Friday - Weather: High 88, low 57. Partly cloudy. Wind SW 22.
For lunch, we went to the Windmill restaurant at the Celebration golf course clubhouse.  We both had a charcoal-grilled hamburger, very good.  It's enjoyable to us - we sit by a window with a nice view, the decor is nice, the service is excellent, it's not crowded.  Next we went to the library to get some books, and read the paper and some magazines. Of course, we went to Starbucks for iced coffee and tea.  Our treat was two cookies that were complimentary after our meal at the Windmill.  We watched people and read our books, but didn't stay long because it was very warm.  We would rather have 68 (like tomorrow) than 88 (like today).  Good thing there was a strong breeze today, or it would have been much worse.  Supper at home.


Saturday - Weather: High 68, low 56. Cloudy. Wind N 18.
After lunch here, we picked up a few grocery things at WalMart.  At about 3:00, we left for the airport to pick up daughter Laura, husband Brent, sons Ben, age 10, and Daniel, just turned 4.  They got in a little early, so we just barely had time to finish our Starbucks coffe, tea, and scone.  Both parents said the boys were very good during the plane ride. Back to the resort for a lite supper.  They will be here for a week and are staying in a small one-bedroom at the resort, hopefully (if the resort personnel are truthful) in the lock-off from our room.  The plans are for several days at Disney theme parks, and maybe a day at Universal Studios.  Daniel is real anxious to see Mickey Mouse, and when we got back to the resort, he asked if we would see him soon!  Had to explain that we had to wait a day or so to see him at Disney World.


Sunday - Weather: High 70, low 63. 50% chance occasional showers. Wind NE 14.
Sprinkling rain early, but we took our umbrellas and headed for Downtown Disney.  It pretty much had stopped by the time we arrived.  We had lunch at T-Rex, a dinosaur-themed restaurant with many near-life sized animated dinosaurs that periodically roar, causing Daniel to be a little concerned.  He was more entertained with the huge cylindrical aquarium next to our table with lots of colorful fish swimming around and around.  After lunch, we walked around, visiting the big Lego store and Disney store.  Ben got some lego building sets and Daniel latched onto a stuffed Mickey Mouse.  The boys rode on a small train with Mom, and Ben rode on a small carousel.  After walking around some more, we left to go to a mini-golf place on the way back to the resort.  Dad and the boys played while grandpa watched people, and Laura and grandma went to a nearby Dunkin' Donuts to bring back coffe for now and treats for later.  A good day despite the clouds - a little cool, but no rain to dampen things after the early sprinkle.  Back at the resort, grandpa, Mom, and Dad went to the office, because as owners we can get Disney tickets at a small discount. For supper, we went to one of the boys favorite places, I-Hop!  Eggs and pancakes all around, except Daniel had mixed fruit (his favorite thing) with his pancake.


Monday - Weather: High 80, low 64. 50% chance occasional showers. Wind SE 10.
We spent the day at the Magic Kingdom in DisneyWorld.  Daniel was very happy to see Mickey Mouse, etc. in the parades, and even had Goofy walk by and touch him on the shoulder.  Ben enjoyed the rides, especially at Space Mountain.  Warm day, but no showers until we got to the car to come back to the resort.  Long day, eveyone tired out, but a very good day for all.

Daniel and Papa on the ferry ride to the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Ben next to Papa's belly!

Just inside the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Daniel's first view of Mickey in the early parade.

First of many pictures of Mickey!

Beautiful flowers, trees and bushes all around.

Nice colorful tree!!

Mickey, Minnie, etc. at the 3 p.m. parade.

Those kids dancing around with so much energy make me feel tired!!

There they are again!

Daniel loved riding on the people-mover with Papa & Nana while Ben went with his parents to the big rides at Space Mountain.

On the way out, with two tired boys.

We went by the big stage show on the way out.

Tuesday - Weather: High 78, low 57. Mostly cloudy. Wind SE 7.
After lunch, we went to Celebration where I fished for over an hour with no luck.  People are friendly, so I had several conversations, one with a boy who was coming home from school.  He fishes there too, and showed me where he got line tangled in a tree.  Another older lady asked all about what I caugt there, if I had to get a license, how big the fish were that I caught, etc. Home for supper.


