Slinkyman's Wishes Come True Trip Report:DAYS 8 & 9 Added post 193 & 194

****Sigh**** I must say the two boys looked so grown up. It made me smile but at the same time gave me a heavy heart-My Inkers is growing up and I know it won’t be long before some girl steals his heart away. I am trying to enjoy every moment of him still thinking I am ok.
Bug, I'm a thirty-four year old man who's been happily in love with my girl Sandy for 15 years, but I'll tell ya, nothing will ever replace the love I have and feel for my Dear ol' Mum. I'm not a Momma's Boy or some sort of weirdo, I'm just saying... Mom always is important. :teeth:

Anyway, I love the story and pix so far. The formal flatts were a great idea and I'm so jealous you got to go on the sub ride. Neat-o! Dolphins are next? Wow, can't wait to hear about/see those!
 
That was so touching i stayed up until 12:19 reading it on a school night that story just made me feel like there is hope for those less fortunate everywhere
 


Still reading and loving this story! Can't wait for the rest! :goodvibes
 
That was a beautiful trip report, what a tear jerker, I should be studying for history and I was reading this instead shh... don't tell my parents LOL!!!!
 
I just have to say i got touched by your story it made me all teary
I guess people are great writers when it means MORE than the world to them and i would just like to s ay that touched me very much
and i really hope you and your family had the best of times in such hard times
KEEP ON A TRUCKIN!!!

Squeaky
 


Bug, thank you for sharing the magic of your trip with all of us. Your writing makes me feel as though I am witnessing this incredible dream come true first hand with you. :hug:
 
Bug, I know I've never talked to you before, in fact, I'm joining this board just because I needed to reply this thread.
It's amazing what you did as a mom, I've read your whole story, I cried, I smiled, I felt with you.. thank you very much for sharing it with everyone and congratulations for everything, for your son getting better and for what you got for him: his dream made true!!
I'm glad you and Ink found real friends here and that you got the support you needed to go through.
Congratulations and keep strong to continue your fight :cheer2:
Sincerely,
gabyta

PS: Sorry if my grammar isn't good :blush:
 
Bug,

You certainly have a gift when it comes to telling a story. Can't wait to read more.

The pictures are beautiful. Just loved the ones from the submarine ride. Thank you for taking the time to post and share your experience with us all.
 
Ok it is now May the 9th and I am going into withdrawal from not being able to read the next installment of Ink and Friends Great Wish Adventure :) Like who gets the next flu bug. Did you manage to capture any pirates on pirate night. What excursion you have left ...... nosey people want to know :lmao:
 
Day 8 April 25th Port of Call Cozumel Mexico


We awoke to another picture perfect day-glorious sunshine and very warm temperatures. We were all looking forward to today as this was the day we would be swimming with the dolphins then it was pirate night aboard the Disney Magic.

In Cozumel you dock so there is no tendering which makes getting off the ship so much nicer. We had a nice breakfast and got ourselves ready to go a shore. I snapped a couple quick pictures as we exited the ship. Very cool to have to large cruise ships side by side in a port and look down between them:

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We boarded a taxi to the park. Our Dolphin swim was at Chankanaab Park. This park was devastated by the hurricane that hit a few years ago and they are still working on rebuilding it. I found the park to be very nice. It was clean, nicely landscaped and had a lot you could do. We had booked the Royal Dolphin Swim. Let me explain this-we did not book this shore excursion through Disney. Disney does not offer the royal swim. They offer the dolphin encounter. You go in the water with them but you are standing on a platform. With the Royal Swim you free swim with the dolphins. We booked it online directly with the company.

