Sunday Snapshot: The big "4"

Last year, we cheated.

We celebrated Madeline's 3rd birthday at home and waited until April to take her to Disney for her birthday.   

And for good reason.  

Disney crowds in March are insane.

Next year, we might have to revert back to a delayed Disney birthday celebration.  Don't get me wrong.  We had a blast.  Everything just took extra long.

My sister, brother-in-law, and neice all joined us.  

(Actually we spent the night before at their place so we could get an earlier start.)  

Andy was a HUGE help.

While waiting in line for one ride, going potty, or eating, he would dash over to a ride and pick up fast passes. This way we waited in line for one ride the estimated amount of time and then scooted to the front of the line for the next ride.  Score!

We started off with the teacups.  Then ate lunch before the crowds came.

As you saw in the previous post, we managed to head over to Cosmic Rays for some lunch a little birthday cheer.  Madeline loved the extra attention.

After lunch, we battled the evil Emperor Zurg.  

Then we took a quieter ride on the People Mover.

Madeline occasionally smiled for my camera but otherwise was not interested in having her photo taken. 

Here I asked her to show me her best grumpy face.

Caleb, on the other hand, was pretty cooperative.

He loves to help me carry the backpack.

We all had a blast on the raceway.

We headed over to Small World, while Andy grabbed fast passes for Pooh.  Again, big plus.  

It was like waiting in just one line for two rides.

By the end of the afternoon, I managed to get Leah to smile my way.

However, Madeline was interested in other things.

We had to leave by 3-4pm because Caleb had a 7pm baseball game back at home.  Madeline fell asleep walking back to the monorail.  I guess that put her in a better mood.

After hitting the potty before heading out, she let me snap a few photos of her with Caleb.

Then I relented and let them jump off the planter, which they thoroughly enjoyed, since I'm usually nixing jumping off anything.

When we arrived home, the kids hurried into the house to eat some dinner and get ready for Caleb's baseball game.  Little did Madeline know that Daddy had decorated her room with streamers and balloons.

She also got some princess stickers and Disney classic DVD of the Three Pigs.

We gobbled down dinner and scooted out the door, just in time for pre-game warm ups.  That was a close call.  Despite running around at the Magic Kingdom all day, Caleb played a great game.  I'm so proud of him.
I have more pictures to share from that weekend plus a few dance photos from Madeline's last observation day before her June recital.  I'll get them up in the next few days.
For more fun photos, check out Stefanie's blog.