Disney World
Glen and Evelyn were in town and bought their new annual passes so we headed to Epcot one night to ride the Star Wars rides and see Fantasmic!. We also spent the morning at Animal Kingdom with them one morning. J. R.'s brother Jim and wife Lori came down with their son Bryan and his wife Ashley and their kids Levi and Liam and we spent a morning at Magic Kingdom with them as well as an evening at Universal Studios.
Universal Mardi Gras
For the last few years, we have been able to ride a Mardi Gras float to toss beads during the parade at Universal Studios. This year, we decided to buy the Ride and Dine experience. We went over early and rode a few rides before our dinner at Lombard's. Dinner was a little disappointing because the restaurant did not have any desserts, including the key lime pie. It started to rain as we left dinner and the rain continued throughout the night as we rode the Gator float. But we still had a great time tossing beads.
Becca in Chicago
Rebecca had some time off in the middle of the semester at Harvard so she flew back to Chicago for the weekend to hang out with Ashley and Jenna and the McRaes in Bolingbrook and spend some time exploring Ashley's new neighborhood in Wrigleyville.
Las Vegas
We had plans to fly to Las Vegas in early April to see Janie's mom, but about a week before, we received word Janie's stepfather Ike had passed away due to complications from a medical procedure. Janie rearranged her flight to go straight out to Pahrump and J. R. joined her the next day. We stayed the week with Gale and her cat and then flew home. Janie flew back the next week to take Gale to see the Cirque show we had planned to see on our original visit.
Cake Decorating
For Janie's birthday, the kids paid for her to experience the cake decorating class at Amorette's Patisserie at Disney Springs. We had to reschedule due to Ike's passing but finally got to do it in mid-April. We showed up early and were given a free drink and then went to our table where the materials were laid out. The teacher showed us how to buttercream the cake and Janie was a little bummed she didn't get to do this part, but it had to be frozen for a day for the gel to be able to adhere. Janie did get to pour the glaze (three times) and decorate her Minnie Mouse-inspired cake.
Day at Disney
We hadn't made it to the Flower and Garden Festival at Epcot so we went over one morning to have lunch at the booths and see some of the flowers. Afterwards, we went to Beach Club and Grand Floridian to see the eggs decorated for Easter.
