• The Targaryens have a confusing at best family tree in "House of the Dragon."
• Alicent and Rhaenyra's kids grew from toddlers to young adults within the first season. 
• We put together a guide for all the children, with photos of all the actors who played them.

"House of the Dragon" is finally back — and so is its wildly expansive Targaryen brood . 

By season two, Westeros is coalescing around two potential rules: Aegon II, King Viserys' eldest male descendant, and Rhaenyra, his eldest daughter and chosen heir. By the time Viserys dies, both Aegon II and Rhaenyra have children of their own. Furthermore, some of the Targaryen children are finally coming of age, making them players in the war themselves.

Still, they're a lot to keep track of. We've put together a guide to all of the children in the Targaryen family with pictures, so you can keep all of those silver-haired (and brown-haired, if your name starts with "J" and ends with "acaerys") kids straight. 

Warning: Major spoilers for "House of the Dragon" season one, and the season two premiere. 

Let's start with Jace, the firstborn child of Rhaenyra and heir to the Iron Throne after his mother.

His full name is Jacaerys, though everyone calls him "Jace." 

Jace was born sometime in the 10-year gap between episodes five and six of "House of the Dragon." Though Rhaenyra and her allies insist on publicly claiming that Jace is the son of Laenor Velaryon (Rhaenyra's first husband and future king-consort), his real father is the late Harwin Strong.

Luke was Rhaenyra's second-born son and heir to the Driftwood Throne.

Lucerys "Luke" Velaryon is another of Rhaenyra's children she had with Harwin Strong, though the realm is meant to believe he is the second son born to Laenor and Rhaenyra.

Luke was the kid who cut Aemond's eye (we'll get to Aemond and his siblings soon) in episode seven, "Driftmark." In the finale, the pair face off again with their dragons, Vhagar and Arrax. Unfortunately, this time their fight ends badly for Luke.

Joffrey is the youngest son from Rhaenyra's first marriage (and affair).

Joffrey was named after the man who was in a secret relationship with Laenor when they were both teenagers. Even though Joffrey (like Jace and Luke) was really Harwin Strong's son, his faux-father chose the name shortly after his birth in episode six.

Joffrey is bonded to the dragon Tyraxes. 

Now onto Alicent's children, all fathered by King Viserys. Their oldest child together is Aegon II.

Aegon II (also called "Aegon the Elder" in the "Fire and Blood" book by George R.R. Martin) was the first boy born to King Viserys who survived childbirth.

Aegon the Elder is the son of Queen Alicent, and many lords in the realm of Westeros argued that he should ascend the Iron Throne after Viserys dies, surpassing the named heir: Rhaenyra. After Viserys dies in episode eight, the Green Council crowns Aegon with the conqueror's crown, before word can reach Rhaenyra.

Aegon II is bonded to the dragon Sunfyre. 

Alicent and Viserys' second born child is Helaena.

Helaena was the first girl born to either Alicent or Rhaenyra. In between episodes, Helaena was married off to her older brother, Aegon the Elder.

Helaena is bonded to the dragon Dreamfyre. 

Aegon and Helaena have children of their own — twins named Jaehaerys and Jaehaera.

In the ninth episode of "House of the Dragon" season one, we saw a glimpse of the blonde twins when Alicent went into Helaena's room.

The twins come back into play in the season two premiere after Daemon hires a pair of assassins known as "Blood and Cheese" to kill Aemond. When they're unable to find Aemond, they decide to kill Jaehaerys instead while Helaena runs away with Jaehaera.

Alicent's youngest child is Aemond, now known as Aemond One-Eye.

Aemond was the last of his siblings to claim a dragon, though taking Vhagar for his own cost him an eye after a fight broke out among all the children in season one, episode seven. 

In season one, episode eight, Aemond is now a confident swordsman and seemingly more capable than his older brother, Aegon the Elder. In the finale, Aemond reveals that under his eyepatch, his eye has turned bright blue, similar to the White Walkers in "Game of Thrones."

By season two, he — and more importantly, his extremely large dragon — are a big asset for Aegon II's side of the war. 

Now, onto Daemon's children. He has two daughters with his deceased wife Laena Velaryon, and Baela is the elder.

In episode eight, we see that Baela has been sent to live at Driftmark as a ward, learning the ways of the court from her grandmother (Rhaenys). She was betrothed to Lucerys Velaryon before his death. 

Baela is a dragonrider, and bonded to the dragon Moondancer.

Rhaena is Daemon and Laena's younger daughter.

Daemon and Laena married and had their two children in the intervening 10 years between episodes five and six. By episode eight, Rhaena was happily living with Daemon and her new stepmother, Rhaenyra. She was eventually betrothed to Lucerys Velaryon, prior to his death. 

Unlike her family members, Rhaena isn't bonded to a dragon. 

And last but not least, Daemon and Rhaenyra now have children together. Their first trueborn son is also named Aegon.

Aegon was also named after Aegon the Conqueror, adding to some confusion about which Aegon is which.

Since Aegon III is just a toddler in season one, episode eight, with Aegon II in his 20s, the books refer to him as Aegon the Younger. 

So Aegon the Elder is Alicent's son with Viserys, and Aegon the Younger is Rhaenyra's son with Daemon (and also Aegon the Elder's half-nephew). 

In "Fire and Blood," Aegon the Younger is bonded to the dragon Stormcloud. 

Rhaenyra and Daemon had a second boy they named Viserys.

Named for Rhaenyra's dad (and Daemon's brother) King Viserys, little Viserys II was introduced in season one, episode eight as an infant. 

 

Daemon and Rhaenyra were expecting a third child, but Rhaenyra experienced a stillbirth in the season one finale.

Rhaenyra, who was pregnant with her third child with Daemon at the start of the season finale, tragically went into early labor and delivered a stillborn daughter, named Visenya, after learning about her father's death.

For more, read our breakdown of the best details you might have missed in the season one finale.

"House of the Dragon" has yet to introduce a few Targaryen children from "Fire and Blood."

