My mom and my friend Kim came to see me and visited for 5 days. It took a little maneuvering on my part to get some time off but I made it happen. They got here late Saturday night. I worked that day and they picked me up from my complex after getting lost and circling for 40 minutes. I was so excited to see them. There were lots of hugs and kisses and then more hugs and kisses. They took me with them to check in five minutes away from Vista at the Marriott Cypress Harbour Resort in a two bedroom, two bath, timeshare end unit. It was definitely a change of scenery. I needed it. It was so relaxing. The next day, mother’s day, we slept in late. Mom said she wanted lobster for mother’s day so we went to a seafood buffet dinner with unlimited lobster. It was out of this world. On Monday we slept in late again, then did Denny’s and sightseeing. I showed them around my complex; they loved my apartment. They drove me around to do some errands so they could see the places I’ve been telling them about. I took them with me to costume to change out my costume. The next day, Tuesday, I took them to the parks. We went to Animal Kingdom. My mother has been to Disney before but Animal Kingdom was the one park she and Kim had never been to. I had gotten them ears and lanyards with 10 pins. I made sure they wore them for the full Disney experience. Watching the joy on their faces throughout the day was the best. The first thing we did when we got to the park was to get my mom an ECV. She also got to meet some of the people that I work with. We headed toward the animals, and worked our way down. we went on rides, and ate lunch at Yak and Yeti. then Later we had funnel cakes, then we went to go see Finding Nemo and the Lion King. We ended up spending the whole day at the park. It was just a day full of excitement. By the end of the day we were tired, The next morning we got up early for spa services and mimosas at our hotel. The whole time we were there I felt like a queen. It was wonderful. My mom insisted that we also meet with the resort photographer. We now have great professional pictures to remind us of our vacation. The photos can even go in the frames that Kim and I made in the resort arts and crafts session. That evening we went to Dave and Busters to eat and play half price Wednesday games. When we got back to the resort we were tired but not too tired to have hot chocolate brownie sundaes. This whole trip was amazing and when it was over it was that much harder to see them go. I know they had a great time and so did I. They’re even thinking about coming back down before my program ends. I hope they do because I could definitely use the break again.
Monique Soden
Animal Kingdom
Stroller Rental
