Part 3: Let the birthday celebration begin!

As I mentioned earlier, the only reason I agreed to go to Disney so late in the summer was because I could be there on my birthday, which has always been a dream of mine.  I knew I could do it b/c my birthday is over the summer, but unfortunately, it also happens to be 2 days after the fourth of July.  I was a little worried about going at this time of year, but with a little planning and getting up early to beat the crowds, not too bad.  It was actually quite a wonderful day!

This is what I woke up to on the morning of my birthday:

My birthday pin (from Disney) and my birthday gift from Mark and the girls:

I chose Epcot for the day of my birthday;  its my favorite park, and the rest of the family too:

 Katie and I's car design on Test Track:

Mark and Emma's car:

 Waiting outside the Nemo ride:

After riding the big rides in Epcot, we spend some time in the Character Spot before heading to the countries of World Showcase.  We had no line and no wait - it was awesome!

Heading to World Showcase:

In World Showcase, you can do an interactive game featuring Perry the Platypus of Phineas and Ferb.  The girls got a cell phone and received clues to solve a mystery at the Norway pavilion.  It was very cool.

After our adventure, we ran into Donald Duck in Mexico.  Such a cute pic.

Couldn't have asked for a better coincidence on my birthday.  That night a Bon Jovi Tribute band was playing its last concert in Epcot.  They were amazing.  They looked and sounded just like the real thing.  We really enjoyed singing along with them.

For dinner for my birthday, I picked Via Napoli in the Italy pavilion.  It ended up being a great meal.

Mark and I waiting to eat:

Emma photobombing our picture:

Emma and her fruit salad:

What?  Katie ate cheese pizza?

My birthday cake.  I also was sung to by the wait staff, very fun!

One of the other things the girls and I had on our to do list was a henna tattoo in Morocco in Epcot.  They came out so cute, and mine is just now fading away .  

Staying at Bay Lake Towers allowed us to ride the Monorail to several of the parks.  Besides the normal monorails, Disney also had an Ironman Monorail and a Monsters University one.  Emma was dying to ride on the Monsters Inc one.  When we finally caught it, she was so excited!

Lastly, when we got home that evening, we were greeted with a special treat from my sister, Jane and the hotel.  We got Mickey shaped cookies and chocolate covered strawberries.  I also got an autographed card from the Mouse himself (oh, and I had a phone message from Mickey and Minnie telling me Happy Birthday)

If you've never celebrated your birthday or anniversary at Disney, you need to do it.  We had an amazing time, and it doesn't hurt having 50 different cast members tell you Happy Birthday all day long.  And don't even get me started how big Emma's head is since she was called "princess" all week long!  What an amazing day.  The girls are already planning their sweet 16's at the parks!