We got our wristbands and had some time to kill so Ink decided he wanted to try snorkeling. The water is just so amazing. It is so clear and the color is impossible to describe. I had tried to describe it to Ink before the trip but when he saw it for himself he said to me “wow mom know I know what you mean by the water”. Here is a picture Ink took with a water camera while snorkeling:

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Garden Area we walked:

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After snorkeling it was time for our swim. With the royal swim they limit the group to 10 people. We took up ½ the group. There was another family there a mom, father and 2 girls. I learned after I got home that she too is a Diser. I found this out when I received a PM from her asking for my e-mail as she had 50 photos for me that she took. So once again the generosity of a Diser came shining through. She did not do the swim and just spent the time snapping pictures of everyone. So Oh Mom thank you so much for the awesome photos and I am sorry I did not know who you were and sorry we did not have time to stop and talk. The photos are awesome and will be added to the memory book. The people running the swim also took photos and took video all which were available to purchase after the swim was done. Needless to say we purchased all 19 photos and the video. I would highly recommend the Royal swim to everyone-was worth every penny.

Here are the magnificent animals jumping out of the water right in front of us-picture thanks to Oh Mom

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Smalld and the Dolphins and a picture of the dolphin under water with water camera:

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The following pictures are of Ink and the Dolphins (smalld's mom has his and I did not get to scan them :( I could not decide on my favorites so I am sharing them all. The first one ink is being pulled through the water by two dolphins. In the second the two dolphins are pushing his feet and pushing him right out of the water-you can feel how powerful these animals really are:

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In the next picture they have you hold the dolphin for a picture. Then it is on to the kiss. First you kiss the dolphin then the dolphin kisses your cheek. They are amazingly gentle creatures:

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Here is my husband getting his Dolphin kiss:

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Now I don’t usually like pictures of me to be seen but in the next picture you can basically see my sheer excitement of doing this excursion and I was thrilled I was brave enough to do it!!

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We were all sad to see our time end with our new friends-the dolphins. Ink has told me that this was his favorite excursion we did on the cruise and I will tell you I would do this again in a heart beat. I think they do some kind of dolphin encounter at Epcot but I think you have to be 16 and I told Ink when he is old enough we will do it.

We were hot and salty and decided to head back to the ship after our swim. We were excited to get ready for dinner for tonight was Pirate night! We had planned this out long before we left for the cruise and we had packed Pirate costumes to wear.

After getting dressed we headed to find Captain Jack Sparrow. He is out on Pirate night for pictures and we wanted to get there early before a long line formed. Here are the two pictures we got:

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After pictures it was time to eat! This was such a fun night. Our menus were rolled up treasure maps that you got to keep as souvenirs. There were pirate bandannas on the table for everyone in case you did not dress up. The wait staff was all decked put in their pirate clothes. We had a great time. Of course they had a ship photographer going around taking pictures. Here are a few from dinner:

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There was no show this night because instead there was the pirate party at 9:45 at night. Well my husband complained he was tired and we told him we would not force him to go to the party if he did not want to. He opted to go to bed. The rest of us walked around the ship and then ventured out for the party. It was mobbed. It was fun! Lots of loud music. They had set up a pirate buffet-like any of us could eat again. I did not get many good pictures. It was very windy, very warm and very dark. Most of them did not come out. The best part of pirate’s night to me was the fireworks. Disney is the only cruise ship to set off fireworks from the ship while at sea. It was amazing. I always say it is not the end of a Disney day unless you have fireworks. We were not disappointed.

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After fireworks we called it a night and headed back to the room to a towel monkey hanging from the ceiling. It was another picture perfect day and we were all sunburned and tired. We have a day at sea next so we could sleep late in the morning and relax all day!
 
Day 9 April 26th Day at sea


Today was rest day. We woke again to a perfect weather day. Bright and sunny. I really enjoyed having a veranda room and being able to open the door and hear the sounds of the ocean-the waves as they gently lapped against the ship. Then to walk out on it and see nothing but beautiful blue water. We read the navigator then headed to breakfast. We slept late so we did the buffet on the upper deck. After breakfast we just kind of walked around. We people watched, stared out to the ocean and enjoyed the calm day. In the afternoon there was an ice carving demonstration the boys wanted to see. It was really cool watching this guy take this block of ice and use a chain saw to shape it. He made a fish in the plants in less then 10 minutes.

