Thursday, September 16th

Aloha!

We left Ba-Ba and Nana's house this morning, making the quick drive to Disney World. You should have seen Madison looking out the window for Mickey when we got close. The entrance gate along the main road sparked her excitement: "There!"

We have finally arrived. We stayed in the Fiji long house, which you can see above. We have a slight view of the Seven Seas Lagoon - very nice! The room is spacious, with island artwork and furniture - and we're located right nearby everything too. The view is of the marina, where Madison sees the small boats (and wants to ride one)!

As we checked in, we each got a flower lei - one of many for this trip. Later on, we each got a flower lei for the luau (that's six), and then flower leis for this next activity:

Hula Lessons! Mommy and Madison got into their hula lessons at the Great Ceremonial Hall as Daddy looked on. They even got certificates for the class! Notice the Hidden Mickey Madison is standing on, by the way...

As Aunti Kuai played guitar, the instructor had the class follow her graceful movements - and play their instruments too. As you can see, Madison had maracas. She had a great time, swaying to the music. She's seen the hula dancing on "Lilo and Stitch," and for the last year and a half or so, she's been getting up and dancing the hula herself during this part of the movie. Even if she hears Hawaiian music, she'll get up and dance the hula. So this class was pretty special. She enjoyed it - but that wouldn't be the last time she danced the hula on this trip. Later on tonight, there was the luau!

On our way back to the room, Daddy looked across the lagoon to the Magic Kingdom, where we could see Cinderella's Castle. Madison hadn't noticed yet, so I pointed it out. "Do you see the Disney Castle?"

Madison gasped! No joke. She gasped! Then she cried out, "Disney Castle!"

Later on, we went to the Spirit of Aloha Luau, which Madison adored. Mommy and Daddy are here, celebrating our ten-year anniversary - we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon. But this is must as much, if not more, for Madison. She was transfixed, looking at the dancers in their costumes as they did the hula. Of course, she did the hula too. She was dressed in a grass skirt and has had flowers on all day. She got several comments about how beautiful she is. Yes, we know! Hey, the food was great too, especially the volcano shaped desserts.

The Samoan fire dancer came next, and that was a huge thrill for Madison. She kept looking back to Mommy and Daddy, and then to the fire juggler. She'd turn to us again and say, "Ouch!" This guy really was the highlight of the evening though. The audience was thrilled as he kept doing his thing, and Madison would continually be turning to us and saying, "Hot!" Yes, it's hot Madison. Don't try this at home!

Later in the evening, we went to the beach to build sand castles. Actually, what we built looked more like a ginormous volcano. But it was still fun. The Electrical Water Pageant floated by, which delighted Madison: she called out each one as it lit up. "Dragon!" "Octopus!" "Seahorse!"

And then the fireworks began, exploding over the castle. It was perfect weather. All was calm, quiet and serene. It was so relaxing, sitting there in beach chairs, watching the fireworks across the lagoon, as Madison made sand castles. It was really a wonderful, unforgettable moment.