Madison discovered a new friend. We had a mirror sitting in the entry way for a few days and Madison found a friend to talk to. She pulled her Cinderella chair over to the mirror and she would just sit there for about 20 minutes just talking and playing.

After climbing into the chair, Madison discovered she did not know how to get back out. She was fine for a minute, but then wanted my help to get free.

Madison decided that she wanted to dress herself. She got into the laundry as I was folding it, and started playing with Wayne's shirt. Next thing I knew she was wearing the shirt. The only problem was that it was on backwards, but what else would you expect on a first try.

We just returned from a trip to Merced. Wayne's Grandama Troy passed away last Thrusday So we went up there for the Funeral. Madison got to play with her cousin Geneva. She had so much fun with her. Madison would try to give her a kiss, and Geneva (who hates people in her face) would turn away causing Madison to try again with the same result. This happened over and over again.

Madison playing with Geneva at 1:00 in the morning.

Brad, Tom, Dianna, and Wayne ready to go to the funeral.

Wayne's work sent these flowers.

Madison exploring Grandma Troy's yard.

Wayne out in the orchard.

While in Florida we stayed at the French Quarter New Orleans Hotel. The hotel was nice, with the bright colors of Mardi Gras. The only issue was that we picked that hotel because of how fun the pool looked, and upon arrival we discovered the pool was closed. The hotel was partnered with the French Quarter Riverside hotel, which had a more upper class feel, so we were able to use their pool and spa. We only had to take a boat ride along the river or walk the 1/2 mile or so to get there.

Our last full day in Florida we went to Walt Disney World. It was very much like Disneyland, but so different. They had a lot of the same rides, but there were slight differences in them. Their Space Mountain is not as good as ours. Splash Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean were both shorter, having left out part of the stories. Big Thunder Mountain was the same, I could not see any differences.


The Castle was beautiful. There were mosaics depicting scenes from Cinderella in the walkway. Fantasyland was unimpressive, and we did not go on any of the rides there. The buildings in Fantasyland had a flat feeling to them with not much dimension, like Disneyland was when it opened, before its current renovation.

On day three we explored the Animal Kingdom. It was like getting to go to the zoo, but with really fun rides. Twenty five percent of the land Disney owns has been turned into a wildlife preserve, and a portion of that is incorporated into the Park. They have a safari ride where you get to go on a tour of the preserve, getting to see the animals. Sometimes they are quite close. They also had Expedition Everest which was a good roller coaster. And we got to see Finding Nemo the Musical. It was very cute, I just wish Madison would have been there to see it, she would have loved it. One exciting thing happened to us as we were leaving the Flamingo's, we won Year of a Million Dreams lanyards which each had two speciality pins included.

Day two we went to Epcot. There were a few good rides, including one that made us a bit sick (Mission to Mars). One of the best rides was Test Track, where you get to simulate many of the tests cars are put through to be road worthy. At one point we were going 64 mph. The real exciting part was walking around the world showcase. I even got to pick a oyster which had a 7.5 mm pearl inside. It was a long day with a lot of walking, but we had lots of fun.

Our first day in Florida we went to Disney's Hollywood Studio's. They had one excelent roller coaster, the tower of terror and a stunt show that we really enjoyed. There were a lot of other cool things but these were the highlights of this day.

I am finally getting this started, it is a bit exciting. Last week Wayne and I spent 6 days in Florida at Walt Disney World, while Madison spent the week with my parents. We had so mush fun going on all the rides and doing the tourist thing. We flew out there on Feb. 17th and came back on the 22nd. It was hard to leave Madison, and I was crying most of the day but it got easier when we started going to the parks.