Disneyland 1

The end of October, we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to a much needed just-us family vacation. We went to Disneyland and we had the best time! It seems like 2009 has been a non-stop high-stress period of time for us. House-hunting, buying our house, and moving were all super stressful. And, adoption in general is a stressful and highly emotional thing. So far, our adoption experience has included some heartbreaking situations that have just not worked out. This last situation the past few months was the hardest by far. We were in contact with a birth mom, exchanging emails and info and pictures over the course of a few months, even had a face to face meeting, and in the end (one week before the baby came) she decided to keep her. Needless to say, we were crushed. Everything about it felt so right and so perfect. We were really hit hard by this. Which leads me to our much-needed getaway. It's amazing how just simply lifting yourself out of a situation for a time can ease the pain and allow some healing. And what better place to escape reality than Disneyland, the "happiest place on earth." :)
Enjoy the pictures, we took a TON!

It's our tradition that the first ride we hit is Dumbo. Classic.


Then we hit Peter Pan, one of Allary's favorite rides (and movies).
I love this look on her face on the ride. I'm not sure what this is in reaction to, maybe Captain Hook?

Crazy driver!

My brave girl on the Matterhorn.

It's a Small World...


I think this was waiting in line for Alice in Wonderland.
Those are just the pictures from the first day. That night we switched off saving a front-row spot in front of the castle for the Halloween fireworks. We staked out our spot at 6:00pm! The fireworks didn't start until 9:30pm! You should have seen the enormous masses of people crowding in to see the show. It was a long wait, but the show was amazing! Fireworks, music, flames, light projections, lasers, etc etc. Amazing.