Thankful For You

Thanksgiving is without a doubt my husbands favorite holiday. Brett plans his menu for weeks, invites all of our friends and family, and then cooks a fantastic meal for a house full of people. Brett does all this and doesn't even eat the 19lb organic turkey that he has spent hours brining and cooking. Instead he eats tofurkey, a tofu turkey. Thanksgiving at our home has been our tradition since Chapel was born, and it is nice to have a holiday where everyone can come to us and we don't have to travel. Yesterday, Brett's mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, nieces & nephews all drove in to be with us. We also had our friend Margie Pizarro and her three extremely well-behaved and polite teenagers join us.  And this year, if asked what I was thankful for, I would quickly answer,  "my life partner". Not just on Thanksgiving because he selflessly cooks for a house full of people. But this past year, especially, I have relied on him more than I can remember. Whether I've needed Brett's advice about the store, help with the kids, encouragement when my dad was sick or understanding when my sister moved, he has been there for me and always listens to my carryings on with patience. Brett truly is an amazing husband and father and he continues to prove that to me. Most importantly, he challenges me to be a better person and I appreciate that. Sometimes we all need a little encouragement in the right direction and a little help counting our blessings!

My little Turkeys.

The Barker Clan. Conor and Jude had wandered off by the time we got everyone in place!

The Pizarro Family.

Lexi brought her violin for Chapel. Chapel is taking Violin at school and was very excited to hear Lexi play.

Chapter 3: LAUNCH DAY

The day we were waiting for finally arrived: Launch Day. We woke up and went to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, complete with the sights, sounds and experiences of the famous astronauts who first ventured into space. The Hall of Fame also has exhibits with a large collection of memorabilia and realistic astronaut training simulators. Brett got to pretend he was a pilot landing a shuttle. Chapel complimented him on his landing, but said she herself did not have such a smooth ride!

Later we travelled to SPACE VIEW PARK and it was there that we got a true taste of what launch day was all about. It was like some college sporting event! Tailgating, radios, people with lawn chairs camped out on top of their vehicles by the water for a glimpse of the shuttle heading up. It was an awesome mix of patriotism and civic pride. We were in awe and excited to be a part of the historic event. Like true tailgaters, we made our way to KFC and then back to Steve's house to wait for the launch. And just as scheduled, the shuttle went up at 2:28 exactly. We were all on the end of the dock, including Steve, and the smoke and fire were visible about 60 seconds before we actually heard the rumbling make its way across the water. It was a truly magical moment. In the words of Chapel Barker, "it was awesome." It is actually so hard to believe that people are belted in this huge rocket and within 8 minutes they are in orbit. But having seen it with my own eyes, I can truly say it is a miracle of science and a testament to the American spirit. It saddens me that this chapter in American History will end within the next year. I am honored that my family had an opportunity to witness history being made.

At the Hall of Fame:

Space View Park

Chapel developed a little crush on Alan Shepard after seeing him in a video.

Me enjoying the KFC.

Our view of the launch.

The NASA view!

Chapter 2: Kennedy Space Center

On Sunday of our trip to Titusville, we toured the Kennedy Space Center. The Center is closed on actual launch days so it was awesome to be there one day before the scheduled launch - there was a lot of excitement in the air, the shuttle was positioned on the launch pad, and people were milling about everywhere taking in all the history of the US Space Program. From an adult's perspective, it is amazing how much I had forgotten about space travel, astronauts, walking on the moon. All the big milestones. I think we learn all of this in elementary and middle school and then after that it is put on the back burner. So it was a nice refresher to relive the excitement of space travel with my kids. I felt like I was in 5th grade all over again. (As some or you may or may not know, I won the 5th grade speech contest with my topic of continuing space exploration after the Challenger disaster.)

Chapel and Eli's favorite parts included the rockets you could climb in. The Kennedy Space Center busses which took you from one point to another (they have never really been on a big bus) and the playground where Eli could climb in a very realistic shuttle slide and play astronaut. Eli has announced he is going to indeed be an astronaut when he grows up and I hope this trip helps with that future goal. Kids have so much potential, we just need to foster it. And Chapel, sweet little thing that she is, made friends with an alligator that swam over to us by the Astronaut Memorial. She named him Georgie. Conor and Jude also had a great time. They ran wild through the robot exhibit, Jude screamed on the buses while Conor quietly took everything in, and they, too, really loved the playground. And I think Brett's favorite part was me asking him question after question after question. I had a lot of questions! Stayed tuned for Chapter 3: Blastoff!

