Dyan's Mom and Dad came down for a visit--just for this guy right here! Today was Grandparents Day at school, and CJ had some Grandparents for the first time. He was really excited! The school plans a special day each year where family can come and see the classrooms and find out what the kids have been doing, then they top it off with a concert and a noon dismissal! I think they all had a good time today! We had a nice visit, but our weather was pretty crummy this week and Mom didn't get her beach day like we planned. Next time, then!! We also saw the movie Fireproof (Eric & I have seen it twice now)--you've got to see it! Two thumbs up from us--and you'll never look at hot sauce again without a little giggle...ok, guys, maybe just a smile!

Well, it's that time again...our yearly free visit to Kennedy Space Center, courtesy of being Brevard County residents! This year, I (Dyan) treated myself--I usually have Fridays off, but I've been extremely busy lately. So this Friday (9/26), I let myself relax and went to KSC by myself! I had a really nice time--it was not crowded like the Saturday and Sundays are--and I even got to visit the hall of Fame--which I've been wanting to do for the past 5 years! I was VERY excited about the historic time we got to enjoy...both launch pads had shuttles on them. A little trivia--this is the first time in 7 years, only the 17th time , and the last time, that both shuttles have been on the pad at the same time. I could see the tops of the shuttles as I came across the water on the way in, and I couldn't wait to get closer. So, needless to say, I was very disappointed when I realized that was ALL I was going to see...the orbiters were protected by the towers, and so not visible except for the last day before launch. I was REALLY bummed, but I should have realized it. Oh, well, maybe I'll have an excuse to go up the day before we launch in November. The mission Atlantis was going on was delayed because of a problem with the Hubble Telescope, but Endeavor should go on as planned. I still enjoyed myself and it was a great day!

I was glad to see that the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) finally was restored to pre-hurricane Frances conditions! Over the course of our last several visits, the building has been repaired, but not repainted. Now it all looks uniform and whole again--yea!

One of my favorites is the Rocket Garden. It's so neat to see these enormous things--then realize that the astronauts not only were blasted into space on top of these, but to realize what tiny crew cabins they had...wow! The top photo is the Saturn V rocket, which they used for the Apollo missions.

This is a new display since last year. It's a T-38 jet, used for training, and also how the astronauts fly between Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers. Pretty cool! In the background are the shuttle Explorer mock-up, and the building is the Shuttle Launch Experience ride. That was much better this year, by the way. Since I already knew what to expect this year, it was much more enjoyable!

Well, since I had a day alone on Friday, I gave CJ the option to go on Saturday--of course he wanted to go! We got there right at opening, and ran into one of CJ's classmates on the first ride! We hung out with them for a while, and I got these guys posing. Here's CJ with Luke and his brother. We didn't stay long this time, but got the chance to see a movie and check out the rocket garden.

This is a full-size mock-up of the shuttle. I think it's one of CJ's favorites here. You can see the cargo bay and the flight deck if you climb the structure behind it. It's pretty cool when you realize just how huge these things are--but the orbiter itself is dwarfed by the fuel tank and rocket boosters!