And Away She Goes

AN OPENING AND AN ENDING: Shuttle Atlantis as scheduled for an 11:20-something ET departure this morning, which meant 8:20-something for we Left-Coasters. Knowing the drill, I knew that meant that much of the Really Important Stuff (tanking, astronauts getting suited up and heading in the Astrovan to the launch pad) would happen while I slumbered.

When we went to bed last night, just after 11, things were looking dismal. There was only a 30 percent chance for launch based on predicted inclement weather near the launchpad.

I was up at 5 a.m. and I immediately fired up the computer to see if it was a scrub. Much to my delight, the launch had NOT been scrubbed. In fact, a couple of the astronauts were already in Atlantis, raring to go.

Twitter was the best way to keep up on the latest, and by 7:30 PacCoast time, suddenly the weather gods smiled down on Atlantis and lo and behold she got a GREEN for launch weather wise. Since the launch team wasn't working any issues, this meant all systems were go for the launch. Woohoo!The launch was picture perfect and historic.Image: NASA.gov

And I'm happy to report, part of MPA was in the mix of things on this historic day! A friend delivered the space shuttle cookies we made here at MPA to our NASA/space shuttle engineer friend to take to the control room today. And in return, he invited her to attend the launch as his guest!!! And so, my friend and our cookies had one helluva day! She was kind enough to send me updates - and photos - all along the adventure. For instance, she sent me a photo of the cookie and the man who does the umbilical connections for space shuttles. Wowie! And she gave a shuttle cookie to Fred, the NASA barber who has cut all the astronauts' hair, dating back to the Gemini and Apollo missions. Wow, talk about history!

She sent me a photo of our shuttle sitting on some shuttle related hardware from past launch pad activites! And my favorite photo from her was of one of our shuttle cookies sitting on a control room panel this morning, watching over this morning's actvities. WOW! How fun for our kitchen to be included on such a historic day in U.S. Space Program history!

Launch Fever

Image: NASA

EYES ON LC 39A: Not sure what was on your computer screen most of the day, but on mine I had six live feeds from the Space Coast. Three were cameras trained (at different angles) on Atlantis on the launch pad, two were NASA audio and video communications channels and the last was a live weather map (boo, weather! the launch might be scrubbed because of it).

That's right, we're officially launch bonkers this - the final - go round.

In other browser windows, I was checking NASA-related Twitter feeds for the latest (these were the best source of up to the minute news), as well as checking Facebook for updates, monitoring STS-135 launch group, and the updates of Facebook friends on the ground in FLA.

One of my friends - the space shuttle cookie delivery specialist - was kind enough to send me more photos today of the mini shuttles' voyage to the mothership. First, the shuttle enjoyed being nestled in a basket lunch at Kennedy Space Center.Then, my friend took the mini shuttle on a tour out to near the launchpad so that it could get close to the Real Deal (you can see the shadowy outline of Atlantis in the distance).Nice!

FACE TIME: This morning I remembered that (gasp!) we hadn't uploaded the kids' mugshots to the STS-135 mission page, so their images could travel into low earth orbit on this final mission. We had to fix that, pronto! So, I had the kids take photos of one another, and then they each opened and edited (cropped, corrected color, etc.) their own portraits.
The next step was uploading them to the NASA site. They each did that on their own (with a bit of prompting from me) successfully... So now they're ready for liftoff!

CUSTOM SHUTTLES: I thought the kids would enjoy making their own space shuttles, so I drew them a template and they each cut out two (a top and bottom). They used the shuttle models we have as inspirations for their design. and we used paper towel rolls in the middle for the shuttle's body, to give it shape.PAID TO PLAY: We got a call a couple of days ago inviting Annabelle to another Microsoft Playtest. Sure, sign us up!

So, we headed to Redmond today and did our thing, which I can't tell you anything about due to Serious Legal Documents we signed before participating. I will say that I encourage anyone in the area to sign up to be a Playtest participant. The gratuities are generous and it's fun. Here's Bee strolling the MS campus, complimentary can of Coke in hand, following her workout. :)

Summertime ...

AND THE LIVIN'S EASY: We here at MPA had a rather lovely July 6th. This morning we got cRaZy and broke out the math books! Followed by (are you sitting down?!) some grammar worksheets. Pretty wild, no?

