florida day #2
this morning nana made eggs and bacon for breakfast before heading out with mimps for therapy. troy and i got the kids ready and piled in the car to go south to titusville. we arrived at the space park about an hour before the launch and found a spot. it was super crowded and getting hot, but luckily we were in some shade.
troy took off with the girls for a little walk around to keep them busy. fynn and i stayed behind and after a few minutes troy came running up with audrey saying "I lost Clover!". oh no :-( we all split up and started searching. after a few minutes passed i was really worried. a couple of mothers and a grandmother had came up to ask some questions (what is her name, what color shirt is she wearing, how tall is she) so they could help us search. after more than 5 full minutes had passed i was feeling panicky. i walked toward the front of the park by the water (yes, water, could i have been more freaked about about my non-swimming 4 year old lost in a park on the water???) to try to find some police or security. as i walked up the center and approached the bigger part of the crowd i found her, walking around.
she said she lost daddy so she decided to try to find me. she didn't appear upset. after we found daddy and fynn and she realized how worried we were she did get teary....maybe realizing how scared she *would have been* had she noticed how lost she was. funny :-)
by this point it was T minus 10 minutes until launch time. all reports leading up to this point had said there would be a 60% chance the launch would be cancelled. they have to meet some very specific criteria to blast off. but then T minus 5. T minus 1. T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. :::CHEER::: it was amazing and beautiful and tear-jerking. within seconds the shuttle disappeared behind the clouds and the crowd groaned. then another few second and it reappeared and the crown cheered. then gone, groan. then back, above all the clouds....huge applause. we watched as it flew over and disappeared. it was over 500 miles away after just 10 minutes.
we were going to go to dixie crossroads for lunch, but by the time we made it out of the jam-packed parking lot there was over a 30 minute wait. plus, audrey had *just* dozed off. so we headed for daytona instead and decided to try out crabby joes. it was incredibly windy and the food wasn't so great, but troy was happy we at least tried it because he'd been wanting to!
from there we went north a few miles to sunsplash park.....a lovely park with about 10 fountains shooting up from the ground & a sandbox and playground. down the ramp and you're on the beach! we ran in the fountains for a few minutes and then went to the beach. the water was PERFECT! all 5 of us went in, pushed through the crashing waves, and floated in the water. a few times the waves crashed on us all and it was a little worrisome trying to hang on to all the kids. the current was strong at time. but it was incredibly fun and felt so great! the kids played in the sand for a while before we rinsed off in the fountains and came back to the house.
nana is making dinner now...yum! i think we're going back to the beach tonight to walk in the sand and go to some shops. the fishing trip was cancelled for tomorrow due to lack of people signing up so we're keeping our fingers crossed for thursday instead. fynn seems pretty content to rent poles and fish off the pier so that may work out better anyway! troy said we can spend that money and have bubba gumps again :-)
troy took off with the girls for a little walk around to keep them busy. fynn and i stayed behind and after a few minutes troy came running up with audrey saying "I lost Clover!". oh no :-( we all split up and started searching. after a few minutes passed i was really worried. a couple of mothers and a grandmother had came up to ask some questions (what is her name, what color shirt is she wearing, how tall is she) so they could help us search. after more than 5 full minutes had passed i was feeling panicky. i walked toward the front of the park by the water (yes, water, could i have been more freaked about about my non-swimming 4 year old lost in a park on the water???) to try to find some police or security. as i walked up the center and approached the bigger part of the crowd i found her, walking around.
she said she lost daddy so she decided to try to find me. she didn't appear upset. after we found daddy and fynn and she realized how worried we were she did get teary....maybe realizing how scared she *would have been* had she noticed how lost she was. funny :-)
by this point it was T minus 10 minutes until launch time. all reports leading up to this point had said there would be a 60% chance the launch would be cancelled. they have to meet some very specific criteria to blast off. but then T minus 5. T minus 1. T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. :::CHEER::: it was amazing and beautiful and tear-jerking. within seconds the shuttle disappeared behind the clouds and the crowd groaned. then another few second and it reappeared and the crown cheered. then gone, groan. then back, above all the clouds....huge applause. we watched as it flew over and disappeared. it was over 500 miles away after just 10 minutes.
we were going to go to dixie crossroads for lunch, but by the time we made it out of the jam-packed parking lot there was over a 30 minute wait. plus, audrey had *just* dozed off. so we headed for daytona instead and decided to try out crabby joes. it was incredibly windy and the food wasn't so great, but troy was happy we at least tried it because he'd been wanting to!
from there we went north a few miles to sunsplash park.....a lovely park with about 10 fountains shooting up from the ground & a sandbox and playground. down the ramp and you're on the beach! we ran in the fountains for a few minutes and then went to the beach. the water was PERFECT! all 5 of us went in, pushed through the crashing waves, and floated in the water. a few times the waves crashed on us all and it was a little worrisome trying to hang on to all the kids. the current was strong at time. but it was incredibly fun and felt so great! the kids played in the sand for a while before we rinsed off in the fountains and came back to the house.
nana is making dinner now...yum! i think we're going back to the beach tonight to walk in the sand and go to some shops. the fishing trip was cancelled for tomorrow due to lack of people signing up so we're keeping our fingers crossed for thursday instead. fynn seems pretty content to rent poles and fish off the pier so that may work out better anyway! troy said we can spend that money and have bubba gumps again :-)