A Quick Glimpse at My Birthday Weekend

This weekend was all about being a family. It is a tradition that we began on my birthday last year. We have decided that on our birthdays, we would plan a family activity for the three of us to enjoy. Last year, we went to the aquarium. This year, by God's grace, we were able to enjoy Disney at a fraction of the price. Because of the free birthday at Disney promotion, my ticket was free. Because Addie is under three years old, her ticket was free. Disney has a credit card promotion running (we are not credit card people, but we use promotions to our advantage and pay our card off promptly), so I opened one up in my name. On your first purchase with the card, you are given a $40 credit. So I purchased Brian's ticket on my card, knocking the cost of his ticket down to $37.00. I then opened a card up in his name and purchased our hotel stay at the Disney All Star Movies Value Resort for a total of $39.00. By using the Disney bus transportation system, we avoided having to pay parking at the park the following day. So basically, for the price of one adult ticket into Disney World, we were able to stay at a Disney Resort and the three of us enjoyed a full day at Disney World.

We arrived at the Resort at 3:30 p.m. After settling into our room, we took the Disney bus over to Downtown Disney, a huge shopping area that is just playful and fun to walk around in. We visited the Lego store and played in the children's play area with the larger sized blocks. One of the many benefits of having a small child (besides having a gift from God to love and raise for His glory) is that you can play with the toys and no one thinks you're odd.

One of my favorite spots at Downtown Disney is the Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet display. Brian and I had a picture taken here before we had Addie, when Addie was 2 months old, and now that our baby is 20 months. I look forward to all of the time elapse pictures to come.

We were able to spend my birthday (Saturday) at Disney World. It was the most wonderful birthday I have ever had. I think it was because we were there as a family. I enjoyed seeing our daughter light up over every little thing. My mother had always told me, "Just wait until you're a mother. Then you'll understand." I do understand, Mom. Knowing that your child is having the time of her life causes you to have the time of your life. And seeing your husband beaming with pride and protectiveness of his girls made that feeling inside of me well up even more.

I was given a button to wear that declared that it was my birthday. Workers and vacationers alike wished me well and treated us like we were special.

I had tried to get a picture Brian and Addie standing infront of the "It's A Small World", but Addie was so overwhelmed by the lights and moving characters that I kept getting the back of her head in my pictures. A beautiful family in line behind us offered to take a picture of the three of us together. I handed over the camera, the mother asked what Addie's name was, began calling her, and the father took one of my favorite pictures of the weekend.

During the lights parade, a father and grandfather saw that Brian, Addie, and I were standing behind them on the further side of the sidewalk from the parade route. The father offered to let us stand in their spot so that Addie could have a better view. He had two little girls sitting right on the parade route and he said he remembered when his girls were Addie's age. We thanked him for his kindness, and throughout the parade he kept commenting how fascinated Addie was with everything. Her eyes tried to drink in everything that she saw, as if that were even possible. Addie wasn't phased by the fireworks at all. While other children were crying, she just watched with wonder the beauty displayed in the sky.

During the fireworks show, I began to cry. I was overwhelmed with our weekend together and all of God's blessings, from the kindnesses shown to us from complete stranger to the deals that we were able to get in order to have this weekend together. All I could do was thank God with every firecracker that went off. Lord, You are so good to us.

I also want to thank my good friend from far away, Kristi, for the beautiful post she put on her blog. It meant a lot to me.