Wednesday - Weather: High 82, low 61. Partlyly cloudy. Wind SW 6.
After early breakfast, we left about 6:45 to go to meet Thiele's at Titusville near the ocean. We are going bird-watching at Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge next to the Space Center.  Contained within a 35-mile barrier island, there are 5 to 10 unpaved driving trails, the longest about 10 miles, and also 7 foot trails, the longest about 5 miles.  We walked a 1/4 mile trail at the visitor center, looking for a painted bunting, and a 1 mile one looking for scrub jays, but we had no luck. However, we saw millions of ducks, herons, egrets, etc. (46 different species) and several large alligators. Some new duck species for me, and some beautiful sights across the marshy areas.  We went back into town (only about 2 miles) for lunch at Dixie Crossroads.  Allan and Roberta had been there before on recommendation of some locals, and it is a very popular place.  I had scallops, and the other three had variations of shrimp, all very good.  They have a great menu, and serve powdered-sugar-coated corn fritters immediately when you sit down.  They are excellent, and we could have made a meal out of them.  We finally wound up our bird watching at about 5:30 and left for home.  Unfortunately, we had to drive through a terrific thunderstorm, and I tried a different way back, made a wrong turn at one spot, so it took us about 2 hours to get home (should be less than one hour).  They finally got some much needed rain, but I wish it would have happened AFTER we were home in bed!

Thursday - Weather: High 86, low 66. Partly cloudy. Wind SW 13.
Very warm, but nice breeze, so it feels good in the shade.  Early afternoon, we went to Panera Bread for our treat.  They have the best strawberry scone (although their coffee is not quite up to Starbucks!!)  Next we went to get groceries and look for a birthday present for Daniel at WalMart.  In the past, we always flew home for his birthday (Feb. 14), but this year we didn't since they are coming for a week starting Saturday.  We are anxious to see them all - they are staying in a small one bedroom unit here at Cypress Palms. We will be going to Disney (Daniel, just turned four, is anxious to see Mickey Mouse) and to Universal Studios (Ben, now 10, is anxious to see the Harry Potter stuff).  We can't wait to see the boys responses to the theme parks.

NOT MINE - TAKEN BY ALLAN THIELE

Glossy ibis, one snowy egret.  We don't see these very often.  Most ibis are white.

Up close, they have purple and pink gloss on the wings.

Hooded merganser.  Uncommon.  New species for me.

Female hooded merganser.

Very fat alligators.  Left one is really big!

Northern shovelers.  Note big bill.  Pushes its 'spatula' bill

through the water to strain out food.  New species for me.

Sleeping ducks on a small island.

Part of a large group of American avocets. 

Note how shallow the water is.

Close-up of avocets.  Notice up-curved bill.

Northern pintail.  You can see where the name comes from.

Young roseate spoonbills (one immature ibis in the middle)

The immature spoonbills have much paler pink color.

















Friday - Weather: High 81, low 62. Mostly cloudy, scattered showers. Wind SW 7.
Everyone slept late, since we didn't get to bed until after midnight.  Late morning, we went for a walk around the resort.  For lunch, we went to Celebration and ate at the Irish Pub.  (I got to have a Guiness!!)  We took a long walk along the 3 lakes, came back to downtown, and stopped at the ice cream shop. (That could get to be a bad habit!) We came back to the resort, rested, had a lite supper, and then went to the Florida mall.  Ladies did some shopping, Bob went to Starbucks, got coffee, and read his book.


Saturday - Weather: High 83, low 67. Mostly cloudy. Wind S 6. 20% chance of rain.
Late morning, we went to Sea World, ate lunch there, saw the Shamu show - it's always very entertaining.  Walked around, looked at other exhibits, looked at the nice landscaping, and late afternoon had some ice cream.  Home for supper after a stop at Walmart.  Diane took the girls swimming after dark, but it's still warm out, and the pool is heated.  They said there were not very many people swimming.  Grandma and grandpa were tired out, so we stayed in the unit and watched TV.  (At least grandma watched - grandpa watched with his eyes closed!!)


