Space Adventure

With her new Minnie suitcase in tow, Lena was off for a week of fun with "Yamma" and Grandpa. Mommy and Daddy were off to Florida to see the space shuttle launch.

Matt's Dad got us on the VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center. Here, Space Shuttle Discovery sits on the launch pad awaiting its final mission.

Can you tell we enjoyed our tour?

T minus 2 hours. Touring the Apollo/Saturn V Building at our VIP launch site (Banana Creek). Lauren is standing in front of the rocket engines that blasted Saturn V into space (like the rocket in the movie "Apollo 13").

T minus 9 minutes and holding. Very exciting! A few issues came up before Discovery had a "GO" for launch.

With 2 seconds to spare, Discovery had a successful launch! Even from 3 miles away it was very bright, sounded like crackling, and we could feel the vibrations. At 8 1/2 minutes, the astronauts were safely in space and on their way to the International Space Station - Praise the Lord! Dad B's engines were successful!

Dad's work was done, so for the next few days we got to enjoy Florida together. We rode bikes on the beach...

spotted a manatee...

and took a sweet ride on an air boat looking for gators.