FL- Kennedy Space Center

The first thing we did was the Kennedy Space Center.  My brother and his girlfriend were also visiting my mom when we got there (they live in Seattle) so they met us there too.  I hadn’t expected it to be just like a regular park with the same highly priced entrance fees, and lots of walking.  I wore flip flops and carried my heavy camera bag (which I did NOT end up using at all because we were inside a poorly lit building the whole time and then there was the storm).

Going into Atlantis, they have you watch this video about the history of space travel.  It was interesting how many times they failed.  They encountered so many problems and they came up with solutions every time.  Pretty awesome.   Then we got to see the Atlantis and read about things like the launching system.  There was a ride, a simulator.  Kaden was too small for it so I sat out with him but everyone else did it.  Kaden thought the rocket ship stuff was really cool.  He loved pushing the buttons.  There was a tunnel you could crawl through.  We were on the second or third floor and the last part of the tunnel is clear so you can see all the way down.  The kids didn’t seem to mind that but Kevin and Vanessa started wondering if they were too heavy and might break it!  They didn’t, of course.  There was also a really big slide (like the kind they use to exit the shuttle I guess) that was steep and fun!  Kaden is usually a scaredy pants and he sat right down and went the first time.  But then didn’t want to go again.  All in all, it was pretty fun.  We also went over and watched a movie about the International Space Station and it was also very interesting.  I especially liked the pictures of lightning storms from above!

 Speaking of storms... A big one came through right when we were finishing up dinner.  We got in line for the shuttle that would take us on a tour (can't remember what it's called right now) but the storm was so bad that the shuttles that were out had pulled over to wait it out.  Kevin and Vanessa were on one.  It was a crazy storm!  It made Kaden very nervous.  We were waiting in this covered outdoor area for awhile, but then someone said there was a tornado spotted in the area and so they ushered us all inside the gift shop (a convenient place to send people to wait out the storm). Ryan and Dylan found mugs with their names on them.  The only ones with common names in our family I guess.

 After the storm mostly passed, we ventured back outside and the place was basically abandoned.  The water in the "streets" was calf-deep.  We tried to go to a couple of the little shops and the people said they were closed. We tried to go to another "exhibit" and it was closed too. We couldn't really figure out why they closed the indoor stuff.  So we probably didn't get to see all that we wanted to.  But at least the storm had passed by the time we had to drive again.  I would have hated to be on the road during that torrential downpour!