Disney Monday

We thought today was going to be a relaxing day but L wabted us to come see her at the Fort Wilderness Campground so we could tour the new cabins. She has a chip on her ahoilder. Get it? This is one of her favorite resorts to work at, probably because she gets to wear Chip and Dale.

We had never seen the campgeound before so it was neat to look around. Too rustic for me, but very quiet. Very spread out, too. Everyone rents golf carts to get around.

We get there and the person who was going to give us the tour was at lunch so she sent us to the barn to look at the horses. This Clydesdale was named Skylar.

This pretty horse is named Prince. He's a Percheron. Cute how the horses have nametags that look just like all the other cast members.

These horses are pampered.

Then we went to the quick service restaurant for lunch.

And finally got our tour.

Not sure I like how the bunk beds are in the master bedroom.

After talking to the salesman, he gave us two cookies.

It took is awhile to figure out how to leave the campground but we eventually figured it out and headed to Epcot.

Rick Springfield was performing three shows. He performed Sunday night and L and W walked past but didn't know who he was. Kids.

I think he played six songs and I knew five. The audience, if you can believe it, was largely older than us. The place was packed.

He looks ok for 76 and he joked about his youthful audience. Crazy though that some people stood in line for hours to get in.

For dinner - just the two of us - we went off property to V's Pizza that we found online. It was wood-burned pizza, thin and good enough.

Disney Sunday

L was working at Boardwalk Sunday so our first order of business was to see her in action.

Then we went to Magic Kingdom. The weather was perfect but it was crowded.

Somehow, though, the wait time for Peter Pan was 35 minutes so we did that. We haven't been on that ride in years because the wait time is usually too long.

We spent a few hours at the Boardwalk pool while Andy listened to the Masters tournament on his phone.

Later that afternoon we went to Epcot with L and W but went our selaarte ways in the park. Andy and I rode Soaring, Nemo and Living with the Land.

We met up for dinner at Garden Grill. It's served family style.

And it's a character meal so we got to see Mickey ...

Pluto ....

Chip ...

and Dale. W didn't realize the restaurant had characters, but he willingly played along.

Here's Chip banging his head against the wall because we didn't know how to tell him apart from Dale. Apparently, Chip has a dark nose like a chocolate chip. Who knew? L did and she apologized to Chip on our behalf.

Long Disney day

I was up at 5 a.m. yesterday, Allison picked us up at 5:30 and off to O'Hare we went. It took a while to get through security but we had plenty of time to sit in the United Club and have breakfast. We sat by the window where I had this great people-watching perch.

I watched fhe movie, "Song Sung Blue," about the Neil Diamond interpretors on the flight, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. It was good. We landed in Orlando a little after 1 p.m. and had a quick lunch at the United Club so Andy could change into shorts (look at that cute cupcake).

We picked up the rental car, a Volkswagen, and Andy always has to hook up the Apple car play before we keave the garage. We picked up some groceries before settling into our room at the Boardwalk.

Donald Duck just happened to be in the resort lobby.

L and W met us at Boardwalk after she got off from work. We went to Hollywood Studios for a hot minute before deciding to go back to the Boardwalk area and walk around the lagoon, visiting Yacht and Beach Club where she worked as a College Program participant.

W took a break in the kids' area to watch a couple minutes of cartoons.

Me and my girl.

The kids went to dinner with us at Trattoria al Forno on the Boardwalk. I had chicken parm, Andy and W had the rigatoni with a big meatball and L had a meat-lovers pizza.

First-time bird visitors

This is the first time a Black-capped Chickadee stopped by. Such a pretty bird but it didn't pose long enough for a decent picture.

And another first-timer - a Brown-headed Cowbird.

I've had quite a a few finches, mostly red and not yellow, but this was too good of a picture not to include. The camera said we had a wren stop by, but it looked like a sparrow to me. Perhaps it will return and I'll get a better look.

Evening with Field curators

This was the first time either of us recalled getting an email saying the event had reached capacity and that the museum had started a waitlist. The invitation also said to dress "elevated casual" so that threw us off a bit. I wore a spring dress and Andy wore a sports coat. There were four subject areas in which to talk with the curators and we didn't remember submitting a choice, but ended up in a session about meteors so that was interesting.

The staff told us this was the best elevator in the building. It's located on the north entrance that used to be the main entrance. They closed in part of the porch and the elevator was built there with a clear ceiling. Pretty cool.

Had to take a picture of the Benld meteor find. The meteor is on display in the museum. This picture is hanging in the staff office with an entire library of meteors.

We were in the staff area listening to a scientist and his two grad students talk about meteors and how they date them and what that tells them about the "young" sun. They were very, very excited about their research which I suppose is a good thing. I understood maybe 80 percent of it, if that. I should have paid more attention in chemistry class.

Dinner was a buffet but we had assigned tables. We were seated with one of the grad students and others who went to the same meteor session we did. The chicken was difficult to eat. The salad was very good.

The room was pretty with a glass ceiling. I think it was the first time we were eating on the lower level.

Our favors from the night were flower seeds. I took a packet of Cardinal Flower seeds and Spotted Bee Balm seeds. I left the milkweed seeds on the table. I have plenty of milkweed in the yard.

Snowman napkin rings

How cute are these? They were marked 99 cents each but I had a half-off coupon, so 50 cents. I found them online for $19.99 for four so I think it's a deal as long as they get used at least once. Surprisingly, they had even more than the 12 I needed (wanted) so I was able to find a dozen in good condition. Have to say I was a little taken aback when the cashier asked what they were. Really? What else could they be?

Ready for Disney

Preparing for our Disney trip, I started searching for the DVC bag we got for taking a tour on our last trip. I might use it, might not, but couldn't stand not knowing where it was. I looked in all the cabinets, drawers, closets, etc., several times. On a whim I went back to the bedroom and searched the floor by the closet ... and there it was. My goodness. As they say, you should put things back in the first spot you looked for it so it will be staying with my packing cubes.

New dish challenge

Just to make things different and interesting, I asked the sisters-in-law to bring a new dish they've been wanting to try for Easter dinner. My contribution was the Pioneer Woman's Pea Salad. It was ok but similar to the broccoli salad I make and apparently I like broccoli more than peas.

This is Allison's cold carrot salad.

Julie brought a pierogi sauerkraut dish.

Cousin C played along too and brought a spring pasta salad ...

and these fancy deviled eggs.