In "Fire and Blood," Alicent and Viserys have one other son: Daeron, the youngest of their children. Daeron is bonded to the dragon Tessarion. Daeron has yet to appear in "House of the Dragon."

Aegon II and Helaena also have a third child in the book: Maelor, a son, who is younger than Jaehaerys and Jaehaera. 

• Rite Aid is planning to close more stores in 2024 as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• The drugstore chain has shuttered almost 550 locations since October, NBC reported.
• Rite Aid has been shrinking its store count for years, losing ground to rivals Walgreens and CVS.

More Rite Aid stores are closing as part of the retailer's voluntary bankruptcy.

The latest list includes 27 stores in Michigan and Ohio, according to filings from the retailer's bankruptcy case. That brings the number of stores put on the chopping block and named in filings this year to 100. Most of those came in February.

The company said last fall that it would shutter about 150 Rite Aid stores.

Since the drugstore chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, Rite Aid has closed nearly 550 stores, NBC reported, including this latest round.

A Rite Aid spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the latest list of proposed closures.

"Rite Aid regularly assesses its retail footprint to ensure we are operating efficiently while meeting the needs of our customers, communities, associates and overall business," a Rite Aid spokesperson told BI in February about the first round of closures this year. "In connection with the court-supervised process, we notified the Court of certain underperforming stores we are closing to further reduce rent expense and strengthen overall financial performance."

Rite Aid has been shrinking its base over the past decade. The chain had about 4,600 stores in 2013. It sold about 2,000 of those to rival Walgreens in 2017 after federal regulators blocked Rite Aid's proposed sale to Walgreens.

The company currently says that it has about 1,600 stores — a fraction of the networks that rivals CVS and Walgreens have built.

Here's the list of Rite Aid store closures for 2024:

California:

Lakewood: 5520 Woodruff Avenue

San Diego: 8694 Lake Murray Boulevard

Needles: 1020 East Broadway Street

North Hollywood: 11350 Victory Boulevard

Fontana: 9940 Sierra Avenue

Livermore: 968 Murrieta Boulevard

Hemet: 260 North Sanderson Avenue

Westminster: 6767 Westminster Boulevard

Studio City: 10989 Ventura Boulevard

La Crescenta: 2647 West Foothill Boulevard

Los Angeles: 3230 West Slauson Avenue, 11750 Wilmington Avenue

Tustin: 630 East 1st Street

Susanville: 1615 Main Street

Redlands: 700 East Redlands Boulevard, Suite A

Moreno Valley: 24991 Alessandro Boulevard

Simi Valley: 1159 East Los Angeles Avenue

Colton: 2025 East Washington Street

Fresno: 4224 East Shields Avenue

Rancho Cucamonga: 9650 Baseline Road

Fountain Valley: 17904 Magnolia Street

Temecula: 39782 Winchester Road

Connecticut:

Milford: 1360 Boston Post Road

Delaware:

Harrington: 17069 South Dupont Highway

Idaho:

Boise: 10600 Fairview Avenue

Maryland:

Baltimore: 250 West Chase Street

Cambridge: 798 Sunburst Highway

Massachusetts:

New Bedford: 824 Purchase Street

Revere: 467 Broadway

Michigan:

Detroit: 4612 Woodward Avenue

Midland: 2006 N. Saginaw Road

Howell: 1002 East Grand River Avenue

Added in June:

Livonia: 37399 6 Mile Road

Burton: G4033 Fenton Road, 6026 Lapeer Road

Flint: 4519 Richfield Road

Ludington: 936 East Ludington Avenue

Wyandotte: 1998 Biddle Avenue

Spring Lake: 603 East Savidge Street

Bay City: 3880 Wilder Road

Marlette: 2985 Main Street

Grosse Pointe Farms: 107 Kercheval Avenue

Milford: 640 North Milford Road

Allen Park: 15411 Southfield Road

New Hampshire:

Milford: 586 Nashua Street, Unit 8-9

Franklin: 951 Central Street

New Jersey:

Clementon: 1360 Blackwood Clementon Road

Haddon Township: 249 Cuthbert Boulevard

Newark: 104 12th Avenue

Bayonne: 1097 Broadway

Newton: 237 Spring Street

Logan Township: 335 Village Center Drive

New York:

Brooklyn: 249 7th Avenue, 7812 Flatlands Avenue

Auburn: 153 Grant Avenue

Hartsdale: 196 East Hartsdale Avenue

Bronx: 901 East Gun Hill Road, 2426-34 Eastchester Road, 1179 East 233rd Street

Elmira: 119 West 2nd Street

Le Roy: 151 West Main Street

Poughkeepsie: 40 Vassar Road

Buffalo: 2474 Bailey Avenue

Mount Vernon: 47 East Prospect Avenue

Ohio:

Marion: 1081 Mount Vernon Avenue

Lorain: 2709 Broadway Avenue

Middlefield: 15596 West High Street

Brookpark: 15149 Snow Road

Maple Heights: 21800 Libby Road

Cleveland: 11702 Lorain Avenue

Warren: 2154 Elm Road NE, 1560 Parkman Road NW

Geneva: 633 South Broadway

Amherst: 100 South Leavitt Road

Bryan: 1221 West High Street

Added in June:

Ashtabula: 2148 Lake Avenue

Cleveland: 3402 Clark Avenue

Defiance: 1816 East Second Street

Youngstown: 3527 Canfield Road

Coshocton: 218 Chestnut Street

Springfield: 1805 South Limestone Street

Oregon: 3362 Navarre Avenue

Toledo: 2434 West Laskey Road

Alliance: 1895 West State Street

Massillon: 242 Lincoln Way West

Bowling Green: 722-740 South Main Street

Wheelersburg: 8130 Ohio River Road

St. Marys: 1502 Executive Drive

Tiffin: 530 West Market Street

Oregon:

Portland: 600 NW 10th Avenue

Gresham: 1555 N.E. Division Street

Pennsylvania:

Greencastle: 200 North Antrim Way

Allentown: 6822 Hamilton Boulevard

Doylestown: 472 N. Main Street

Phoenixville: 200 Kimberton Road

Altoona: 1600 9th Ave. Suite 35

Harrisburg: 501 South 29th St. Suite A

Sharon: 60 South Water Street

Virginia:

Hayes: 2460 George Washington Memorial

Suffolk: 1517 Holland Road

Washington:

Everett: 1825 Broadway

Walla Walla: 2028 East Isaacs Avenue

Belfair: 23940 NE State Route 3

Seattle: 1820 N 45th Street

Do you work at Rite Aid and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com

• The 2024 Summer Olympics will begin in Paris on July 26.
• Elite athletes are sharing their daily lives and intense training routines on TikTok.
• US Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher has 1.1 million followers on the platform.

