while. We always wanted to take him there, but wanted to be sure that he was old enough to remember it, too. We had given him clues all week about where we were taking him. On the morning of his birthday we told him we were going to Disney. He was very excited although I don't think he exactly understood the magnitude of where we were going. On the way there, I had arranged for a character call. Mickey called Thomas at 9 am to tell him he was happy to know he was coming to visit. Even though the morning started out a little drizzly, it turned out to be the best weather conditions, considering it is July. It was great that it was overcast and we even had a breeze the entire time we were there. When we got there Thomas received a Happy Birthday badge. He was so proud! We loaded the ferry and got sight of Cinderella's castle. Thomas thought it was so cool, even though it was a castle for a girl.

The first stop we made was to the Barber shop. I had heard that they make the haircut experience very special. This was Nathan's first haircut and he didn't seem too happy about it. They gave him a special certificate, saved his locks of hair and he also got his first set of mouse ears with "First Haircut" stitched on the back. I am so glad that we stopped there first. I don't think we would have made it back there during the day since we stayed so busy.

Our next stop was the long awaited, Buzz Lightyear ride. I was expecting a 2 hour wait, but was happy to see that it was only a 25 minute wait. In fact, this ended up being the longest we had to wait for a ride the entire time we were there. Thomas and Ken rode in one car and Nathan and I rode in the other. Nathan was captivated by all the lights and sounds and of course Thomas was in heaven. When the ride was over we stood in a line to meet Buzz Lightyear. Thomas was eager to get to the gift shop where he had spotted "Lotso" from Toy Story 3. And for those who have seen the movie, yes, he smells like strawberries.

Nathan had fallen asleep on the walk over to Fantasy Land, so only Thomas and Ken rode the teacups and Dumbo. (Which was fine by me and my easily-queasy stomach.) When Nathan woke up we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, the carousel, and It's a Small World ride. Thomas finally found the perfect set of Mickey ears...Toy Story! We made our way to see Mickey and Minnie mouse and the boys thought that was very neat. Then we went on a few more rides and before we knew it it was time for dinner.

We noticed around 7:30 that many people were sitting on the curb at Main Street. They were saving their spots for the Electrical parade. I saved our spots while Ken and Thomas went back to Tomorrow Land to ride more rides. At 9 o'clock the parade started. Nathan loved the light up Mickey (along with his first Mickey stuffed animal). Thomas clapped to the music the entire length of the parade. I think he got all caught up in emotion because I looked over at him and he had his arm around the boy next to him. It was so cute. After the parade we finally made our way through the crowd to the monorail. As we boarded the tram, Thomas asked Ken if it was okay to rest his eyes on the way home. We just laughed! We weren't even out of the parking lot and both boys had fallen asleep.

We spent 13 hours at Disney for his magical 5th birthday. I can't think of another way to celebrate someone we love so much. Even though it feels like I just brought him home from the hospital, it has been so much fun watching him grow up into a sweet little boy. Happy 5th Birthday, Thomas!