Day 12: Wrapping up KSC and hanging out with cousins!

I missed posting this with the day one KSC activities-

On day 2, the kids wanted to ride the shuttle launch simulator again…first stop.

Second stop, the Astronaut’s garden, an area set aside to honor those astronauts that have lost their lives while pursuing the exploration of space.

We found a fun cardboard poster that turned the kids into astronauts. It only took us 10 minutes to get everyone a turn being the ‘right color space suit’. Geez…..5 kids sure can be frustrating sometimes. I can only imagine what people must think when they see us and our kids’ interactions. Ridiculousness probably.

With the last space shuttle launch scheduled for July 8th, NASA has had to come up with a new mode of transportation to get our astronauts into space. The Orion rocket will be that vehicle…….

NASA hopes to have man to the moon by the year 2020 and also hopes to get man to Mars. Incredible, isn’t it? We watched an IMAX film about the Hubble telescope. The amazing views it brings to man here on earth are just mind boggling, it’s so hard to imagine just how vast space is and that the light we see from some stars is over a million years old. Wow.

Now what would a visit to a tourist destination be without the opportunity to purchase touristy ‘stuff’? Our first opportunity to succumb to the pressures, photos taken before we got on the tour bus on day 1. $20 for a 5X7. Well, we brought a tripod today, along with our bounce flash, and took advantage of the camera timer. Voila-our own pictures without having to fork out $20!

Now, as luck would have it, Bill’s brother and family ended up driving into Orlando yesterday, so after finishing up KSC, we made our way back to Orlando to enjoy an afternoon of swimming and dinner. Pretty ironic to have both families in Florida at the same time! Bill got to meet Ryan for the first time as well. I think he was just as smitten as I was!

He’s a cutie pie, that’s for sure!!  Some more cousin love....

We ended the night with popsicles and tag outside. It was a super short visit but well worth it! We’ll see them again on our way back home next month.