The 2024 Summer Olympics are just around the corner, and as elite athletes polish their routines and compete in final qualifiers, they're taking fans along for the ride on TikTok.

The platform is a popular choice for sharing training schedules, daily routines, skits with teammates, and brand partnerships.

Such partnerships can play a key role in funding their Olympic lifestyles, especially in niche sports like synchronized swimming or volleyball, which don't garner the same attention as other sports like soccer or basketball.

In fact, Business Insider reported in 2021 that a global study of 500 elite athletes found that nearly 60% of them did not consider themselves financially stable.

Since sponsorships are largely dependent on an athlete's popularity and performance, TikTok and other social media platforms like Instagram and YouTube have become important, albeit necessary, ways for athletes to gain a notable following and increase their chances to collaborate with major brands like L'Oréal, Amazon, Delta, and Brooks Running.

Ahead of final team announcements for the 2024 Olympics, here are 12 elite athletes who are prepared to dominate Paris and your For You Page this summer.

All follower counts were accurate as of June 20, 2024.

Ilona Maher is an Olympic rugby player who uses her platform to promote body positivity.

Arguably the No. 1 Olympic TikToker is rugby player Ilona Maher, who has 1.1 million followers.

Maher, 27, first went viral three years ago during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo thanks to sharing a behind-the-scenes view of the Olympic Village and its notorious "anti-sex beds."

Now, she shares everything from her fashion and advice, to, most notably, body positivity content. As an accomplished rugby player with World Championship and Olympic experience, Maher has been vocal about her love for her body.

NCAA.org reported that at the Team USA Media Summit in April Maher said she tries to show her audience that they don't need to sacrifice their femininity or beauty to play a physical sport like rugby.

"That's a little bit why I wear the lipstick when I play. I can tackle hard and run hard but also, you know, still feel beautiful and still bring that into it. It's not like you have to sacrifice that," she said.

Her talent and outspokenness have led to collaborations with brands such as L'Oréal, Brooks Running, Delta, and Maybelline as she promotes #beastbeautybrains.

As they continue final preparations for Paris, Maher and her rugby sevens teammates will be striving to beat their sixth-place finish from three years ago and make it to the podium for the first time in US women's rugby history.

Find her TikTok here.

World No. 2 women's tennis player Coco Gauff is also set to document her Olympic debut.

2023 US Open champion and 2024 Roland-Garros women's doubles champion Coco Gauff, 20, is poised to return to Paris for her Olympic debut after a positive COVID-19 test forced her out of competition in Tokyo.

As the WTA Singles No. 2 women's player in the world, Gauff has already qualified for the Olympics.

Her 632.6K TikTok followers should expect to see plenty of outfits, thrift hauls, competition highlights, and dances throughout the tournament.

Find her TikTok here.

British diver Tom Daley is making his fifth Olympic appearance.

British diving legend Tom Daley has returned from retirement for a fifth and final Olympic Games. Since his debut in 2008 at just 14 years old, Daley has become an Olympic fan-favorite known not only for his incredible skill but also for his poolside hobbies, knitting and crocheting.

He shares all of this, plus parenting content, funny trends, and collaborations with brands like Rimmel London, Adidas, and Casper, with his 1.3 million TikTok followers.

Find his TikTok here.

Daniella Ramirez is bringing Olympic-level ASMR content that gives an inside look at synchronized swimming.

If you've never heard of synchronized swimming, allow 22-year-old Daniella Ramirez to be your introduction.

Ramirez is a third-generation synchronized swimmer, following in the footsteps of her grandmother, mother, and sister, per Team USA. This summer, Ramirez and her teammates will represent USA Artistic Swimming at the Olympics — the first time the team has qualified since 2008.

While she shares behind-the-scenes looks at her life and partnerships with L'Oréal, she is best known on TikTok for her Knox ASMR content.

Knox is a brand of clear, flavorless gelatin that synchronized swimmers use to coat their hair to keep it perfectly intact during competitions. Her videos of putting on the substance and, more importantly, taking it off have garnered hundreds of millions of highly satisfying views from her 480.9K TikTok followers.

Find her TikTok here.

Cameron Brink is prepared to make her Olympic debut.

WNBA rookie Cameron Brink is ready to add another accomplishment to her belt this year as she prepares to compete in the Olympics' 3×3 basketball tournament.

"My first dream before being a WNBA player was to be an Olympian, so it's amazing. It's one of the highest honors as a basketball player, so I don't take it lightly," she told the Los Angeles Times in June 2024.

Brink has been a member of USA Basketball since 2017. She won gold in the 2018 FIBA U17 Women's World Cup and the 2019 FIBA U19 Women's World Cup, as well as in 2023 at the FIBA 3×3 Women's World Cup where she was named MVP.

Since joining the Los Angeles Sparks in April 2024, Brink has become known on social media for sharing her game-day fashion, dance videos with teammates, and partnerships with brands like Skims, Optimum Nutrition, L'Oréal, and New Balance.

Fans should expect many more runway-worthy looks and behind-the-scenes adventures from Brink and her teammates as they go for gold in July.

Find her TikTok here.

