Kennedy Space Center

We enjoyed spending a day at the Kennedy Space Center, but it's too bad we didn't have a rocket ship to get us there. We had some navigational issues that put us an hour in the wrong direction, so it took us much longer than anticipated to get there. The rocket garden was one of the first things we saw upon arrival.

We also forgot our packed lunch back at the hotel.
So we had lunch at the Orbit Cafe.

Then we embarked on our 3 hour tour, although we could have spent a lifetime exploring Gilligan's Island the Kennedy Space Center. Here is a departure picture of the kids.

We drove by the VAB {Vehicle Assembly Building} which is the world's largest one story building. You could fit the Yankee stadium on top of the building and the Statue of Liberty inside. This is where they assemble the rockets and keep them until those large doors roll open and they use this giant machine that puts the rockets in place for launching. Good pictures were hard to come by because we didn't get to stop in this area and pictures had to be taken through tour bus windows as we drove by.

 See that painted flag on the side of theVAB above? It's the largest painted American flag.

As we drove through the Space Center grounds, we saw all sorts of wildlife. It is actually surounded by a nature preserve. I was amazed that a nature preserve could exist in a place where they launch rockets into space. Everything NASA does is to better mankind, and they take every effort to protect the resources around them. They recycle as much as they can and almost everything they build is designed to be reused. As rocket materials fall into the ocean, they have a crew that retrieves them and cleans them for future use.

We saw several alligators in the swamps and birds everywhere. Our first stop was at an observation tower, and these birds would swoop down and eat people's food right out of their hands...when it wasn't being offered. One of the ladies who worked there told me what kind of bird they were, but I forgot. She also said that she had to be careful because they fly by and grab condiments out of the bins on the counters. Mustard anyone?

These birds weren't the only hazard at the observation tower. Camille was almost sucked up by the engine of the Challenger.

After that close call, Nana read her a book that she bought in the gift shop. {Anytime we couldn't find Camille and Nana we just looked for the nearest air conditioned gift shop.}

 Camille did a great job reading the book to Nana, and someday she can read it to Joseph. She is still new to reading, so she kept practicing while Joseph pushed her around in the stroller. He definitely preferred pushing to riding!

 Our final stop on the bus tour was the Apollo 5 Space Center. 

My favorite part was the room that was configured exactly as the control center was when they launched the Apollo 5. It was amazing to find out that the equipment in the room wasn't a replica; it was the exact equipment that they used!

  They simulated the launch experience from the control center, and the windows of the auditorium shook as they did during the launch. It was quite powerful!

Tate and Camille touched the moon! The plaque near the moon rock reads, "This moon rock was collected by astronaut Jack Schmidt near the Apollo 17 Lunar Module landing site.The rock weighs 17 grams and is a fragment of a much larger original sample. The rock is known as a mare basalt, a porous rock produced from cooled lava. Formed approximately 3.7 billion years ago, it is older than 99.99% of all surface rocks on earth."

Joseph enjoyed playing with the railings and gates almost as much as he enjoyed pushing around the stroller. So easily amused...

This is the van they used to transport fully suited Apollo crews from the operations building to the launch pad approximately eight miles away. The astronauts carried small ventilators that controlled the temperatures of their suits until they connected to the command module's life support system.

Apollo 14 capsule

Tate and Camille resting on the red floor strip that ran the length of the building {it was a long day with a lot of walking, and of course mom and dad wanted to spend much longer lingering at exhibits than they did}. They looked like they were glowing, but my novice photographic skills couldn't capture the effect.

This picture was taken in a room with lots of memorabilia. This is an Apollo space suit, and it was displayed near a set of die cast hands of the astronauts. They have to make body replicas so they can customize the suits to perfectly fit each astronaut. They each have three suits; one for training, one for space, and one extra for just in case.

Tate enjoyed asserting his independence on the bus tour, often sitting by himself. Above him you can see the tv screens where they gave us interesting information about space missions and programs. Our bus driver gave us interesting facts about the buildings and animals we saw along the way.

Back at the main visitor center we rode the shuttle launch experience, but couldn't take any pictures due to the "intense nature of the ride." Here are Tate and Todd in front of the Explorer.

My dad owns a plumbing business, so of course I had to take a picture of "waste management."

Nana and Camille sporting their cool movie glasses for the 4D Hubble Spacecraft Imax film. I enjoyed this film a lot more than I thought I would! It was so realistic, and there were several times when we felt we could reach out and touch stars and spacecraft. I even saw the kids trying. It was so cute!

Tate and Camille showing the camera how much they love each other.

Joseph flying through the sky at the end of the day.

We could have easily spent another day {or two} at the Kennedy Space Center. There was so much to see, and we felt a little rushed at the end. We have a whole list of things we missed, including the Star Trek exhibit {and live show}, another IMAX film, the astronaut hall of fame, the rocket gardens, meeting astronauts, and more. We also would have enjoyed taking one of the extended tours. If we lived in the area we would definitely have a season pass!