A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to spend my 29th birthday in the Happiest Place on Earth – DisneyLand! I was able to talk my good friend Joni into accompanying me on this trip, and we had a blast.

I don’t want to say that it was better than I remembered, but it was just as fantastic as my memories from coming here as a child were.

Looking back, I have no idea how many times I went to DisneyLand as a child (my parents think it was 6 times as a child). I was very lucky that my parents, Erik and Lisa, took Stefan (my brother) and me here often on our vacations throughout the years. I even spent my 20th birthday celebrating with my family at Blue Bayou (the restaurant inside of Pirates of the Caribbean). Just writing this post, I can imagine the smell of that ride, and hear the crickets combined with excited chatter of the ride participants before they drop into the dark, pirate filled ride.

Today is Stefan‘s 29th birthday, and while we spent the month of August back in Colorado, he mentioned that he had wanted to spend his birthday with Madeline, his wife, at DisneyLand. Little did he know that he just gave me the perfect birthday present…

 

Tickets to DisneyLand!

 

 

I planned it with his wife, Madeline, and spent Tuesday night FaceTiming with Stefan to tell him about his present (and buy his tickets).

He promised to send me photos, videos, FaceTime, SnapChat, Facebook Live, Instagram and text me throughout the day so I can share in his happiness today – and I can’t wait!

In the meantime, I spent the past few days going back through my photos and reliving the happy memories from my 29th birthday and beyond – which I just had to share with everyone. This is the perfect TBT on Stefan’s birthday. Also, a belated happy birthday to Joni, whose birthday was earlier this week on September 13th!

#DisneyMon29!

First, I’ll ease into the photo sharing with my 29th birthday (we went a few days before my birthday, but still). This was just a few short days after I met Jonathon (and before we got married), so there were so many photos and selfies to take so I could text them to him!

We arrived bright and early our first day:

Only to find out that the Backstreet Boys were performing a free show! We continued to see them throughout the park the rest of the day.

As I said, Joni and I took many selfies, including these on Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and Star Tours:

Then I took Joni on the ride from her nightmares: The Twilight Zone’s Tower of Terror. She didn’t speak to me for a little while after this:

All in all, it was a fantastic trip, and the perfect way to start my last year in my 20′s. Thanks again Joni!

Now on to the REAL TBT’s from Stefan and my past.

My mother has put together these great photo albums for Stefan and me from our past trips, and WOW talk about a walk down memory lane!

These are some of our earliest trips, where spending time at the pool was just as enjoyable as the rides. I love how hipster my dad, Erik, looks in the middle photo! Plus, I look quite emo in the photo to the left. I was *pissed* in this one. We were riding the People Movers (RIP), and I got locked out of the car that my parents and brother were in, and had to ride BY MYSELF in the People Mover car behind them. This was me being very pissy (probably pre-teen years, if I had to guess).

Gotta love this page. Here we are in all of our awkward 90′s glory! Goofy was always a favorite of mine.

Splash Mountain – forever a favorite ride! I love the progression through the years. In the one on the top left both Stefan and I look terrified (while our parents hold us tight). In the next one we are a bit more relaxed considering my dad is waving, however I am still tightly holding on to Stefan, who seems to be having a great time. The photo on the bottom left is a fantastic memory. This was right around Halloween, and Stefan didn’t want to dress up the WHOLE time, but wanted to do something fun on this ride. He planned it perfectly and had his outfit in one of our bags, so as he boarded the ride he was dressed normally. Right before the big drop, he put on his Where’s Waldo outfit for the photo. The people in the back didn’t even know he had done it until they saw the photo after the ride! It was the perfect Halloween photo. Stefan’s face in the last photo says it all.

Pretty sure this first image on the top right is from Las Vegas when we went to the Star Trek ride. Had to include another Goofy photos, as well as one from Toon Town. Love the attitude I’m giving in the last one. I think this may have been from my 20th birthday and I was probably texting on the phone with friends :p

Looking back through all of these photos is such a trip! I really can imagine walking down Main Street towards the castle, veering off to the right to get in line for Space Mountain, or off to the left to get fast passes for Indiana Jones before riding Pirates of the Carribeann, or through the castle to ride the Peter Pan ride. Every time I fly (and have the window seat), I’m reminded of this ride. That’s my favorite part, gliding over the bustling city below.

Thanks for sharing in my massive TBT, and birthday post to Stefan. I can’t wait to follow along with him as he rings the last year of his 20′s in at the Happiest Place on Earth – DisneyLand.

Happy 29th Birthday, Stefan!