Veteran USA Volleyball player Erik Shoji has garnered 1.1 million TikTok followers.

The veteran libero from Honolulu has gained a large following on TikTok sharing training highlights and behind-the-scenes looks at life as a professional athlete.

Shoji has been a member of the US Men's National Volleyball Team since 2013 and won a bronze medal during the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, according to USA Volleyball.

He now plays professionally in Europe, where he's won two Champions League titles with the Polish team ZAKSA, as well as four Polish league trophies.

Find his TikTok here.

Lina and Laviai Nielsen have documented their rise from 2012 Olympic volunteers to 2024 Olympians.

Twins Lina and Laviai Nielsen are British track-and-field athletes who compete in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter dash, respectively. They are also training to compete on the same 400-meter relay team, as they did at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in March, where Great Britain placed third.

The sisters have a combined TikTok following of more than 160,000 and more than 16,000 subscribers to their joint YouTube channel, "The Nielsen Twins." Together, they document their lives training and competing, as well as funny trend videos and partnerships with brands like Bulk.

Both Lina and Laviai have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and they hope to show others what they can achieve despite the disease.

"A lot of people assume MS automatically leads to disability, but it does not. For a lot of people living with MS, they can continue normal activity and exercise. If we can shine a light on that side, then it can start to change that narrative," Lina Nielsen told The Daily Mail in June 2024.

Great Britain's official athletics team for the 2024 Olympics won't be announced until July 5.

Find Lina's TikTok here, and Laviai's TikTok here.

The name Simone Biles is synonymous with Olympic greatness.

And for good reason.

The 27-year-old from Columbus, Ohio, is a seven-time Olympic medalist with four gold, one silver, and two bronze; as well as a 30-time World Championships medalist with 23 gold, four silver, and three bronze, making her the most decorated gymnast of all time, per Olympics.com.

Now, Biles is a favorite for her third Olympic team following an impressive first-place all-around finish at the 2024 Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships earlier this month — dominating every event with a first-place finish, per NBC Sports.

The star has been relatively quiet on TikTok in the lead-up to the Olympic trials on June 27. Still, we're hopeful she'll return to social media to share inside looks at Team USA, her gymnastics teammates, and her husband, Jonathan Owens (if he's in attendance), with her 884.7K TikTok followers.

Find her TikTok here.

Biles isn't the only US gymnast ready to dominate Paris — Frederick "Fred" Richard is also hoping to bring home the gold medal.

Fred Richard, 20, from Stoughton, Massachusetts, is ready for Olympic trials on June 27.

In 2023, he became the youngest individual world medalist in US history after finishing third in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, per USA Gymnastics — and he hasn't slowed down since.

Richard finished second overall at the 2024 Xfinity US Gymnastics Championships earlier this month. He also placed first on the floor exercise and second on the high bar — his favorite event — per NBC Sports and USA Gymnastics.

Richard shared clips from the competition with his 662.3K TikTok followers and is known for posting his training highlights and Olympic countdown videos. In May, he even shared how he collaborated with Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Noah Lyles to improve his running technique for the vault exercise.

As a favorite to make Team USA Gymnastics, Richard will be looking to make more history and help the men's team medal for the first time since 2008 when they took home bronze.

Find his TikTok here.

Long jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall is taking her followers along for the ride toward Olympic redemption.

Long-jumper Tara Davis-Woodhall isn't new to the Olympics. The 25-year-old debuted in 2021 in Tokyo but finished the competition in a disappointing sixth place.

Now, she's ready for bigger and better — in March 2024, Davis-Woodhall won gold at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships.

A month later, she told Olympics.com she feels "more joy" preparing for these Olympics than she did for Tokyo.

"Now, I'm living with my husband in Arkansas and we just enjoy life to the fullest. We have so much fun with everything that we do," Davis-Woodhall said.

She and her husband, Paralympian Hunter Woodhall, have established a large social media following across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. They share their daily lives in Arkansas, training schedules, and other fun relationship insights.

Davis-Woodhall has 266.3K TikTok followers and 474K Instagram followers, as well as 778K subscribers to the couple's YouTube channel, "Tara and Hunter."

Olympic trials for women's long jump begin on June 27, so it's only a matter of time until Davis-Woodhall's return to the Olympic stage may be secured.

Find her TikTok here.

Reigning all-around Olympic gold medalist Sunisa "Suni" Lee is hoping for another Olympic run.

Lee made history at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first woman of Asian descent and the first Hmong-American to win the Olympic gymnastics all-around title. She also won a silver medal in the team event and a bronze for uneven bars.

Just last year, though, an Olympic return seemed uncertain as she dealt with a kidney disease that put her training on pause, she told Self in October 2023.

Lee made her return to elite competition at the Core Hydration Classic in August 2023 and qualified for the US Championships. There, she finished fourth overall — just 0.15 points behind third-place finisher Kayla DiCello — with a second-place finish on the balance beam and a fourth-place finish on uneven bars, NBC Sports reported.

With 1.5 million TikTok followers and counting watching her leotard reveals, get ready with me's, and partnerships with brands like Marriott, L'Oréal, and Amazon, all eyes are on the 21-year-old as she aims for another shot at Olympic gold.

Find her TikTok here.

• I spent $375, including the tip, to dine at Disney's only Michelin-starred restaurant. 
• Victoria & Albert's in Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa offers an upscale prix fixe meal.
• Although it was expensive, I'd return for the quality service, delicious fare, and royal ambiance.

Disney World made history in April by earning the first and only Michelin star for a restaurant owned and operated by a US theme park.

The famed restaurant, Victoria & Albert's inside the Grand Floridian Resort, offers prix fixe tasting menus starting at $295 a person with optional drink add-ons.

I've been visiting Disney World for 20 years but never stepped foot inside the Grand Floridian restaurant until this month.

After hearing rave reviews from friends and influencers online, I wanted to try it myself to see what the hype was about.

Here's how it went.

Victoria & Albert's has been at Disney World since 1988.