Sunday - Weather: High 82 , low 49. Isolated showers. Wind SW 22. 40% chance of rain.
Late morning, we went to Disney's BoardWalk and had lunch outside at Big River Grille.  Disney's BoardWalk is designed after the boardwalks that were famous during the turn of the 20th century along such coastal cities as Coney Island and Atlantic City, and it has shops, restaurants and nightclubs.  There is a small lake with a nice walk around it, with branches to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.  We walked around part of it and rode the boat that traverses the lake with several stops at the resorts and theme parks.  Very windy, threatened rain, but it didn't happen (thank goodness). Before leaving BoardWalk, we had to stop and have ice cream. (That's 3 days in a row - is that enough to say it's a habit?)  Lite supper here, and then the girls went to the pool.  They leave very early tomorrow morning, and we are sad to see them go.  It's so nice to have them visit and wish they could stay.

Brooke and Paige near the entrance to BoardWalk. 

This whole area has beautiful flowers everywhere.

The Beach Resort at Boardwalk has a man-made beach on the lake with very fine white sand.

Watching the girls on the beach.  (You can see how windy it is.)

In the background, you can see a little of the Beach Resort.  It has a great swimming pool area, with play areas with sand for little kids and a big slide for the big kids.

Eating lunch outside on the boardwalk.

Eating ice cream outside before we left BoardWalk.



NOT MY PICTURE, COPIED FROM WEBSITE.

This is the area near the entrance that has shops and restaurants.  At the bottom right is the restaurant where we had lunch.  You can see the boat that transfers you around the area at the dock.

NOT MY PICTURE, COPIED FROM WEBSITE.

View from the beach at the Beach Rsort, looking back to the area of shops and restaurants.  In the far background is the Swan hotel.



NOT MY PICTURE, COPIED FROM WEBSITE.

Looking back toward the entrance and area of shops and restaurants.

Tuesday - Weather: High 76, low 55. Mostly sunny. Wind S 9. Above average already after very cold Sunday. Average is 74 and 52.
This morning we went to another meeting with Wyndham representatives, and they answered some questions we had about our membership in the new Access Program.  This is the second meeting, and they pay us $100 each time, so I was surprised they wanted to meet again.  I'm sure they sell enough timeshare stuff doing this, or it wouldn't happen.  After lunch we went to Disney's Boardwalk.  It costs nothing to get in or to park, and I'm sure they figure you will buy something in the shops or have a meal at one of the restaurants.  We go and walk around the small lake, sit and watch people, and take the free boat ride.  There are 5 very nice large Disney resorts around the lake, a very nice children's pool area, a small beach, and lots of pretty flowers.  There are two outlets to the lake - one goes to Epcot Center and the other goes to Hollywood Studios.  The boat is a shuttle that takes people to 5 stops near the resorts and Disney attractions.  We just ride it around, because it's fun to go for a boat ride!  Late afternoon, we stop at an ice cream shop in the Beach Club resort and get root beer floats.  Very good, but costs $10 for two!  On the way back to the resort, we stopped at Publix for a few groceries and supper - chicken and some potato salad. (Sounds like a picnic!)


Wednesday - Weather: High 80, low 61. Mostly sunny. Wind SE 5. 
Went for lite lunch at the Windmill restaurant at the club house at the golf course in Celebration, very nice place.  Only had soup and half-sandwich - soup was lobster bisque, very good.  Walked a little looking at pretty flowers, then we went to the library for new books and read the Orlando paper and some magazines.  We get the USA Today delivered every morning at the resort, but it has very little FL news or Orlando news.  Next we went to downtown Celebration for coffee, tea, and some coffee cake.  (Taking a break from our usual scone!)  We sat in the shade and read our books until late afternoon, then back to the resort.  We took a walk over to the rec center for free popcorn and a diet coke, lite supper here. 


Thursday - Weather: High 84, low 64. Mostly sunny. Wind S 10. 
After breakfast, we went to the library, then to get groceries at Super Target, followed by lunch at Miller's Ale House - they have great hamburgers.  We took good naps because we pick up Diane and her girls, Brooke and Paige, at the airport at 10:50. They are staying until Monday, so lots of fun ahead. 

MORE PICTURES AT

WYNDHAM CYPRESS PALMS RESORT

At one of the entrances.  Note the woods in the background. 

 That's the south side of the resort.

Do you like blue?

Near one of the entrances to the resort, there is a small stream that has this small dam.

At the entrance to the resort.  Linda and huge date palm.

