A Break from the Mouse - Kennedy Space Center

On our Tuesday in Orlando, some of us went to Kennedy Space Center.  Dean's parents and sister, who had all been before, decided they wanted a day off so they didn't come, so the rest of us trekked off to the east and came to the land of the big rockets.

My desire to come here was selfish as well as for fun--part of the novel I'm writing takes place at Kennedy and in the surrounding area, so since we were going to be so close anyway, I wanted to see the place and get a feel for the area.  I also wanted to look around the surrounding town, since my protagonist spends a good deal of time there.  It was very helpful, and I'm grateful that everybody else wanted to go.

This is the Vehicle Assembly Building, the largest one-story building in the world.  This is where they put the rockets together in preparation for launch.

I don't have as many photos of this day--or rather, most of my photos are of things and the informational signs so I could peruse them later.  I was in research mode, not so much tourist mode.

Us beneath the giant Saturn V rockets that propelled the Apollo astronauts into orbit

Liam thought the best part about Kennedy was learning to push their strollers

Me getting into the Astronaut Van

Fun fact:  the ladder on this Lunar Module would break if used in Earth gravity--that's how important it was to cut as much weight as possible.  (This one would have been on Apollo 15, but they replaced it when they decided they needed one big enough to take the lunar rover)

Who can resist a big ball?

Teaching my boys how to fly

The rocket garden

Taking my majestic walk across the catwalk to my spaceship

Dean and I, seeing what it's like to get strapped in and ready for launch

You know, I think the astronauts have head rests

They had an awesome playground for junior astronauts.

The boys loved it

We wished we had more time to look around the facilities, but we all took this day to be somewhat of an off day, so we didn't get started until really late and then had to get out because it was closing time.  But still, we had fun and I learned a lot for my novel.

Robin LOVES rockets now.  He managed to find a kiddie nonfiction book about the space shuttle at the library, and we read that a lot before we had to return it.  We also usually give Robin a new matchbox airplane on plane rides, so he has a new toy to keep him busy, and the one we gave him on our trip home was a space shuttle.  He likes to count down from 5 to blast off, and is just generally enthralled with the idea.  Hee hee!

Where Mickey Lives, Day 2: Magic Kingdom!

Our Orlando vacation continued with a trip to the ever-famous Magic Kingdom!  The first ride we went on was the Buzz Lightyear one, which Robin L-O-V-E-D!

Liam helped me shoot.  Take THAT, Emperor Zurg!

Look at that, we let Robin drive!  (Dean still had to work the gas pedal, of course.)  And yes, I was taking photos behind me while driving.  Good thing the cars were on a track!

We thought it strange that the cars on this racetrack were gas guzzlers.  The whole area smelled of exhaust, and this is TOMORROWland.  Can't they upgrade to electric cars to be part of the future?

And back for another go on Buzz Lightyear.  Robin sure likes Toy Story!

Risking my camera to take pictures on Space Mountain

Liam didn't get to nap properly during this trip, so he took advantage of every opportunity he got

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My mother got featured in the interactive Monsters Inc show!

The waiting area for Winnie the Pooh had some interactive play stuff to help kids pass the time

On the Regal Carousel, of course!

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On our way out, we passed Dumbo--with very little wait--and just couldn't help but hop on

We hadn't intended to be at the park this late (we had a bedtime schedule that we were at least trying to maintain) but a combination of eating dinner where we hadn't expected, the train not running as late as we'd thought, and several wrong turns had us just outside the gates when the fireworks started.

Getting out of the park was actually quite difficult with all the people gathered for the show.  Fortunately, Disney keeps a small path open, and a nice employee showed us the way through.  Watching from outside the gates denied us the chance to see all the display on the castle itself, but it did get us ahead of the crowd when it came to getting back to the car.  We even watched part of the fireworks from the ferry, which was nice.

I don't think we got as much done this day as we did at Animal Kingdom, but we were battling a much larger crowd.  Robin definitely enjoyed himself, despite the lines.  I hope you enjoyed day two!

Welcome to the place where Mickey lives!!!!!

We went to Orlando for a week in mid-July!  Dean's parents traded two of their timeshare units to get two two-bedroom units and invited my parents as well as all their children.  Dan didn't come, but everyone else did.

Robin really liked riding through the airport on his new suitcase

Liam figured out how to get a ride of his own

Traveling really wore Robin out

Our first stop was Animal Kingdom--the zoo where Mickey lives!

At the Tree of Life--carved with dozens of animals.  You may notice that Dean, Kathy, and I are wearing matching shirts.  We got them at Animal Kingdom when we went together five years ago.  It's Winnie the Pooh, dressed in safari gear, looking through a magnifying glass at a tiger and asking "Tigger, is that you?"  They still sell them, although they've changed.  Now, Pooh is the computer animated Pooh (our shirts have the original animated Pooh) and the tiger is different.

Baby elephants!  We saw them on the safari ride

Robin got to make a mask for himself

Liam looks cute in Poppa's new hat

Liam started showing a preference for both his grandpas during this trip.  I think he recognized them as the people most likely to carry him when he reached up, rather than abandoning him to the boring old stroller

Look at all the fish

Look how close the hippo got!  (I like how Robin's trying to make sure Liam looks at it.)  This is the really neat thing about Animal Kingdom.  They have tons of space, great animal habitats, and do their best to encourage the animals to be themselves and/or move about.  They can do a lot more than your average zoo.

Watching a parade in the rain.  That's Mickey behind us!

And now to the highlight of Robin's vacation:  meeting Mickey himself!

Hugs!  Robin surprised me, actually.  I expected him to be intimidated by the big characters, but he required very little support (he wanted us with him, but didn't hang back) and was really eager to interact.

He also met Donald

We also got to see King Louie...

...and Baloo from The Jungle Book

He also got to meet Winnie the Pooh

And so did Liam

Eeyore and Tigger were there, too

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On his first "scary" ride, "Dinosaur" at Animal Kingdom.  He did very well.  He told us he was scared (and held onto us during these types of rides) and didn't want to ride it again, but was not dissuaded from going on other rides.  Well done, Robin!

The day did not end here, but my camera decided it had had enough and the battery died.  I have yet to steal gather pictures from other cameras, so this is where they stop.  We also rode a triceratops ride (it went around a central point) probably five or six times--there was NO LINE.  That's absolutely unheard of at anything related to Disney, but yet, it happened.  This was actually a great day to do Animal Kingdom, all the lines were quite short.  After the triceratops we went to a dino-themed playground called the Boneyard (the slides were disappointing, they were more "scoots" than "slides) and finally to a show "It's Tough to be a Bug" before heading out to dinner.  We were all tired, worn out, sweaty, dirty, and satisfied.  In short, a perfect Orlando July Disney day!