Day 5 Florida - UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

September 9, 2011

I snapped a few photos of the resort before we left. It was a wonderful resort and we are so grateful for the wonderful people that donated a few days for our family to stay here. It was nice not to have to deal with parking for so many days. Thank you to the Spoull family from Winthrop that saw Oliver's story on the news and decided to get in touch with us. There are many things I've learned throughout this journey. One that stands out to me is that there are people that choose to act on a feeling they feel and those that choose not to act. I want to be a person that is moved to action so I can be an instrument in bettering someone's day. We'd love to meet up with you guys again soon! Thank you again!

After we got our rental car, we packed up and headed to a Brazilian Steakhouse for lunch. My brother, Bryan, had looked it up and wanted Ollie to be able to experience it before we left Florida! Although it was a bit pricey, it was worth every penny. Sometimes you have to do something other than McDonalds or Wendys! Life is worth living so do things you wouldn't normally do every once in a while! Spend a little more on a meal enjoying your family's company and making memories. I'm really glad we went.

They had a buffet with some wonderful breads, veggies, salads and cheeses.

I LOVED the decor inside the restaurant!

Oliver

BACON!!!

These guys would circle around the tables with these long saber-like skewers of different types of meat. Man... Ollie was in heaven!!! His whole plate was piled high with JUST the meat!

Each place setting had a special set of small tongs to use when they slice off a piece of the meat. You can see Oliver knew how to use it to grab the slice and take it to his plate.... then...

...to his mouth.

We had to bring a box of crackers since there was nothing there that Jaren would eat because of his auto immune disease (Eosinophilic Esophagitus). He's having fun playing with the tongs. Later we saw him trying to clean his fingernails with them!

We each got a paper chip, with one side being red and the other side being green, which told the waiters with the skewers either to stop at our table because we wanted that particular type of meat (red) or to bypass our table (green). You can see Oliver has been loving this meal!!!

Eden enjoying her lunch. She loves salads!

Brazilian soda. Not a fan.

Plantains

Eden and Ed

Mom and Bry waiting in the lounge area in front.

I loved all of the colors, the wrought iron, and the stone slat wall behind the front desk.

After lunch we headed over to Universal Studios for the rest of the day.

Making a wish in the fountain, where all the coins are donated to Give Kids the World, a resort for Make*A*Wish kids and their families.

Marilyn Monroe and Eden

Oliver and Marilyn Monroe

"I Love Lucy"

We even got to meet Homer and Bart!

Jaren loved meeting all of these characters!

Doc Brown from 'Back to the Future'

Betty Boop

Webslingin' time!

Ollie

Eden

Shaggy, Jaren and Scooby-doo

Shaggy, Ollie and Scooby-doo

Jaren

Me and Eden

This is the 'Marley' from the movie 'Marley & Me'!

This is 'Babe' from the movie 'Babe'! She's gotten a lot bigger since filming! ;o)

Crazy storm rolling in! We went to the Shrek 4-D attraction during the storm and then waited in there a while until the lightning stopped and the rain let up. It was kind of scary!

Ollie likes listening to Bob Marley and so we planned to eat here at Universal City Walk while we were down here. They played a lot of Oliver's favorites while we were there including
'Three Little Birds'!

Eden, Ollie and Uncle Bryan

Jaren had to get his fries from Burger King. He didn't like the Yucca fries! I wasn't much of a fan either.

Hey, Mon!!!

Oliver and Ed

Jamaican Cream Soda

I didn't know Bob Marley passed away from Brain Cancer...

PEACE
"Don't gain the world and lose your soul,
'cus wisdom is better than silver and gold"
-Bob Marley-

Had to get some Jamaican inspired jewelry for Ollie and Eden!

The fountain at Universal City Walk

Ollie loves churros. Had to get one before we headed back to the hotel.

Good nights sleep after a long fun day!