The cats out!

I did it! I kept the secret!! Rene and I have been planning a family vacation. We're taking the boys to Disneyland to celebrate Paulo's 6th birthday. We wanted to do this last year when he turned 5, but Rene busted his knee and needed surgery so there went the Disney moolah. The grand master plan was to take him when he turned 5 just like we took Dimitri on his 5th birthday so many moons ago, alas life does not always happen according to plan.

So, we postponed and started planning for this year. I bought our package back in January...and waited. Waited for his birthday. Waited actually for his family birthday party since we wanted all of our loved ones to see him receive his gift. Waited for that moment that he realizes he finally gets to go to Disneyland.

The family party was last Saturday. I printed out maps of Disneyland and Legoland and wrote him a little letter. I wrapped that all up in a box and let him open all his other gifts then gave him our final present. He was a bit confused when he opened it and saw only paper, green tissue paper as well as the printed maps and letter. I told him he needed to read the letter out loud, which he did. He stumbled a little on the word celebrate when he got to the end where he reads we'll celebrate his birthday at Disneyland....you can almost see the wheels turning and then he shrieks DISNEYLAND!!! It was a moment of pure joy. He was so happy and so shocked at the same time. He's wanted to go to Disneyland forever. I've always told him I would take him someday and now that someday is 25 days away.

So, Disneyland here we come! We're also taking a day trip down to San Diego to go to Legoland, which looks enormous. We took Dimitri there too when he was little and it was so small then. I looked at the map and was just amazed at how big it is. They've really expanded! I cannot wait to watch him experience all the wonder of Disneyland. He's a dare devil too so I know I'm going to be going on a lot of rides that I might have been able to avoid with Dimitri at his age. He's already talking about roller coasters and that freaky dropping tower! I think I may be as excited as he is, because I've seen in and I know him so well, I know he's going to love every single moment there. He's such a joyful child and I get so much joy of my own just watching him experience life. Being his mother fills up my soul.

Here is a video of him opening his gift from us, hope you enjoy it as much as I did watching him open it, and every time I've watched the video since!