Houston - Part 2

Day 2 - We got up pretty early - but not too early. Had a yummy breakfast ate at the hotel and headed over to Space Center Houston located at the Johnson Space Center. We knew they didn't open until 10am but in the past we have gotten in early to places so figured it was worth a shot. We arrived at 9am. 1st ones in the parking lot!! Well, they didn't open those doors until 10am on the dot...dang it. Oh, well.

As suggested by BIL, Alan, we headed straight back to the Tram Tour. Whew! Thanks for the advice, Alan, because this would have been entirely too hot and yucky to have done later in the day.

We toured the grounds of the Johnson Space Center, went into a building where the astronauts train on mock-ups of the shuttle, space station and lunar vehicles.

The Space Shuttle Mock-up behind Evan

The 2 new Lunar vehicles that they will use in the Constellation Missions

We then went to Rocket Park where the Saturn V is parked - this was the giant rocket that launched all those Apollo Missions to the moon. Amazing and overwhelming to see that. It has been restored to some degree...but just thinking about sitting on top of that rocket as it was about to launch...wow!

You can see 4 out of the 5 engines on the Saturn V in this picture

We headed back to the museum and watched some shows, saw actual space craft, space suits, learned how the astronauts live in space, learned about the International Space Station and current missions, just to name a few...

This was the Apollo 17 spacecraft - the last to return from the moon.

Did you know that there has been a human being living on the Space Station at all times for the past 9 years?

Did you know that 3 more astronauts joined 3 astronauts on the Space Station last Thursday night?

Did you know there are only 2 more Space Shuttle missions left - forever??? The last one is in November. The Shuttle missions have been the longest running NASA missions since 1981. Go to nasa.gov and watch the video of Atlantis - it's last mission back in May.

Did you know the Space Station will be complete in November 2010?

Did you know that NASA has a contract with the Russians to use their Soyuz spacecraft to travel to and from the Space Station? Did you know it lands in the desert of Kazikstan with a big thud?

Did you know they are currently working/testing/experimenting new technology for the Constellation mission? The missions that will take astronauts back to the moon and possibly to Mars??? The first mission is scheduled for 2014.

Just incredible

We pretended we were on duty at Mission Control and what it was like to fit inside the Apollo spacecraft. We saw real moon rocks, moon dirt and the space suits that went to the moon.

The mock-up of the Space Shuttle controls

Touching a piece of moon rock

I find space, Astronauts the whole NASA program to be amazing. I would want to be an astronaut if it wasn't for the non-fear of heights, dizziness, extra-smart, multiply degrees and pilot pre-requisites. It's really too bad that the media does not highlight what is currently happening with the space program and what amazing vehicles we have built and what amazing scientific research has been conducted. Instead we hear about Jon and Kate's divorce, Lindsey Lohan's drunken episodes and instead we should be looking in the sky and seeing the space station float by...yes, you can see it, too. Okay, off my soap box.

I'll check in later for the continuation of Day 2....

Houston - Part 1

Right after the VBS program on Friday we headed down to Houston. We decided to take a little mini-vacation just for the weekend. I found a La Quinta to stay at online that was in Seabrook. Just South of Houston between Downtown and Galveston. It was right on Nasa Road and a mile from the Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah. The perfect location for our little vacation.

Day 1 We stopped in Huntsville to check out the statue of Sam Houston - 1st president of Texas. He was big, it was hot, we didn't stay that long. But, just long enough to pretend to pick his nose.

We made it to Seabrook about 5pm - checked in to the hotel then headed down to Kemah Boardwalk to find some place to eat.

We found the Aquarium...think Rainforest Cafe meets fish. They had a huge aquarium with big giant fish swimming around.

After dinner we headed out to the Boardwalk to explore. We rode the train and the boys each rode a ride.

We had ice cream, too! It was pretty hot and humid so we headed back to the hotel after all the fun we could handle.

Settled in to the hotel to get ready for Day 2 - Space Center Houston!

Summer Fun Begins

We've been enjoying and taking advantage of the summer concert series at the Levitt Pavilion in Arlington. Free concerts Wed-Sun nights in June! We have had a blast and love the music!

We went to a kids concert one Wednesday and saw The Boogers. It was hard rock kid tunes like Twinkle, Twinkle, etc. Brennan hated it - not his preferred music genre but Evan and our nephew Reid ran around and danced - loving it.

We also went out to Ft. Worth to the Concerts in the Garden in the Botanical Garden. We heard the music of Queen. Excellent weather, excellent food, and excellent music. It was a great night and the boys had fun too.
Brennan spent some of his own money on a Nintendo DS. I'm sure this is how we'll see him for most of the summer.

Last week marked the start of summer with Vacation Bible School at Church. The boys seemed to have a great time and came home exhausted everyday. I didn't help this year with the music - which was nice to have a break and get some me time. I went walking almost everyday (okay, 3 days) and we would walk 3-5 miles each time.

Next up....Houston!