Although Victoria & Albert's only received its Michelin star in April, it opened at Disney World 20 years ago.

The restaurant has also previously received accolades, such as several AAA Five Diamond awards and the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star award.

In other words, it's been a highly coveted reservation for years.

I was let in promptly at my reservation time and had a table in the main dining room.

My reservation was scheduled for 5:30 p.m., and I was promptly escorted to my table.

The main dining room, which had 14 tables, had a blue theme and a giant chandelier in the middle of the ceiling.

My table in the front corner was lovely. But it was close to the entrance, and I could hear the outside noise from the resort.

There are also two other dining rooms in the restaurant.

In addition to the main dining room, there's Queen Victoria's Dining Room and the Chef's Table. Both have limited capacity and are uniquely themed to enhance the experience.

For example, the Chef's Table is in the heart of the kitchen, so you can see the food being prepared right in front of your eyes.

Both additional rooms are more expensive than the main dining room, with Queen Victoria's starting at $375 and the Chef's Table starting at $425.

My servers were friendly and gave me a personalized keepsake menu.

My server, Sherry, came over and gave me a personalized menu to take home.

Since I had never dined at a Michelin-starred restaurant, I had lots of questions. Luckily, all the servers were enthusiastic about providing answers and sharing their love of the establishment.

The evening started with a nonalcoholic spritz as a welcome treat from the staff.

After I was seated, a server came over with a nonalcoholic spritz to cleanse the palate. It was cherry-flavored with edible flowers mixed in.

I don't drink alcohol, and I didn't opt for the add-on alcohol or nonalcoholic pairings. But this was a welcome treat to start the night with.

The meal consisted of 10 courses and lasted about four hours.

I'm glad I came with an empty stomach because there were 10 courses to enjoy.

Each course was timed perfectly over the span of about four hours, and the combination of flavors made for a delicious evening.

Some highlights included the dashi with fava beans and white asparagus, the garganelli with sugar snap peas and saffron, and the cauliflower gazpacho blanco with Marcona almonds.

My favorite course was the Green Circle chicken.

I've been to my fair share of top-notch restaurants in New York City and beyond, but I've never had food prepared quite like this.

The chicken course was moist, and the risotto (made from sunflower seeds) had a unique texture that led to an explosion of flavors in my mouth.

It was easily my favorite thing I ate.

The harpist played Disney songs all evening.

A harp player sat in the center of the dining room, playing music to fit the upscale ambiance.

Most of the songs were from Disney movies, such as "Beauty and the Beast," "Mary Poppins," "Tangled," and "The Little Mermaid."

She played intermittently, about every 20 minutes or so, and even walked around to the tables to take requests. I asked if she could play "I See the Light" from "Tangled" — it was one of the highlights of my night.

The last bites of the night consisted of a decadent and fruity dessert sampling.

After all the decadent courses, including the main candied carrot dessert, the server brought a few small (but absolutely delicious) treats to say farewell.

The opera cake blew my mind.

Additionally, I ordered a chamomile tea, which was made tableside with plenty of fanfare.

The bill was expensive, but I knew what I was getting myself into when I made a reservation.

I don't think I'd spend $295 on any meal other than one at a Michelin-starred restaurant at Disney World.

All Disney restaurants can be pricey, especially character meals. But this was nearly three times the price of a meal at Crystal Palace or Chef Mickey's. Those cost about $65 a person.

Frankly, I was happy that the meal was under $300 before tax and gratuity. It's still a lot, but I can try to justify the price since it's a highly regarded restaurant. When all was said and done, I paid about $375.

I also don't feel the need to splurge even more on meals in the other two dining rooms — this was just right for my needs.

Overall, I was pleased with my visit to Victoria & Albert’s and might return for a special occasion.

Of all the restaurants I've dined at in Disney World, I've never been to one quite like Victoria & Albert's.

The food was spectacular, the servers were friendly and knowledgeable, and the overall ambiance and experience were unique.

If you're looking to celebrate a special occasion or simply want to enjoy a high-quality meal at Disney, I'd definitely suggest trying to get a table.

• Donald Sutherland was instrumental in getting "Animal House" made when he signed on.
• He did it as a favor to director John Landis but wanted more money instead of points.
• He went on to regret it as the film made $141 million worldwide against a $3 million budget.

"National Lampoon's Animal House" is one of the greatest comedies ever. Yet, when it was being made, not even one of its stars believed in the potential of a small comedy about toga parties.

That is why when it came down to Donald Sutherland taking a fee of either 2% of the film's gross profits or $35,000, he took the latter. He later recalled it as a mistake that cost him a lot of money.

Despite the movie's now classic status, studio execs didn't have much faith in "Animal House" at the time.

According to Matty Simmons' "Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House," these were the words of Universal Studios boss Ned Tanen after he read the first outline for the movie: "Everybody is drunk, or high, or getting laid. I'd never make this movie."

It wasn't until the production promised Tanen that they could make the film for $3 million that Universal signed on. However, the studio still wanted a star to sell the movie to audiences.

For Universal, "Saturday Night Live" stand-out John Belushi wasn't enough, so director John Landis went to his friend, Donald Sutherland (a huge star by 1978), and asked him for a favor. A hesitant Sutherland ultimately agreed to be in the film, but only after Landis told him that all his scenes could be done in a day.

The studio and the comedy now had its "star." Yet, there was still the important matter of just how much Sutherland would get paid for the one day on set.

Sutherland wanted more cash upfront rather than a stake in the profits

Simmons said the studio wanted a star but "wouldn't pay for a star." This led to a negotiation that Sutherland would regret for years. 

"[Sutherland] first asked for $250,000 and, in Landis's words, 'The studio said, 'Get the f— outta here!'" Simmons wrote. 

Universal then countered Sutherland's offer with a simple $20,000 for a day's work plus points (a percentage of the profits) on the film. 

The problem was that Sutherland wanted nothing to do with points in the film. According to the book, Sutherland famously told Landis: "I can't take that offer. I just want the money. I don't want any points in the movie."

