The Conclusion!!!

Here is mom by a water fountain at the Polynesian Resort, where we stayed 16 years ago. We just had to go back and reminisce.

The pool at the Polynesian- complete with a waterfall!

And a cool rock to climb and then slide down into the pool... I wish I were a kid.

What is Disney without the famous monorail?

Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger. Jen Ruggiero, Space Cadet.

Mom just can't stay away from those parrots!

A shot of Downtown Disney. I'll be back someday!

The room where we stayed for the longest. Ah, memories!

I-95, two weeks later... even more vibrant. Fall is my favorite time of year.

Ahhh the Verrazzano Bridge! We're almost home!!!

Well, as many of you may have guessed, Jen and Cheryl's Excellent Adventure has come to an end (at least for now!) We are now safely home, as we arrived Saturday night, and surprised my brothers. Please enjoy some pictures of our last day and then trip home. Thanks to all of you who have been following along. You made it a lot of fun to keep up with this journal!

Epcot was fabulous!

Today's blog will be brought to you by our special guest blogger.... Cheryl! She says:

"Epcot was fabulous. We went yesterday (Wednesday). It was not mobbed like the Magic Kingdom, and we walked at our leisure. We went on an Expedition to Mars, and I was mad at Jen at first for making me do it, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. In fact, it was fun.

Then we came back to Earth and explored the world. We started off in Mexico, and went on a 3 Caballeros boat ride. It was fun, and the displays of Mexico were beautiful. Then we went to Norway, and went on a Viking Ride. When we got off the ride, there were 4 cast members applauding for us. We had no idea what was going on, but then they gave us each a special Year of a Million Dreams lanyard with 2 pins not sold in stores. It is part of the Year of a Million Dreams random giveaway where cast members will surprise guests at a certain time and a certain place with a giveaway. Jen was so happy she hugged a cast member! She has been going crazy with these darn pins all vacation. It made her day.

I got a beautiful Chinese shirt and chopsticks in China. I guess I'll have to eat a lot of Chinese food! Then we ate lunch in Italy. They give you bread with olive oil but no butter... yuck! But we ate outside and it was good. Then, we went on an American Adventure, which was an animatronic play with different footage in the background, starting with Pilgrims up until the present. There was not a dry eye in the house.

We visited other countries, and finished up with the United Kingdom, which had a singing group called The British Invasion, which were Beatles imitators. The music was nostalgic, and I found myself singing along with them in spite of people around.

We exited the park, crossed the grass, and all of a sudden, there was our car! God has His hand in every thing. A wonderful day!"

Now, some pictures!!

The Seas! Fantastic! We saw Turtle Talk with Crush... the animated turtle actually answered real audience questions and interacted with us. How, I have no idea, but it was awesome, dude!

Cheryl's are friends, not food!

The sounds and sights of Mexico!

It's like we're really in China!

Bongiorno!

Japanese toys! Too bad they weren't selling them.

Morocco! It resembles Agrabah...

A beautiful end to a beautiful day!

Yesterday was Magic Kingdom Time!

And now, for Disney at their best!

It's Cinderella's castle across the water! This means Disney World to me.

OK... I've got the castle thing down... now, where's my Prince?

A whooole neeew woooorld!!! Mom enjoying the Magic Carpets of Alaadin ride.

And to be fair... a close up of Pirate Jen, too! Yarrrrgghhhh!!

A customary Mom and Jen photo! She hates these close-ups of us, yet poses for them all the time. :)

A blurry Cinderella's Castle lit up for night. There was beautiful fireworks to end the day, a really spectacular job was done.

Had a great day, even though there were more kids than usual due to the holiday. We had to wait a long time for the Dumbo ride! Anyway, we went on every thing from Pirates of the Carribean (which has a couple of Captain Jack Sparrow's floating around, the likeness of Johnny Depp is amazing), to the Peter Pan ride, to Splash Mountain, and lots in between. There were a lot of memories of when we went 16 years ago, and lots of nice new memories were made. Tomorrow we head off to Epcot! Today we just relaxed by floating around the pool. We needed a day of rest. This running around stuff is work! And we thought we were on vacation!! :)

Sooo tired...

Went to Animal Kingdom yesterday. It was OK... I think mom and I see animals all the time, so it wasn't as WOW as most of Disney usually is to people. The safari wasn't that great... couldn't see that many animals, but that's how it is in the wild, so it's a crapshoot. I highly recommend "Finding Nemo the Muscial"... that was truly the best part of the whole park. Absolutely fabulous. And now... some pictures!

Me drawing on a square of sidewalk at the Festival of the Masters weekend at Downtown Disney.

The result! Should have blended it a bit more, but I didn't have a lot of time. Mom was nice to hang out while I drew. You can't take the artist out of me. :)

A rhino!

Elephants, anyone?

A nice picture of a tree and a... lion!

And here we have Cheryl on the drums!

Jen with Eeyore!

Cheryl with Tigger!

Cheryl and Jen with... each other!

I have one word to say...

... SHAMU! There is no way I can describe how amazing Sea World is. I have never been, and it was positively fantastic. I even got to pet a dolphin. I found out that dolphins are actually small whales. I really can't say how wonderful the whole day was, and I took way too many pictures, so I'll just post some of them here. I am always in amazement of God's creations...

Lookin' cool...

Shorts... in November!

Look... a boat!

This was part of an awesome show called "Pets Ahoy!" Mom really loved it, being she's a dog trainer and understood a lot of their techniques.

Sharks overhead!

Yes, it is I... the King of Sea World!

Yes? Here I am! Give me a treat!

No, no cameras, please... we're on break.

Manatees!!!

What, you're leaving? Take us with you!!