A hard days night...

After a difficult day and even more difficult, restless night with Colten, the problem was obvious this morning - his first tooth poked through... can't really see it in the picture for all of the slobber but it's there!

Pools Open!

 

It was  nice sunny day and the kids took advantage of the newly cleaned pool... what fun!!

 

So glad to be out of that car seat!

Colten shopped like a big boy for the first time... he loved it.!

Day 8: Discovery STS-131 ready for launch!

While at the Space Center we watched the Hubble 3D IMAX movie- AWESOME!!! checked out a few more exhibits and then got in line for the bus to the Causeway (closest public viewing area from Launch Pad 39A)... at this point it's about 4am.

When we finally got onto the bus it only took about 30 seconds before Avery was asleep. Now it's 5am. We reached the Causeway close to 5:15am set out our picnic blankets, bundled up (it was a bit chilly) and began waiting.

NASA had speakers setup so that we could follow all of the communications from Mission Control and the Orbiter. There was a brief moment when a computer system failed and we may have a "NO GO".. but it was quickly rectified and once again we were "A GO".

At 6:04am we were able to see the International Space Station fly over us in the sky. It showed as a bright white light, due to the sun reflecting off of it's solar panels. The ISS was visible for a full 3 minutes - it was awesome!

Finally it was time!!! coming upon the 10 minute marker, we started waking up the children. Anticipation was high... it seemed like no time and forever all at once. 60 seconds: we put our binoculars into focus... 30 seconds: cameras ready... 10 seconds: Ahhhh!!! 

9. . . 8. . . 7. . . 6. . . 5. . . 4. . . 3. . . 2. . . 1

The 6:21am ingnition lit up the sky and ocean, it was beautiful and surreal. To know you are watching 7 human beings literally being blasted out of this world is such a huge idea to wrap your mind around. It was like nothing else. Unfortunately, I am not able to show any pictures like the ones I have in my head, I wish I could, because it was just stunning and is something I hope my children will never forget... I know I won't.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/index.html

Day 7: Wait, Wait, Wait

Today we packed all of our stuff, loaded up the truck and checked out of our resort... with no particular place to go for another 14 hours. We had some lunch, made a quick shopping trip,  observed a falcon in an eagle's nest, rode along a coastal neighborhood checking out the houses and real estate, found a park and played a bit, had some dinner and prepared to head to the space center.

Arrival time was set for 12am. For the first time in Crook family history we were on time, in fact, we were raring to go!

Day 6: Kennedy Space Center

Today we visited the Kennedy Space Center so we could inform the children of all the happenings of space exploration and to prepare them for the launch on Monday morning. We took a bus tour where we were able to observe the shuttle on the launch pad. By this point we were about 36 hours out from the launch.

I took as close of a picture possible from about 1.5 miles away. >

^This is the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building), today it is the fourth-largest structure in the world by volume.

 Just to give you an idea the American flag painted on the side measures: 209 feet (63.7 m) high, and 110 feet (33.5 m) wide. Each of the stars on the American flag painted on the building is 6 feet (1.83 m) across, the blue field is the size of a regulation basketball court, and the stripes are as wide as a standard road lane.
 

At the end of our tour Drake saw a unique rainbow in the sky.

 

Day 5: Cocoa Beach

It was a nice relaxing day in Cocoa Beach... we used this time to recover from our Disney all nighter.

Andrew and Avery dug into the sand looking for shells... yes, DUG into the sand.

& Drake played in the surf...

Colten & I hung out under the umbrella and took pictures.

Day 4: The Magic Kingdom

The day belonged to Princess Avery and began in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique located in Cinderella's Castle.

She had her hair and nails done, and everyone (I mean everyone!) oohed & ahhed at her dress and sllippers. One cast member stopped me and said " working here everyday for 10 years, I see alot of dresses but this is the best one I have ever seen".

After her appointment Avery caught up with the Fairy Godmother (who, afterwards, spoke right to her from the float during the parade). 







During the parade, we enjoyed some popscicles. Cinderella waved to Avery and Ariel blew her a kiss!

After the parade, we met with Cinderella and she told Avery how she had heard so much about her from Fairy Godmother. It was great!    

The night belonged to Drake.
After dinner, outside of the kingdom, we went back in for round 2. Because the day had been so HOT and crowded, it was hard to stand in line to get on many rides. Thanks to FASTPASS, and most normal people taking their kids home for a good night sleep, (not us!) we were able to maximize the ride experience. Drake rode pretty much everything in the park, worth talking about - his favorite was of course Space Mountain. Avery's favorite ride was Splash Mountain and Colten's was a tie between Monster's Inc scare floor (he laughed and bounced alot) and It's a small world (he was very still and looking at everything).

We spent a total of 16 hours at the park and it was worth it! It was a great time and I am so glad that we were able to share this as a family and enjoy each other at Disney World. It was a magical day for sure!