Special Birthday Gift for Bryce....DISNEY WORLD

It has been a dream of mine to take each of our kids to Disney World, individually, as a surprise for their 5th birthdays. Well, it's hard to believe that we have a 5 year old and was able to accomplish this dream.

After a year of planning this trip, I am so glad we waited to go and to take Bryce alone. Bryce had no idea what Disney World was. Sure he has heard his friends talk about it, but to him this was just imaginative play! Mickey Mouse wrote Bryce a letter the night before we left, to tell him he was going to where Mickey lived on a special birthday trip with mommy and daddy.

We spent 6 days and 5 nights at Disney World. Upon arriving a the airport in Orlando, we were whisked off by Disney's Magical Express (buses) and got right on to exploring our resort. Bryce loved the pool and water slide. We actually got to swim 2 days out of our trip, which was a nice break from the freezing temperatures in Indy. We stayed at Disney's Port Orleans-French Quarter and visited all four Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdomw).

Bryce was amazed by EVERYTHING at Disney! You could literally see the wheels in his head turning constantly. He wanted to know how everything worked. He didn't believe in the "magic" at first. He asked a lot of questions; How fast does the ride go? Will I like it? Is the fire real? Are there people inside the characters? Nothing got by him.

By the 3rd day, it was nice to see him actually "get Disney". He had it figured out and by the 4th and 5th day he was choosing what HE wanted to do! His favorite rides were Astro Orbiter and the "Buzz Lightyear with the guns". He really enjoyed the shows, parades and fireworks. He never wanted to take a nap, but he sure did crash at night, hard!

We had the dining plan with our package, so had a character meal everyday. Bryce loves pirates, so he officially joined 'The Pirates League' (It's the thing they do for boys, like making the girls princess').

The best thing about the trip was getting to enjoy Bryce without any other distractions. We got to focus on him and only him having the time of his life. Just to remind you, Bryce's birthday is on mine and Jared's Anniversary. We have no problem sharing this day with him. This trip opened our eyes once again to the basic joys of life-experiences, memories, relationships, laughter and love.

Bryce was so alive on this trip and we could tell just how much he appreciated this trip, with just mommy and daddy!

Much love to our 5 year old......HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY BRYCE!!!!!

Enjoy the pictures, through this link....

Disney 2011