Universal eventually offered a fee of $35,000 with no points for a day plus one — in Hollywood speak, meaning technically two days of work because you can't hire an actor for just one day in case they go over time. Sutherland happily accepted that offer and went on to play the film's pot-smoking professor, Dave Jennings.

Then, on July 28, 1978, Sutherland and the rest of the world saw the finished product when "Animal House" hit theaters, and comedy would never be the same.

'Animal House' was an animal at the box office.

"Animal House" would become one of the most successful comedies ever, pulling in over $141 million at the box office on the $3 million production budget Universal was initially promised. Adjusted for inflation, that's about $674 million in today's dollars.

Even in 2024, it still ranks as the 62nd highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time in terms of domestic gross.

In a 2012 interview on the "Opie and Anthony" radio show, Sutherland said that the number of points he was offered was 2%.

When asked, "Do you know what would 2% roughly have translated into?" Sutherland smirked and responded, "I don't want to know."

• Maria and Dexter Estrada locked their kids' devices at midnight with Google Family Link and Microsoft Family Safety.
• Emphasizing screen time moderation, the Estradas suspended this "Cinderella" rule on weekends.
• Both children excelled, winning $67,000 in science awards and pursuing tech and medical careers.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maria Estrada, 51, who is a plant-science lecturer at Fresno State and the mother of two teenagers. It's been edited for length and clarity.

As a mom of two kids, I've struggled with screen time.

I didn't want my kids to be on the computer a lot. I've seen a lot of articles about kids being on computers, smartphones, and iPads.

Still, I believe in moderation. If you say no, it's giving them a signal that they cannot do it and that you are not respectful of their emotions, their needs, and their wants.

My husband and I are immigrant parents, so we are a little bit strict. We cannot tolerate some bad behaviors. For example, you need to be respectful with older people.

But we allow them to be kids, including online. My son loves video games, and they both watch YouTube.

I didn't want to just say no to their online activities, and of course they used the internet on weeknights for their school assignments. But when they were in middle school and younger, we had a Cinderella thing: At midnight, all the wifi would disappear.

How we locked their devices at midnight

My husband, Dexter, used two different apps to lock our kids' devices so they couldn't stay up late texting, watching videos, and playing games. He used Google Family Link for their phones and Microsoft Family Safety for their computers.

Both apps allowed him to lock the kids' devices, though they could still receive calls and texts from the contacts we chose, such as ourselves. He could lock them out on a timer, so he set the lockout to go into effect at midnight and lift in the morning.

We also asked them to finish their school assignments before playing video games or watching YouTube on weeknights.

They got a break on the weekend. The midnight cutoff was lifted on Friday nights and reinstated Sunday nights.

Our son found a way around the internet block

When my son was in high school, he found a way to bypass the midnight block and connect to the internet. He's so honest that he told us he'd found a way and the trick wouldn't work anymore.

Uh oh, my husband and I thought. But we weren't mad. Our son had an innovative way of thinking. My husband said that if he can do that, it means he did his homework and found an out-of-the-box solution to his problem. I'm a scientist and my husband is a doctor, so we appreciate that.

We just told him he had to use the internet responsibly.

Our kids have both excelled

I don't do anything to restrict my kids' screen time anymore.

Pauline is 17 now. She's a competitive ballet dancer, and she wants to be a doctor and do medical research. She will put the phone down and say she's done. She knows how to police herself.

John is turning 20 this year, studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He is not that good about the screens. I still have to remind him and ask him to stop browsing his phone. But sometimes when I see what he's doing, he's looking at the news.

Between the two of them, they've won more than $67,000 in awards for their science projects, which have used AI and robotics to address agriculture issues in plant science, like drought stress and pesticide-resistant super-weeds.

I wouldn't say that it totally worked, but the way they use the screens is responsible.

• I tried chicken tenders from Popeyes, Chick-fil-A, Whataburger, Raising Cane's, KFC, Bojangles, Zaxby's, and Cook Out.
• Popeyes' and KFC's chicken tenders were similar in their crispy texture and flavor.
• Raising Cane's impressed me with its crispy-yet-juicy tenders and delicious signature sauce.

I compared chicken tenders from eight different fast-food chains from across the country, and a lesser-known — but quickly expanding — chain took the top spot. 

Chicken is a hugely popular item at many fast-food chains, and some chains have built their entire business off this one menu item.

Todd Graves, the richest person in Louisiana with a net worth of $9.1 billion, is the founder and CEO of the chicken-tender restaurant chain Raising Cane's. Graves opened his first restaurant in 1996, and Cane's is growing rapidly, with more than 750 restaurants in the US and internationally and $3.7 billion in annual sales, Forbes reported. 

While Raising Cane's isn't the only chain that offers chicken tenders, it may very well be the best. 

Here's how eight fast-food chicken tenders ranked, from worst to best, based on taste and value.

Of all the chicken tenders I tried, the ones from Whataburger didn't completely wow me.

A three-piece chicken tender cost only $6.72 at Whataburger at the location I visited in Austin, Texas. 

The chicken tenders were large and perfectly fried.

I thought the tenders could only be described as "classic" — they weren't anything out-of-the-box, but I enjoyed them.

The meat inside was juicy, but I thought the fried coating could have had a bit more crunch.

The chicken tenders tasted good on their own, as well as with ranch dipping sauce. They weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination. However, I did think the other tenders I tried were slightly crispier and had just the slightest hint of more flavor in the batter.

Regardless, for a relatively low price, I'd definitely order these again.

I also ordered chicken tenders from Cook Out, a regional chain I visited in South Carolina.

The three-piece "snack" cost $4.99, not including tax.

The chicken tenders were crispy on the outside.

They were also a good size. The price was also a great deal for the generous portion I received.

However, there wasn't an abundance of chicken meat inside.

These were undeniably classic chicken tenders, similar to the ones from Whataburger, but they were a touch too fried for my liking. However, I thought they were well-seasoned and had a lot of peppery flavor.

