Their first space shuttle launch

He just turned the tv on to see what was going on in the world and they said it..."The space shuttle Endeavor is scheduled to lift off tonight at 7:55pm from Cape Canaveral" David lit up like a Christmas tree and said, "Let's get in the car and go see it blast off!" Um...okay...lets go!!!

So, we piled in the car, gassed it up, grabbed some lunch and headed south. NASA/Cape Canaveral is only about 2 hours away. Neither David nor I had seen a space shuttle blastoff in a number of years, but we really wanted the girls to have the experience. You should have seen us trying to explain it to them...two little girls who have basically no knowledge of what space is much less a space shuttle!! Anyway...we figured that we wouldn't be able to get too close as we got a late start, but hey...we can actually see a blastoff from the street in front of our house, so any farther south we got was gravy...right?

Well, we ended up on US1, in a marina on the banks of the Indian river DIRECTLY across from the launch pad. We were about 10 miles away with a picture perfect view!! We took our lawn chairs out, grabbed the bag of juice boxes and snacks and settled in to watch the show.

The weather was absolutely PERFECT...a light breeze, pleasant temperatures and not a cloud in the sky!!! It was actually so clear that we saw a satellite go over about 30 minutes before blastoff...it was amazing!!! The girls were running around making new friends and having a blast (pardon the pun).

Then...promptly at 7:55...we watched them light the engines , which then lit up everything and the Space Shuttle Endeavor rose majestically into the night sky. It was truly a sight to behold! I had both girls in my lap and they just sat there perfectly still with their mouths hanging open. It was the only time I have ever seen Lili speechless...she just sat there.

We were fortunate enough to be sitting near a couple of guys who were here from Norway studying aeronautics. They were a wealth of information to us. (They are the ones who pointed out the satellite...lest you think I am that smart!!)

After it was all over, we piled back in the car and headed off in search of some dinner. I mean, it was only 8:30 or so...how hard could it be to find food???

Well...about 11PM we finally got to eat dinner!!!!!!! We went all the way to Daytona Beach before we found something!!!! Traffic was a nightmare and next time we will take dinner with us thank you very much!!!

We finally pulled into our driveway at about 1:30 that morning. The girls were wiped...Aly just walked into her bedroom, crawled into bed and continued sleeping. She did walk in the house under her own steam, but I am not really sure she ever woke up!!

Anyway, it was so much fun!! I'm so glad that David turned on the tv to check the news!!

Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

Aly & Lili with their new friends

Aly and her DaddyMan

Daddy and his princesses

Me and my beauties

Ignition...


liftoff... (official NASA picture)

light up the sky...

and we're off!


Isn't it just beautiful??

I love this shot... this is the smoke trail floating in front of the full moon.

We came here to see THAT????