Disneyland 3

Here's some more Disneyland fun...

ToonTown...

We really wanted Allary to be able to go on some of the bigger rides and I knew she'd be brave enough to do so. The height requirement is 40" and Allary, without shoes, is 36" tall. Before we left on our trip, I measured her and measured her and fashioned her some special shoes that gave her those extra needed 4". I just put some folded up socks in the bottom of her tallest boots, and there you have it, 40". She was a great sport to have to keep switching shoes and she did great on most of the rides, not all, but most. Here she is with Jason in front of Thunder Mountain. She liked that one because it was a train and there were no monsters.


Speaking of being brave, this next photo is one of my favorites of all. I warned Allary before we left that it was Halloween Time at Disneyland and that some of the villains would be there. She is terrified of the queen from Snow White and the evil Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. She kept telling me she did NOT want to see them. (more on this later when I post all the many characters we met). So I saw this statue and made them pose by it for a photo. A little mean? Maybe, but you have to admit it's a great photo. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.


The Seven Dwarfs' cottage...

California Adventure...


The Pixar Parade in California Adventure... We actually liked this parade better than the one in Disneyland. Allary was dancing and waving and having a fantastic time.







Heimlich's Chew Chew Train...

Bumper Cars...


Just some silliness...

And more silliness with our bug-eyes while waiting for the Bug's Life movie...

Disneyland 2

This is Jason just outside of the Indiana Jones ride, his favorite. This jeep is actually from the first movie, or so the Disneyland ride worker said. Pretty cool.

These are just cute. :)

This was on Tom Sawyer's Island, or now it's called "Pirate's Lair" or something.



She is saying "Arrrrggggg!" as she sits atop the pirates' loot.
And again, just cute.




The Winnie the Pooh ride. Allary's very favorite ride. I rode this with her 7 times, yep, 7.

More Dumbo.


The castle at night. You can't really capture how cool it looks on camera.
The carousel.

My brave girl on Thunder Mountain..."the wildest ride in the wilderness!"


The Jungle Safari boats...

The parade...

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.