Happy Birthday Beau!

Her Perspective: I had planned Beau's birthday surprise for months! I told very few people in the hopes of keeping it a secret from Beau. So the morning of his birthday (VERY early) I woke him up and told him to get dressed so he could get his birthday surprise. I drove him to my parents house where they were awake and waiting for us to get there.
His Perspective: I didn't know what we were doing at my in-laws at 5:30 in the morning, so I walked in and saw Dale & Dixie awake and apparently waiting for us. Janessa came upstairs carrying these large cards with writing on them.

I couldn't believe that she planned the whole thing without me knowing. I was a little shocked with the reality that in an hour I'd be on a plane to CA and everything had been planned for us to spend the next 3 days in Disneyland.

Her Perspective: I think Beau was half asleep when I told him. I wanted the presentation to be fun and get him excited about going which definitely happened, but I don't think the reality of where we were going hit him until we were in the car and on our way. I had packed our bags the day before and had my Mom come and pick them up so he would have no idea about the trip until the morning of his birthday.

His Perspective: We arrived at the airport with little time to spare, so by the time we checked in and made it through security, our plane was already boarding. An hour and a half later, we were in California. I was so excited to get going, but really had no idea what to expect. I asked a lot of questions about where we were staying and how we were getting to and from, but knew it would all work out. We flew into the smallest airport I've ever seen. (Long Beach) I felt like I arrived into 1950 when we got off of our plane and walked across the tarmac into the the actual airport. I think my house has more square footage than that, however, we spent very little time there, so it didn't matter. A short time later, we had our rental car and were on our way to the hotel for an early check in so we could get to the park.
Her Perspective: I LOVE Disneyland. I could seriously sit along Main Street and people watch for hours, but we decided to get in as much of the park as we could before the weekend and crowds came. We rode our favorites a few times and enjoyed the time we got to spend together. Speaking of old times, we even saw Captain EO. Yep... it was exactly the same as it was back then, but it was still fun to see. Since it's close to Christmas, the park was all decorated with their beautiful trees and garlands. My favorite part is the fireworks and shows at night, but I was especially excited because we got to see the Holiday fireworks and the snow on Main Street. There is something very magical about the park all year round, but Christmas brings out the very best. Beau hasn't been to Disneyland in a VERY long time and had never seen the park at Christmas, so it was fun to watch everything with him and hear his comments.
His Perspective: The park has changed in the last 11 years since I was last there. When I was last there, the parking lot actually existed in front of the park, so I had never been to California adventure or Downtown Disney, but it was great to enjoy more of the adventure mixed in with the old classics. Our favorites at CA Adventure were the Tower of Terror and Soarin' Over California. We also saw the World of Color and were totally WOWed at the Bellagio Fountains on steroids. We recommend seeing this to anyone attending the parks.

At Disneyland, we especially enjoyed Space Mountain, and Indiana Jones, and even took the time to ride Splash Mountain. We hit every ride we could and managed to get in everything that we wanted to do in the time we were there, including eating the giant pickle that I craved for days and J's Dole pineapple soft serve in juice.

Her Perspective: It was so much fun to have the park hopper passes and be able to go back and forth between the parks at our leisure. One of the most unique experiences we had was at The Jazz Kitchen where we ate for Beau's birthday dinner. They had live entertainment and REALLY good food. We loved our time there and it was a nice break from the rest of our trip. I made Beau take the time out to watch the parade one day and we saw a few of the street shows as we walked around.

His Perspective: My favorite part of the trip was simply being in Disneyland with J. We had so much fun being kids again and enjoying our time away from reality. We laughed and joked for 3 days and had a nice break from our everyday lives. I loved riding all of our favorite rides and making so many awesome memories. I wish we could have stayed longer.
Her Perspective: My favorite part of the trip was seeing Beau's reaction to all of the wonderful things we got to see and enjoy. It was certainly a different trip than those of years past. We made so many good memories and got to enjoy wonderful quality time just being with each other and sharing our excitement over the rides and entertainment. I too was sad to leave.