Double Digit Disney Dude

Being able to celebrate a birthday in Disneyland is a real treat! I wish we could make that happen more often. :) But - Aaron should always remember the year he turned 10 - his first double digit birthday - and he got to celebrate in style in Disneyland itself! 

 We began the day right with a yummy breakfast at River Belle Terrace that served Mickey Mouse shaped pancakes.  My kiddos love breakfast foods - and that made them very happy.

 Then the Petersons got Aaron started with the infamous Disneyland "pin trading" by giving him a Lanyard and pin-starter kit for his birthday. I'm tellin' ya - the pin trading was a huge hit! We ended up getting both Krystal AND Marissa some lanyards and pins to be able to experience all the pin trading that takes place in Disneyland and California Adventure. Basically - all of the workers at the parks have their own pins that they must trade with whoever wants to. We pretty much stopped at a worker between every ride so the kids could scope out the exact pins they wanted on their lanyards. Aaron and Marissa came home with some pretty cool pins. Krystal pretty much traded for the sake of trading, and loved any pin that came her way. ;) Here is Aaron making his very first (of many) pin trades:

 

Then, we hit fantasy land for a good part of the day.  Such fun and cute rides!  And the best part was - we only had to wait like 5 minutes for each ride.  AWESOME.LAND!!

BFFs.  Need I say more?  Absolutely.  too.  cute.  for.  words!!!!

 

The kiddos that wanted a SUPER fast spin on the teacups jumped in with Travis - he had them whippin' around like crazy!  Yeeeeee-Haw!

Storybook Land was really fun and relaxing - we all fit on one canal boat together - and Krystal and Aeryn got to sit up on the bow of the boat:

Stopping to see some princesses!  What new 10-year-old wouldn't love getting his picture with the Disneyland princesses?!?  hahaha.  jk - but, it was fun to be able to see so many characters.  Carly made all the kids an awesome autograph book - so, they will have a place to keep these pictures along with the autographs for great memories.  The kids LOVED that!

Marissa just might strangle me for including this pictures, but I think it's so cute and funny!  She has a crazy side, that girl -- it just takes a little egging on from me for it to come out.  lol!

We got to see Captain EO - a 3D show that has recently been reopened as a tribute to Michael Jackson.  I'm so glad we got to see that, because when I was 14 years old and went to Disneyland - THAT's the show I got to see.  Great reminiscing, and the kids thought it was way cool.  Then the kids headed over to Innovations in Tomorrowland (along with riding Space Mountain and Star Tours - Aaron was featured as a spy for the Rebel Alliance and had his picture come up on the screen just before the ride started -- that was pretty cool and funny!) -- anyway, in Innovations they had an awesome time learning about the evolution of video gaming and technology.  Holy COW - video gaming has come a long way over they years.  Here the kids are playing Fruit Ninja on the Kinect:

 

Spending some time with Winnie the Pooh and friends in Critter Country.  (Eeyore even signed Aaron's autograph book with "Happy Burfday!" 

 

Splash Mountain is AWESOME!!  SO. MUCH. FUN!!  Aaron and Ellie went twice right in a row - and both got drenched!  Thank heavens we had extra sweat shirts.  And I love the picture of the girls on the right -- Carly sacrificed and went in the front to help protect Krystal from getting too wet -- Marissa held Miss Aeryn tight to help her not feel to scared --- but, both littles look terrified anyway!  :D!  They loved it, though.  Aaron gave a thumbs up in every pic he was in ... no prob for that guy.

 

We went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner that night.  It was an hour wait to get in.  By the time our food came - all of the kids were asleep in their seats.  haha.  It was pretty tricky to get the littles to wake up and eat, but Marissa and Aaron lasted to the end.  Aaron got a huge pizza to himself - and Marissa order her favorite Fried Mac&Cheese balls.

I hope it was a birthday to remember my favorite little man  - you are a rockin' 10-year-old and already have so much going for you!  So proud to be your momma!!