A Disneyland Party

Will has been talking about wanting to see the ocean for the last 2+ years. So, Andy and i got it into our heads to try and make that wish come true for his 6th birthday. We made did make it out to CA on his stand-by tickets and were planning on just living it up at the beach....but then, Will's Nana had the idea to give Will a day at Disneyland for his birthday. So....we hopped off the plane in LA and went straight to the "happiest place on earth". Anyway, we had a great time (pictures coming), but when we got back home we still needed to have a little bday party with family so I decided to carry the "magic" back home and make it a Disneyland party. 

I really tried to keep it inexpensive and use what i already had as much as possible.
So...the banner and bunting was just paper and free-hand letters, and all the rest of the decor was just stuff we had on hand or could easily make. Oh, and i printed out some pics from disneyland and stuck them all around. :)

Of course, Will's favorite ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean so Mickey definitely had to share center stage at the party.

The ship was super easy...especially thanks to Handy Andy who made it his business to create accurate sails for the ship.

the mickey ears, were just stiff black felt glued onto headbands, when i ran out of headbands i glued some onto bobby pins for the adults. Side note: Buy headbands at the dollar store. I got a pack of 6 for $1. Packs at Target or Walmart were at least $4. :)

Disney character pez dispensers were from the dollar store too!

Since it was MY birthday too, its become tradition that i at least get my own cake at our shared party. This year my brother in law made this most fabulous lime cheesecake. It was the BEST thing ever. Thanks Nathan!

Cousins

My lovely sister in law and mom in law. Don't they look great in their mickey ears?!

Little Eric was all ready for the party too. Isn't my newest nephew the cutest?!

Oh Baby Ben, everyone knows you're the cutest too. 

Happy Birthday buddy!  We love you!

Oh, funny story: So, Will and i had been talking about the disneyland bday party idea for a couple of days before the day and had been throwing out ideas etc. Well, the day before the party, we were in the car and he, (completely seriously) started talking about trying to find a store or somewhere where we could find the right parts to maybe make the pirates of the caribbean ride. "Like some gears, a boat, robots etc." Anyway, there was too much craziness going on in the car at the moment so i didn't respond to him then which was fortunate because i kinda panicked. I started realizing that somehow i had given him cause to totally blow his expectations for the party waaaay out of proportion and was consequently going to be super disappointed with the results. 

That night at bedtime i knew i needed to talk to him. I started out with, "Soooo buddy, i think we need to talk about your birthday party tomorrow...i know we're really excited about the disneyland theme and i love how you have tons of really great ideas....but, i know today you were talking about maybe trying to buy parts to make the pirate ride...and i just wanted to let you know that as cool as that would be... we're just really not going to be able to do that....so....."

Well, you should have seen his face...it was like he had just pulled off the biggest joke ever without even trying to make one. He said, "Mom! i knoooow we can't build the pirate ride! That would like take a whole YEAR! There's not even any way it would fit in our backyard!!!" then he just giggled and giggled and giggled and reveled in the fact that he had totally fooled me.  It was a great moment and definitely made me realize how much my little guy is growing up. :)