 

View from our balcony at dusk.  Fountain is lighted at night.  In the far distance, the white fence is around pool 2.  About halfway over there on the right side (out of view) is pool 1 and a small playground area.

Same view, but at sunrise.

Along the walk to pool 2.

Hot tub at pool 2.

Pool 2.

Near the small stream at one of the entrances to the resort. 

The roses are past their best.

Friday - Weather: High 68, low 48. Partly cloudy. Wind NW 10.  Still very dry, -2.15 in. for the year.
We packed everything this morning because tomorrow we move to a large one bedroom unit for the next 4 weeks.  We left mid-morning to go to Largo (near Tampa) to visit my sister, Jean Crosman.  Her husband, Dave, was on an overnight golf trip to Ft.Myers. They have a very nice place with a 2nd bedroom, so we stayed overnight.  It takes 1.5 to 2 hours to get there.  We went out for supper at a cool seafood place near the gulf.  Jean and Linda had coconut shrimp with a side of broccoli, and I had broiled scallops and fried oysters (my favorite things) with a side of dirty rice.  All was very good.  We had a good time visiting. 


Saturday - Weather: High 68, low 35! WOW!  Sunny. Wind W 16, gusts to 24. 
Jean fixed bacon and eggs with toast for breakfast - nice treat for us since we don't have a cooked breakfast very often. Lots of visiting again, with frequent words, "Do you remember ...". We packed up and left for Kissimmee late morning, stopped near Plant City at a strawberry farm which has a place serving all kinds of strawberry treats and other things, and had some terrific strawberry shortcake.  Linda's cousins had stopped there on their way to visit us, and said it was really good. You would not believe the long line waiting for the shortcake!  They are prepared with lots of workers, so we didn't wait long.  Then another line for buying some fresh strawberries - this place has a reputation and is raking in the money!  Got to Kissimmee just in time to go to Celebration for coffee and a treat (that was lunch, after the shortcake!).  Checked in, unpacked, and had a lite supper here.


Sunday - Weather: High 56, low 33!! PRETTY CHILLY! Sunny. Wind NNW 14.  About 50 miles NW of here, it got down to 23! But for Kissimmee, near 70 Mon., back to 80 Tues.   Average high in Kissimmee for Jan. is 72, for Feb. 73, March 77, April 83.  Average low for Jan. is 50, Feb. 51, March 55, April 61.
Went to Celebration mid-morning for coffee, tea, and scone, but ate inside for the first time.  Bright sun is very warm, but the breeze makes it chilly.  Wore a sweater to church for the first time.  Went to lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, which is right at the corner where we turn off the highway to go to Celebration.  Linda had a salad with coconut shrimp on it, and I had (believe it or not) a steak with a baked potato!  Only the second time I had red meat in the 5 weeks we've been here.  Lazy afternoon, reading and watching TV - too chilly to be outside doing anything.  Supposed to warm up tomorrow, so we'll be active again soon!

Monday - Weather: High 68, low 50. Mostly sunny. Wind ENE 5. {NOTE: If you are checking temps for Orlando, and they are different, remember I'm doing Kissimmee.  For example, today Orlando is 3 degrees colder than here, even though they are only about 20 miles apart.}
Easy morning, after lunch we went to the library, then Celebration for a treat, sitting in the sun and reading, and doing some people watching.  A grandpa was helping his 4-year-old grandson catch a bluegill, and we had a good visit with a couple from MN.  They are like us - leave there when it gets cold and leave here when it gets warm.  They also like to fish. Late afternoon, we went for a long walk along lakes 2 & 3.  Home for supper.

AT CELEBRATION

A thief picking fruit from a loquat tree.

We had to ask what this tree was.  It's originally from south Asia, but grows in any tropical-type weather.  Fruit is kind of like a peach or a mango.  It has a large pit.

 Wild iris along the lake edge.

Doesn't the yellow look like it was dabbed there with a paint brush?

Wood stork.  What an ugly head!

Note pinkish feet and a hint of the black feathers that show in flight.

Interesting feeding method - wiggle foot around, hold out wing,

have open beak in the water.

Taking flight.  

Can't tell here, but they do NOT scrunch up neck when flying like the great blue heron.  They point there bill and neck straight out, and they lose that ugly look - actually are very pretty in flight with the black edge on white wings.