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We also went to a towel animal making class which was really fun. As the day winded down it was time to get all dressed up. Tonight’s meal was semi-formal. I could not wait to see Ink all dressed up again. He joked in the room when I was taking pictures and then while walking around small found one of his not so favorite characters:

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We also ran into a face you do not see out much:

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Next it was time to have some real pictures taken. I bought so many pictures on this trip. Here are a few we had done that night:

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After the pictures it was time for another great meal. We took this time to get a great shot of the boys with our servers-hmm maybe we should have put them to work…

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After dinner it was time to check out another great sunset while at see. Nothing like a sunset with nothing to block it-no trees and no hills. The boys were fascinated to watch it slowly drop into the ocean as they called it.

The next picture is my favorite from the cruise that I took. When I look at this picture I see a young man that looks healthy, happy, has a sparkle in his eye and has no thoughts of doctors. I see the Ink I remember and had before the cancer struck him. I see a fighter and a winner-a brave soul that would not be held down. I see the sheer happiness of living that shines in his face. This picture makes me both want to smile and cry.

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And here are the best friends together-Thank you Smalld for all you have helped and done for Ink and me. We are so happy we could share this dream trip with you and your mother:

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After those lovely pictures we wet to the evening show. We had high hopes for this show. It claimed to be one of the best shows on the seas. It was called Disney Dreams but we were disappointed in it. We knew Ink was living a dream and maybe we expected too much from the show. I did not think it had the piazza of other shows we saw on the ship.

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Well it was rime to see another day end. We headed back to the room to be greeted by a cute creature from the ocean:

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We all went to sleep that night very happy and rested ready for our big day tomorrow. Our next port of call-Castaway Cay! Disney’s Private Island. We were so looking forward to this port. Time to fall asleep and dream about snorkeling and finding Mickey beneath the ocean…..
To be continued…
 
Oh man! I can't wait until my kids are old enough to do THAT dolphin excrusion!

Great report bug bug! Great pictures too! And Yell at Normal to get you her pictures!!!

Woot Castaway Cay is next!!! :banana:
 
Your latest character photos are fantastic, Bug! Ink and Smalld are very handsome and I love the photo of them with Minnie :thumbsup2
 
Wow Bug how neat that was to see. I know your favorite picture of Ink is the one of him in his suit. But I like the picture of him being pulled by the two dolphins with his hand on each fin. Now that looks cool! And Ink is so happy in that picture. Nice job again bug. I feel like i was there and can't wait for the next installment of your vacation. Oh and the pirate night... Woot!
 
I am so glad that all of you had such a wonderful trip! I have enjoyed reading the posts and the pictures are great. :)
 
I don't really get a chance to post much on the boards but after reading your report of Ink and his wonderful trip I felt I couldn't leave this thread without saying a huge thank you to Bug for allowing us to read her story.

I myself had cancer in my early teens (I've been in remission now for 10 years) and looking back now I know that I found the strength to fight from the love of my friends and family, particularly my mum. Bug, you sound as great to Ink as my mum was to me during my illness and I'm sure that a lot of his strength comes from your love and devotion to him.

My parents took me to Disney World Florida when I was ill too aswell as Sea World etc etc and I had the most amazing holiday of my life. I remember that trip with such fondness now and everytime I look at my photos (trying hard to ignore the dodgy 80s clothes LOL) I realise just how much my parents loved me and how much my illness affected them. Ink too will always remember this wonderful trip and everytime he does it will remind him of your love for him.

Ink seems like a very strong young man with wonderful friends and family. I hope the future is everything you all wish it to be.

Lots of love from Ireland,

Cat
 
What great picture of Ink, Mickey, and mom!! The dolphin pictures @_@ looks like so much fun!!!

What a great trip you peeps had!!
 
Sounds like you had a blast.

Also, congrats to Slink for making in on Yavn's newsletter
 

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