Last Disney day

This little towel bird was sitting on the tub in the restroom we haven't been using.

We're used to Florida's afternoon showers, but it was raining all day Wednesday.

When we were leaving the resort we saw this bag of candy on a table with a "for free" sign so I took it for L (after pulling out a small Twix for me and Andy).

We picked up L from her apartment and she got us into Cast Connections. She found an office chair for her game room for $5 (!). Andy got a Tommy Bahama shirt and I got a DVC hoodie that glows in the dark - we'll see.

We had planned to spend the morning with L in Hollywood Studios but since it was raining we went to L's apartment to kill time. Here's Vader, the cat she found and brought home from her Hershey internship.

And Houdini, adopted while she was in Champaign. Funny that this overweight cat likes to sit on her walking pad.

And Sully.

Family photo! We were driving to the airport and got close when L texted and asked if she had forgotten her umbrella in our rental. Sure enough, she did. We drove back and gave it to her. Good thing we had plenty of time.

Here's Andy in the United Club planning our next Disney trip ... stay tuned.

Disney Day 2

Andy and I started off Sunday at Magic Kingdom. We rode Tron and the Snow White roller coaster before L texted us to see when we were going to come visit her at Fort Wilderness.

We were planning to go back to the resort to sit by the pool but we took the boat to Fort Wilderness instead.

There's our girl working with Chip and Dale.

We had a bus all to ourselves from Fort Wilderness to Magic Kingdom. From there, we walked back to the resort.

OK, now it's pool time. Andy poured some poolside margaritas in our Disney cups. We brought the bottle of margarita from home and it cost less than the margarita Andy had yesterday at Beak and Barrel. Definitely worth making room in the luggage for that.

After the pool, we went to Epcot where we had reservations at GEO-82. In this picture, it's the second floor where you can see the round lights.

We were welcomed in with scented, cool towels. The cast member pulled out the description of what's on the towels.

They should offer cool, scented towels everywhere lol.

Everything was decorated to resemble Spaceship Earth. The bar, described as upscale and adults-only, is connected to Spaceship Earth ride.

Inside view. It's very nice.

We ordered (an expensive) charcuterie board ...

and a glass of wine for me and a tequila cocktail of some sort for Andy. It was a fun, possibly one-time experience. We rode Soaring and Nemo before taking the monorail back to the resort.

I didn't buy any chocolate or sweets when we picked up groceries Saturday and that was a mistake. We bought this huge chocolate chip cookie at the Contemporary. It should last me through the rest of the trip.

And L talked us into buying her Christmas gift early. She found a Kitchen Aid at her apartment but it didn't have a bowl and the one I claimed for free didn't fit it. She found one on sale at Target with a beautiful copper bowl that she looooves we told her to get it and we'd transfer money to her. She picked it up Sunday and already had her first baked item in the oven when we texted that night.

To Disney!

Andy and I weere up early Saturday for Allison to drive us to O'Hare. We had breakfast in the United Club and then were on our way to Disney to see L.

We went to Magic Kingdom and rode Pirates of the Caribbean. We were in line for Thunder Mountain when they had to shut it down for lightning in the area. It rained a bit and then it poured for quite a while.

Andy managed to get a reservation for the (fairly new) Beak and Barrel bar for 4:45 p.m. It's kind of hard to get a reservation, or so we thought, until the guy next to us said he snagged a reservation two hours ago. Hmmm. He said he asked us so he could brag lol.

We were seated in the main bar area so that was nice. The decor is pretty neat.

My beer was around $12. Andy's margarita was $20. Disney prices. One drink each was enough to see what it was about.

Then it was time to got to our room. I'm not sure if we've had a one-bedroom in Bay Lake Tower before but if we did it's since been redecorated because I don't remember any of it. The furniture is not comfortable.

We have two full bathrooms and a real kitchen. With pull-outs in the living area, it can sleep five. Too bad we didn't know about Vacation Club rooms when the kids were little. There's so much more space than the regular resort rooms that can accommodate five - and the kitchen and extra bathroom would have been welcomed.

Andy asked for a room near the elevator and on a high floor so we're on the 15th floor (there might be a 16th floor of rooms but we're not sure - it might just be a lounge up there). This is our view.

We picked up L and W from their apartment and took them to the Celebration Brewery, where we went on Father's Day when we were visiting. This time it was all decorated for Oktoberfest ...

so I had to have them pose by the beer mug of balloons as we left.

Tati visits

L's friend, Tati, jas been bisiting her. Here they are with friend J and roommate T at Universal. (Not sure about that shirt L is wearing).

W couldn't join them at Universal because he had to work the next day but over weekend he went with the girls to Disney.

He bought L a pair of Coach sunglasses ...

and a nifty pair for himself.

He looks pretty happy with this Pirates of the Caribbean light-up sword. (Someone must have had a payday).

Here they are on one of my favorite rides. Hopefully, I'll be on it soon!

Pretty sure Tati went along for L's Halloween-decoration shopping and helped decirate the apartment.

Mahjong Monday

Back from the cruise, I'm getting back into the regular routine. Laundry, unpacking and grocery shopping were the priorities for the day and it was Monday, so it was mahjong night. We played with Allison's new tiles - pretty but not lucky.

Andy took the picture so he's not in it. The woman on the right won all four games we played (she also teaches mahjong).

And while we were out playing games, L was at her first MBA class. It's a four-hour class. Oy.

Our student

L had the orientation for her MBA Program last week at UCF. The mascot's name is Knightro. I suppose there's a story behind that (later realized it's Nitro, just as an unfortunate spelling tragedy). Let the studying begin!

She's official.

Some new student swag.

She looks ready to begin!

Kudos for L

Our girl won fifth place in the quarterly awards today for being great at her job.

L and her friend J. Pretty dress she wore.

The award. She can wear it like an Olympic medal.