Chick-fil-A's chicken tenders were good … but I really just used them as a vehicle for the chain's Chick-fil-A sauce.

A three-piece chicken tender costs $8.95 at my nearest location in New York City when it's not included in a meal deal.

Some of the chicken pieces looked slightly darker and more fried than others.

There were small bits of fried breading scattered on the outside, which I always love with a chicken tender.

The chicken tenders were nicely fried but still juicy on the inside.

However, they weren't quite as crispy as I expected. I wanted a distinct crunch when I bit into the tenders, but they didn't deliver that. In the end, it's largely up to personal preference.

When I dipped them in the chain's signature Chick-fil-A sauce, the experience was nothing short of mouthwatering. However, the actual chicken tenders were just alright — it was the sauce that took them over the edge.

KFC's chicken tenders landed towards the middle of the pack.

On the day I tried these, I ordered a five-piece tender meal for $15.85, excluding taxes and fees. However, a four-piece tender meal, which comes with a side, sauce, and a drink, costs $12.80, excluding taxes and fees. 

The tenders were crispy on the outside, but I thought they were slightly on the smaller side when compared to the others I tried.

However, they did have bits of fried breading clinging to the outside that I knew would make for a nice texture.

The chicken tenders were flavorful and contained a fair amount of white meat chicken.

However, the slightly smaller size meant they didn't come out on top when compared to the last two chains I tried.

My fourth-favorite chicken tenders came from Popeyes.

A three-piece-tender combo came to $16.89, before taxes and fees. The meal deal included a large serving of fries, a drink, and a biscuit, as well as a choice from a variety of different dipping sauces. 

The chicken tenders from Popeyes were crispy, flaky, and crunchy.

I really liked the crunchy outside of the chicken tenders from Popeyes.

The meat inside was flaky and moist as well.

I also thought the batter was quite flavorful — I could taste hints of seasoning and buttermilk, although they weren't quite as buttery-tasting as the Chick-fil-A tenders. However, I thought this meal was quite expensive for only three chicken tenders, even though they were large.

I thought the chicken tenders from Bojangles were flavorful and super crispy.

A four-piece chicken tenders combo came with fries, a medium drink, and a biscuit. It cost me $12.79, excluding taxes and fees.

I thought the chicken tenders were a good size.

The texture and flavor of the breading made them taste like a cross between the chicken tenders from Chick-fil-A and Cook Out. 

The breading was peppery, just the right thickness, and perfectly encapsulated the juicy white chicken meat inside.

I also thought the price was fair considering how much food I received. The chicken tenders paired perfectly with honey mustard but were also tasty on their own. Overall, I would definitely order these again.

My second-favorite chicken tenders came from Zaxby's.

A five-piece chicken tenders combo came with fries, a small drink, coleslaw, and a piece of Texas toast. I also asked for a side of honey mustard and Zaxby's famous Zax sauce. My meal cost $15.83, excluding taxes and fees.

The chicken tenders' breading was very similar to Chick-fil-A's in its consistency, flavor, and texture, but I thought these chicken tenders had more chicken meat.

The breading was perfectly crispy and super flavorful, with a slight sweetness.

The chicken tenders held their own without sauce but were really taken to the next level when dipped in the tangy Zax sauce.

Zax sauce tastes similar to Cane's sauce, but I found it to be just ever-so-slightly less flavorful, and creamy. I also thought that it didn't have the same kick.

However, the chicken tenders really impressed me. They were a good size, extremely flavorful, and addictingly delicious. I found myself craving even more than the five chicken tenders I was given, which is rare for me.

In the end, it was a really tough call on whether I preferred Zaxby's or Raising Cane's chicken tenders.

But my favorite chicken tenders came from Raising Cane's.

My six-piece meal cost $15.99, including tax, but a three-finger combo that includes three chicken fingers, fries, Cane's sauce, Texas toast, and a regular drink costs $9.23, excluding tax and any additions or swaps. 

The chicken tenders were super crispy.

The chicken tenders were also thick. After biting in, I could actually see the strips of white chicken underneath, which, in my experience, you don't always find with fast-food chicken tenders.

The chicken tenders were super crispy and juicy on the inside — I had to give them the win.

I tried the tenders on their own and with the Cane's sauce. On their own, the tenders were simply everything one could ask for — thick, juicy, and crispy on the outside.

However, the chain is famous for its chicken-complementing sauce, and after biting in, I could definitely see why. It had a slight kick to it, was super creamy, and surprisingly tangy. It paired perfectly with the chicken and was unlike any other sauce I've ever tried.

In the end, Raising Cane's took home the win for me with the chain's near-perfect chicken tenders and fair prices.

• Sunglasses mogul James Jannard broke a California record with the sale of his $210 Malibu home.
• It's the most expensive home ever sold in California.
• Last year, Jay-Z and Beyoncé had set a record after selling their $200 million Malibu compound.

Oakley sunglasses founder James Jannard just dethroned Jay-Z and Beyoncé — at least in the world of real estate.

Jannard sold his Malibu mansion for $210 million, first reported by the Los Angeles Times. It's the most expensive home real estate sale in California's history.

Jannard had bought the estate 12 years ago for $75 million. The new owner's name is shrouded behind an anonymous LLC, the Times reported.

The mansion includes eight bedrooms, 14-bathrooms, and a tennis court spread over 9.5 acres and was once shrunken down by previous owners who found the original main home "too grandiose," according to San Francisco outlet SFGate.

The makeover was handled by Michael S. Smith, who also re-designed the White House's Oval Office in 2010.

The Jannard sale soars past the $200 million price tag Jay-Z and Beyoncé shelled out last year for their 40,000-square-foot concrete compound in Malibu.

The music industry power couple's home includes a private beach on 8 oceanfront acres.

Before then, the California record holder was venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, cofounder of the firm Andreessen Horowitz, who purchased a $177 million Malibu home with a private cinema and spa from fashion designer Serge Azria.

