Docked at the Station

This image features the Atlantis' cabin and forward cargo bay and a section of the International Space Station while the two spacecraft remain docked, photographed during the STS-132 mission's first spacewalk. Image Credit: NASA

SAFE AT HOME: A link to this photo, titled "Docked at the Station" was in my inbox this a.m. I couldn't help but make the analogy that we, too, are now "docked at the station," having returned home from our Florida trip to see the last launch of Atlantis.

Before 6 this morning, CJ was lamenting the fact that he was not in Florida, and declared his intention to live there when he's older. He intends to live and work at the Nickelodeon resort, and is trying to figure out how he can get away with playing on the waterslides while he's on duty. Annabelle reminded him that a wet uniform would be a dead giveaway that he'd been goofing off.

CeeJ and Bee, under the "mushroom" waterfall in the Nickelodeon pool adjacent to the mega waterslides

SUPER TROUPERS: The kids' body clocks were both still on Space Coast time, so we were all up and at it before 6 this a.m.

Bee had ballet, and during her class CJ and I took Kirby on a brisk and FRIGID 45-minute walk. OK, so it wasn't freezing out, technically, but after getting used to sunny 80-90 degree weather, cloudy, windy, drizzling and 50-ish degrees was downright chilly.

Of course, Kirby was happy for the outing, as she's been a week without our regular jaunts. And CJ just plugs along without complaint because that's what he and Annabelle do. Which reminds me, I need to give them Major Props for what stalwart travelers they were on our Florida trip.

The travel to and from (basically a day on airplanes or in airports each way) was brutal. The launch day was absolutely thrilling for a couple of minutes, but grueling for 98 percent of the day. And even Disney World is demanding - the place is the size of Boston (no lie), and it was 90 degrees and to capitalize on the time and money spent there, you have to plan the work and work the plan,and boy did we.

Despite all this, never once did they complain about the grind. They just happily plugged along - unlike so many of their contemporaries. I was absolutely dumbfounded by the number and percentage of kids their age and older who were being pushed around Disney World in strollers - and in many cases, a single large kid in a double stroller. It's DISNEY WORLD for CHRISSAKES. If you're a kid and aren't motivated to walk yourself around the MAGIC KINGDOM under your own power, then maybe you should just stay in the hotel room watching cable or playing video games. Egad. (And don't even get me started on the number of adults riding mobility scooters whose handicap was laziness ...)

One thing I took away from the vacation is that it underscored my belief that getting the kids outside and active a significant part of each day is as important as any seat work they do.

RECONNECTING: This afternoon, I reminded the kids that although we're home from our trip, the astronauts we saw blast off in Atlantis are still up there in orbit. That seemed to take CeeJ & Bee a bit by surprise.

We played catch-up regarding what the crew of Atlantis has been up.

I started by showing the kids some NASA video from launch day. The first was a video of the astronauts boarding the shuttle a couple hours before launch. Having been to Kennedy Space Center and climbed into Gemini and Apollo space capsules, CeeJ and Bee both had a better appreciation for the close quarters and lack of creature comforts in the space bound cockpit.

Next, we viewed a one minute video of Commander Ham conversing with Mission Control right before liftoff. It was interesting, insightful and even a bit poignant. We also checked out the oh-so-exciting "Go" protocol, where all the Powers that Be give their final go ahead for launch.

Though we have our own "home movie" we watched the official video of the Atlantis launching and Mission Control's play-by-play. It's the same "script" we heard as we watched in person, but it's neat to see the replay and relive what we were hearing and feeling, this time with a MUCH closer vantage point.

We also viewed a tribute to the shuttle Atlantis, which is flying its last mission after 25 years of service.

PRESERVING MEMORIES: For the next several days, the kids' writing and arts and crafts "school" work will be working on a scrapbook of our momentous field trip. Today, we designed the cover.