*Disneyland*

So, we decided we needed to get away. What better place to get away to when you need a pick-me-up than the Happiest Place on Earth? We had been planning on going to Baltimore with my family to pick Colby up from his mission. After everything happened our priorities kind of changed. We still wanted to get away on a vacation though. My birthday was coming up so I told Mark I wanted to go to Disneyland for my birthday. It was kind of joke but next thing I knew the joke turned into reality. My neighbors the Johnsons had been wanting to go because they had never been, and my mom is as much of a Disney lover as me and Mark are so we invited her along too! We had a great time. I love Disneyland so much. It was a really helpful distraction. There were a couple of hard moments, like when I saw a baby dressed in an outfit just like one I had boughten for Bridger. I would see cute baby things in the gift shops and get excited only to remember that I didn't have anyone to get it for. But besides those few moments we had a great time. Carter loved it and actually did really well on the drive. This was our first time driving there with Carter so I was impressed with how well he did. I am going to post a few of my favorites from our over 1000 pictures (no joke). 

On our way! This is just after eating at In N Out! It was my birthday that day and Amanda had brought cupcakes for the special occasion. What a thoughtful friend! I turned the big 26 that day.

Just before getting ready to go in on our first day! 

Our whole gang! Getting pictures in all of the typical picture spots first thing!

We hit Fantasyland first thing. Here is the whole Johnson family. Chance and Lyndee looked so cute on the carousel with their lollipops. It looked like a scene from Mary Poppins!

It was so fun going on Dumbo this trip. Our group occupied 5 different Dumbos. 

Dumbo is so photogenic. You can't blame a gal for trying to get the perfect pic of Dumbo.

I was laughing hard because I had been turned around trying to get a picture of everyone and I guess the lady on the intercom kept telling everyone to "turn around in their seats," referring to me! I wasn't paying attention because I was busy trying to get pictures. Finally, Mark was like "Alison, they're talking about you!" Oops!

Chance loves Pinocchio and ran right over to these puppets. Carter thought they were cool too.

How nice were these people? They kindly moved out of the way so we could get a picture of my mom back in the caboose. 

On our way to Toontown with all of the kids with their "leashes" on. 

I got myself a birthday button to wear the day after my birthday. It was cool because everyone around Disneyland tells you happy birthday. It was fun. Mark made fun of me, but he was just jealous.

I bought Carter and Chance these matching shirts before we left. What cute boys!

I took Carter to see the princesses. Or I should say I took Carter with ME to see the princesses. I had never gone to the princess area before since I didn't have a little girl, but it was still fun to see the princesses and princess area. We saw Belle, Ariel, and Tiana. They are so pretty and were in full character. I wonder how much they get paid...

All of the kids in their yellow shirts (not planned!). This picture is kind of funny because we were in the princess area and Lyndee was only interested in the swords!

We saw SO many characters! We saw Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, Pinocchio, Queen of Hearts, Chip & Dale, Sully, Jessie & Woody, Snow White, Belle, Ariel, Tiana, Aurora, Mr. Incredible, Alice in Wonderland, The Mad Hatter, Pooh, Brer Bear, Brer Fox, and I may be forgetting one or two!

We took Carter on this ride when he was 8 months old at his first trip to Disneyland. I cracked up the whole time because they said he could ride it as long as he was sitting on the seat. So my mom sat him next to her and held him close to her. He liked it and looked around but also had a somewhat confused look on his face. It made me laugh because of that and also because he was so little but looked so big. We liked riding it with Grandma again this time, but he still kind of had the confused look on his face.

Mark loves him some caramel apple! Here he is chowin' down on one.