Ava is Three

I could start off by saying that I simply cannot believe that my "baby" is already three, but if you're reading this, you're most likely a parent and you already know how the "birthday time warp" works. Since Ava is our second child and her older brother loves to be the center of attention, she doesn't have a lot of opportunities to have our undivided attention. So when she was born, we decided it was really important to us that we make her birthday all about Ava. We love it, and I can tell that she loves it, too.

We hopped in the car and headed for Disney, where we split from my mom and Noah, who took off to go to EPCOT for the day. Jim and I took Ava to the Magic Kingdom, where our first stop was the little roller coaster in Toon Town. She was thrilled to make the height requirement for the first time and absolutely loved the ride! Next, we went to "Pixie Hollow" to visit Tinkerbell and two of her fairy friends.

For lunch, we dined at the Royal Table in Cinderella's castle. After being greeted by Cinderella herself, we enjoyed visits from Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Belle while we ate. Ava received her own magic wand and was thrilled when the waiter sang "Happy Birthday" just for her. After lunch, we rode the carousel, Dumbo and the teacups before regrouping with my mom and Noah for our next stop . . . dinner!

Pata Sam and Miss Annie met us at Seasons 52, which the kids always seem to request for their birthday dinners. We ended the evening with the infamous chocolate raspberry cake, which had thankfully survived a blistering day in a cooler while we played at the parks. BTW, the cake is as good as it looks - better actually! It's the Chocolate Raspberry Blackout Cake from Vegan with a Vengeance. Best cake ever. Try it!

After dinner, we nixed our plans to return to the park for the fireworks. Instead, we drove home and immediately collapsed into bed. What a fun, exhausting, INCREDIBLE day!