Disney, rain, cold and Star Wars

Day 2 at the Disney World Parks and it is raining: an annoying drizzly cold rain.  But after a hearty breakfast I head off to the Animal Kingdom where I use my first Fast Pass of the day at Expedition Everest which turns out to be this roller coaster that is dark scary and fun.  I almost didn't get on but it didn't seem to go in tiny circles so I figured I could take it.  I could.  

Thank goodness I thought to bring a poncho that I got at Walmart that kept me pretty dry except for my feed which were cold all day.  But the rainy weather kept the lines pretty short and I was able to get in to see a majority of the attractions very quickly.  

I had a great seat on the safari ride and saw some beautiful animals close up.

 At about 3 I headed over to Hollywood Studios where I was going to meet my friend Michelle for dinner.  It was my first time at Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios and I was so enthralled with Hollywood Studios from the minute I came into the gate as there was a parade of Storm Troopers going buy as I entered.  I am a huge Star Wars fan and the highlight of the day for me was the show with some of my favs on stage.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to have some type of Star Wars souvenir before I go home.

I met Michele for dinner at the 50 Prime Time Cafe, such a fun place.  I've known Michele for about 18 years as we met through our love of "Remember Wenn" which is on of my top 10 favorite TV shows of all time.  She works at the Frozen Sing Along in Disney's Hollywood Studios.  It was nice catching up with her life and finding out some of the back stage details of working at the park.  We finished dinner right about the time of the fireworks display and Michele found us a good spot to watch.  This was the most amazing show.  I MEAN SPECTACULAR!!!!!!  Star Wars multimedia show projected on buildings with fireworks, fire, lasers, you name it this show had it.  LOVED IT!!!!!

Such fun

Well today was a wonderful day in Florida.  I started the morning checking out the dock where the Aya Fiber Studio is located.  I just love boats and water.

Could be part of the reason I live on a lake.  I went to the second day of a Shibori needle stitching class early as I wanted to take some photos but didn't realize I was over an hour early.  I felt bad for encroaching on Suzanne's free time but I did get some nice pics.  Also got a jump on stitching out this bird that I wanted to try.

Next time I won't put the tail at such a steep angle.   The rest of my attempts today were pretty dismal in the afternoon.  I tried a fat quarter with resist to keep the die from permeating the fabric.  This resist ended up pretty blue with not as much contrast as I would have liked.  I also tried this stitching method where you fold the fabric and backstitch tightly so that the only thing that is white is your stitching line.  I must not have pulled the stitches hard enough cuz there wasn't any white.  Regardless of the outcome of these little samples, I learned a bunch and enjoyed the class a lot.  Just sitting around in this old fish house that was converted to artist's studios right on the water was lovely.  We took a break and went to see some of the work of Cristina de la Vega who did oil landscapes.  Breath taking.  She took a minute to explain why this painting I thought was amazing needed a lot more work.

While we were visiting, a couple with an English Setter was watering their dog and I started to chat with the woman.  Turns out she was a quilter, small world.  However, she is an art quilter and told me about an exhibit in Stuart of 40 art quilts.  Imagine my joy when I found out they were having a reception this evening and I would be able to go!!!!!!!!!  Yeehaw.

The exhibit was in two rooms of the Cultural Center.  Here are a few of my favs. (I apologize to the artists as I rushed through the exhibit and didn't note their names.)

It was a great day and now I'm off to bed to get ready for DISNEYWORLD.!!!!!!!!!!