That was then....(December 4th, 2006 and mid-December, 2006)
And this is now: (December 3rd, 2008, at Pump It Up and December 4th, 2008 at Magic Kingdom.)
We started Ronan's birthday celebration by hosting a party for 20, I mean 19, I mean 15, I mean 9 of Ronan's closest friends (the list deteriorated from 20 that morning to 9...how 'bout that!) at Pump It Up of Brandon. We decided to have it there because we knew Ronan would have a blast and that it was the safest place for him to play. Not only is it just bouncy houses and slides, but they have their parties set-up so that it's just YOUR party in a room during a set amount of time and it's virtually impossible to misplace your kid...unlike at Chuck-E-Cheese where when you turn your head, your kid is gone (or asking you for a handful of tokens!)
What was awesome about this party was that when I say Ronan's friends came, I really mean it )mind you, all were girls except for one and Ronan!) Everyone that came was someone that actually cares about Ronan and that he loves right back. It was great to have our "family" there to see the little dude having fun, all while having fun (or sweating their butts off) themselves!
Joni and Shelley made it to the celebration and from what I was told...Joni made a trip down one of the slides...I think you have to see Shelley's blog for the proof!
The biggest flop of the night wasn't Ronan or Riley flying off the slide, it was the fact that when the party was ready to move to the pizza room, they didn't have our pizza ready! Mind you, it was almost 8 p.m. and we were all starved from jumping around and not having had dinner yet...so we waited about 10 minutes before it came. Apparently the Pizza Hut next door forgot to put in our order! Anyway, Ronan opened his presents...or should I say, I opened his presents and then we chomped on pizza -- Ronan only ate the crust -- and cookie cake! [If you aren't sure why we didn't do traditional cake, it's because last year, we found out Ronan has allergies to the icing...]
We got a rare family photo that night... and here's a picture of all the kids that made it (and passed out on the way home, I'm sure!)
And then the next day, we decided that we would head over to Disney and check out the Christmas lights they had up. Because of my poor planning (or misreading of the Disney calendar), we ended up having to buy tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Although it was an added expense we weren't planning, it was worth every penny. We sat for the parades, stopped in our tracks for the fireworks, and took the lighting of Cinderella's Castle in. Absolutely breathtaking. Looking at it that night, it was definitely our Disney dollars at work. I have never seen such a sight.
We stayed at Shades of Green and they had a beautiful tree that I will peg as our own. (I have no picture of our tree at home, so for those that want to see it, this is what it would look like):
During the day, we stopped at Downtown Disney and Ryan took a cute picture of the three of us...wish Ryan was in it, though...
And here is our little dude completely exhausted from the festivities...
Oh, oh, oh...I completely forgot to mention...
We had the chance to eat at CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE! I know what you are thinking...whoopdie doo. But anyone who knows about Disney, knows how hard it is to get a reservation there. Most people who know they want to eat there, call 180 days in advance and even then, aren't guaranteed they can get in.
As we were walking by, Ryan joked that we should eat there. I said to him, "you should just go up and see if we can get in. I know we won't, but might as well ask." He happily obliged, thinking we would have no chance at all of getting a table. BUT, I crap you not, the girls at the desk said there was a cancellation and we could get seated right away. I have to tell you, I didn't believe them. I stood there with my mouth wide open in complete shock. Could it be that we would get to see Cinderella?! I asked the girls if they were joking and whether or not we were on Candid Camera. They assured me we weren't and off we were...into the Castle for dinner and a meeting with the Princess herself...
They gave us a photo they took and once I get it scanned, I'll post it, but it was pretty awesome to be inside that Castle. The food was delicious and the Fairy Godmother (along with those cute little mice) were there for singing and dancing. It was so cool!
Ronan and Riley seemed to have a great time and guess what...we didn't buy ONE souvenier. Not one pin, not one toy, not one shirt or pen or car or crown or jewel or sword...nothing. Our souveniers are the memories we have...
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