No sprawling West Coast mansion, however, has topped the $238 million New York City penthouse purchased by billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin in 2019. The three-floor trophy property is situated on Billionaire's Row at the south edge of Central Park and remains the most expensive real estate transaction in US history.

A French chateau owned by the Rothschild family is currently making a bid to beat them all as the most expensive real estate sale in the world, with a current asking price of $452 million, according to Architectural Digest. The historic home spans 100 rooms, 17 bedroom suites, and a 50-horse stable on a property dating back to the 12th century.

• Donald Sutherland wrote a letter to "Hunger Games" director Gary Ross to get the role of President Snow.
• The letter was made available to fans as part of the 2012 DVD release of the movie.
• Ross was inspired to create three pivotal Snow scenes after reading Sutherland's letter. Read it below.

Donald Sutherland, who died Thursday at 88, had a prolific career spanning decades.

Many younger fans might know him best as President Coriolanus Snow in "The Hunger Games" franchise, but not everyone might know he campaigned to get the role.

Lionsgate's successful franchise, based on Suzanne Collins's bestselling book series, pits hero Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) against Sutherland's villainous President Snow.

In 2014, ahead of the release of "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1," the penultimate film in the main series, Sutherland told GQ he was never actually offered the role of the film's callous, collected president. 

Instead, he received the part after reading the books and writing an impassioned three-page letter to Gary Ross, the director of the first movie, about the character.

Via GQ:

Nobody asked me to do it. I wasn't offered it. I like to read scripts, and it captured my passion. I wrote them a letter. The role of the president had maybe a line in the script. Maybe two. Didn't make any difference. I thought it was an incredibly important film, and I wanted to be a part of it. I thought it could wake up an electorate that had been dormant since the '70s. I hadn't read the books. To be truthful, I was unaware of them. But they showed my letter to the director, Gary Ross, and he thought it'd be a good idea if I did it. He wrote those wonderfully poetic scenes in the rose garden, and they formed the mind and wit of Coriolanus Snow.

The letter, written as an email, was made available for fans on the 2012 DVD release of "The Hunger Games" in a segment titled "Letters from the Rose Garden."

It included a discussion of power, Ted Bundy, and the elements of Snow that Sutherland considered most vital to the film. 

Because the novel is written from Katniss's first-person view, we don't see anything from Snow's perspective or his home, the Capitol. Sutherland pointed out that the film offered such an opportunity, and Ross agreed. 

Ross's response to the letter inspired three scenes of Snow in his rose gardens during the games.

"That's the relationship you want from an actor and director, where it's a give and take," Ross said on the DVD. "It's collaborative. It's one person offering something to the other who then takes it, extrapolates it, runs with it, gives it back to the actor who gives the scene back to me … that's the way filmmaking works best." 

Read Sutherland's letter to Ross in full below:  

Dear Gary Ross: 

Power. That's what this is about? Yes? Power and the forces that are manipulated by the powerful men and bureaucracies trying to maintain control and possession of that power? 

Power perpetrates war and oppression to maintain itself until it finally topples over with the bureaucratic weight of itself and sinks into the pages of history (except in Texas), leaving lessons that need to be learned unlearned.  

Power corrupts, and, in many cases, absolute power makes you really horny. Clinton, Chirac, Mao, Mitterrand. 

Not so, I think, with Coriolanus Snow. His obsession, his passion, is his rose garden. There's a rose named Sterling Silver that's lilac in colour with the most extraordinarily powerful fragrance — incredibly beautiful — I loved it in the seventies when it first appeared. They've made a lot of offshoots of it since then.  

I didn't want to write to you until I'd read the trilogy and now I have so: roses are of great importance. And Coriolanus's eyes. And his smile. Those three elements are vibrant and vital in Snow. Everything else is, by and large, perfectly still and ruthlessly contained. What delight she [Katniss] gives him. He knows her so perfectly. Nothing, absolutely nothing, surprises him. He sees and understands everything. He was, quite probably, a brilliant man who's succumbed to the siren song of power. 

How will you dramatize the interior narrative running in Katniss's head that describes and consistently updates her relationship with the President who is ubiquitous in her mind? With omniscient calm he knows her perfectly. She knows he does and she knows that he will go to any necessary end to maintain his power because she knows that he believes that she's a real threat to his fragile hold on his control of that power. She's more dangerous than Joan of Arc. 

Her interior dialogue/monologue defines Snow. It's that old theatrical turnip: you can't 'play' a king, you need everybody else on stage saying to each other, and therefore to the audience, stuff like "There goes the King, isn't he a piece of work, how evil, how lovely, how benevolent, how cruel, how brilliant he is!" The idea of him, the definition of him, the audience's perception of him, is primarily instilled by the observations of others and once that idea is set, the audience's view of the character is pretty much unyielding. And in Snow's case, that definition, of course, comes from Katniss. 

Evil looks like our understanding of the history of the men we're looking at. It's not what we see: it's what we've been led to believe. Simple as that. Look at the face of Ted Bundy before you knew what he did and after you knew.  

Snow doesn't look evil to the people in Panem's Capitol. Bundy didn't look evil to those girls. My wife and I were driving through Colorado when he escaped from jail there. The car radio's warning was constant. 'Don't pick up any young men. The escapee looks like the nicest young man imaginable'. Snow's evil shows up in the form of the complacently confident threat that's ever-present in his eyes. His resolute stillness. Have you seen a film I did years ago? 'The Eye of the Needle'. That fellow had some of what I'm looking for.

The woman who lived up the street from us in Brentwood came over to ask my wife a question when my wife was dropping the kids off at school. This woman and her husband had seen that movie the night before and what she wanted to know was how my wife could live with anyone who could play such an evil man. It made for an amusing dinner or two but part of my wife's still wondering.

I'd love to speak with you whenever you have a chance so I can be on the same page with you.

They all end up the same way. Welcome to Florida, have a nice day!