The babies in front of the rocket garden.

Dad and the kids with the "original seven".

Astronaut Memorial.

Georgie in the pond behind the astronaut memorial.

Me and the kids squeezed into one of the original capsules sent into orbit.

Playground time!

Kids posing.

Inside of a shuttle.

Eli checking out the shuttle scheduled to launch the next day as it sits on the launch pad.

Silly.

My sweet baby girl carried her little red pocket purse the entire day that contained her souvenir money!

Chapter One: The Lazy Redfish

We left last Saturday to head to Florida. Again. This is our third trip to Florida in one year. Last year we went to Disney after Thanksgiving, this summer we drove through the Keys and then this past weekend we went to watch the space shuttle Atlantis launch. One element of the drive down our family particularly enjoys is the Florida Welcome Center. It is there we usually make our first pit stop and it is by far the best Welcome Center I have ever visited. Not because it is exceptionally clean or offers a wide variety of visitor information (which it does) but because they give you real, 100% Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice. Delicious!

After the orange juice, our next stop was Titusville. This is where you stay to watch the shuttle launch. Titusville is a small town but it is big on civic pride, its nickname is Space City and it is situated near the Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral. At the last minute we canceled our hotel reservations and opted to rent a small "cottage" on the Indian River. Brett found the listing on line and we talked to the owner over the phone before we left. When we arrived at the The Lazy Redfish, the owner Steve was there to greet us. He was super nice, gave us the tour of his renovated 2 bedroom, 1 bath place and told us to make ourselves at home. The cottage really was cute, nicely furnished and had a great view of the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) and launch pad. Steve relayed that for previous launches he has rented the house to CNN so they could take photos. We were very excited to have our little home away from home with a front row seat to view the launch. The property also had a huge yard and was fenced in, making it very private. Great for the kids to run around and enjoy.

And Steve. Boy did the kids love him. He never actually left the whole time we were there. He stayed in a separate house on the property and was always busy washing the dock or doing yard work. Chapel and Eli followed him around. Took his picture. Asked him questions. It was funny. If a baby was messing with a book or climbing on furniture in the house Eli would say, "Steve is going to be mad if you break that, baby." And when Chapel and Eli would wake up they would immediately look out the bedroom window for Steve. And they would usually spot him - washing off the dock. He really was quite the host!

Our drive down was superb. The kids were perfect travel partners. The accommodations were unique and it was nice to have a place with so much room. We are a large family. And the house was near to all of our points of interest. Stay tuned for Chapter 2: Kennedy Space Center.

On the Birthday Party Circuit

We have been on the birthday party circuit since school started back. What's great about school being in session is that when a child's birthday rolls around, we get invited to some pretty fantastic parties. In the past few weeks we have had a party every weekend or so. It's great because it provides a planned activity, the kids have a chance to see their friends, and cake is always involved! God bless the parents who throw these parties because I know from experience there is a whole lotta work that goes in to each and every one. And I always appreciate the opportunity to fellowship with the other parents. 

Here are a few pictures of the kids at some recent bday parties. Chapel and Eli leave each one telling me what kind of party they want for their next big day!

Here we are at Jackie's party today. This party had a HUGE jump castle, a paint station, cool stickers, delicious cake, and great food for adults. 

Kirsty's party at the Children's Museum on Halloween Day. Chapel dressed as Dorothy for this one and took Bren with her. Eli was under the weather. Cool activities like decorating pumpkins, playing pass the pumpkins, and a costume parade. Did I mention there was also a chic-fil-a tray and great cake?

Love this picture of Eli at Coleman's birthday party. Another great backyard party with a very cool Spiderman jump castle, ride on trucks, swings and this great cake with moving action figures. 

And finally, here we are at Lily's party at READY SET JUMP which is exactly what it sounds like. It is an indoor jumping area (I am starting to notice a jump theme here) that also has huge slides and padded floors. A great party venue where kids can really get some exercise.