I was happy to see the kids got right back into the groove of things and had only a couple of minor errors apiece.

In the early afternoon, we had the pleasure of going over to another Magnolian's home for a swim session. These are people we met almost a year ago at a local park. Their daughter is super smart and spirited, about a year younger than Annabelle. They have a lovely inground pool. On our way to their house we passed the public parks and rec pool. It looked like a U2 concert. Seriously hundreds of people in line for a square foot in the not so big pool.

Annabelle splashed around like a dolphin. CJ did a grasp-the-side lap around the pool and then proceeded to ask if it was time to leave yet. Over and over. Believe you me, we had QUITE a conversation about how flippin' rude it is to be invited somewhere and then to ask loudly and repeatedly, "Can we go home?"

It won't happen again.

FREEWHEELIN'!: Annabelle and CJ were sooooooooooooo excited to receive their new scooters today.And what sweet rides they are. With nice, wide wood decks and big wheels - they are cruising in style!THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: For the past few days, our eyes and minds have been on the goings on at the Space Coast. I couldn't help but cue this tune up to accompany breakfast, as the last clock is ticking away down in FLA> On July 4, four astronauts reported to Cape Canaveral for duty. They'll be on board Atlantis, for the final Space Shuttle mission ever.

We've been watching lots of NASA TV lately. Today, we tuned in to a documentary called "Launching Our Dreams: A Shuttle Retrospective." HIGHLY recommended viewing.
Meanwhile, the shuttle cookies we made were winging their way across the country today, from California to Florida. Here's a photo of one. I really think it should have had a first class seat, don't you? ;)

The Fifth

THE MORNING AFTER: Ah, yes, the Fifth of July. Never a day to look forward to. You probably stayed up way too late the night before, ate and drank too much, and the streets are littered with debris from the explosions.

Me, I've always thought that people should have the FIFTH of July off, not the Fourth. Work on the Fourth, get off, go home, enjoy the fireworks and then have the following day to sleep in and clean up.

We headed back over to Queen Anne hill first thing today to collect the car we left parked there on the Fourth (as part of our fireworks show placeholder plan). I was happy to see the neighborhood wasn't trashed from all the interlopers (us, and several hundred more) who showed up for the party yesterday.

LIONS ON THE PROWL: At around 11 a.m. we made a run to the SMuT (horrible acronym for the Seattle Municipal Tower) to turn in some paperwork regarding a building/remodeling permit. What a mistake THAT was.

I knew there was an international Lions Club convention in town. What I didn't know is that 12,000 of them would be parading the streets of Seattle today for whatever reason. The parade, the largest in Seattle history, according to KING news, seemed to stretch from north of Seattle Center, through the core of downtown and bordering on Belltown and Sodo. In other words, basically the whole city was friggin GRIDLOCK. What should have been about a 15 minute drive took nearly an hour. Grrrrrr. (Or should that be, "ROAR!!!"?)

Because of the traffic, I had time to snap a couple of photos along the way. Here's the Federal Building.We did finally arrive (thanks to lots of illegal turns, cutting through parking lots and alleys on my part). To save parking $$$ (outrageously expensive downtown), I stayed with the car while Christian and the kids headed to the permit office.WINGED WONDER: While Christian and I were working (and working and working and working) outside today, we saw a beautiful butterfly flutter by. I couldn't help but call out to the kids, "Hey, one of your butterflies came back!"

Backstory: In May of 2010, the kids grew a few Painted Lady butterflies from a kit. We released them in a state park, so they could enjoy their lives freely. I told the kids that the butterfly must have been flying over and recognized the house, so it came back for a visit. The kids kept a lookout for awhile, but "our" butterfly had moved on.Maybe it will be back another day. :)

EWE R BEAN WACHT: I absolutely cracked up upon seeing a blaze orange spray-painted warning on a 4x8 sheet of plywood outside Catharine Blaine K-8 school this afternoon. CJ wanted to know what was so funny. I pointed at the plywood and he cracked up.Apparently spray paint cans don't have spellcheck, har har. I told CJ that I thought it was especially ironic because the sign is outside a school, and asked him what kind of grade he thought the sign painted would get.

"An F-minus," he predicted.

WATERWORKS: It only took me about 13 minutes to run Annabelle to ballet and back today, but somewhere in that timeframe, poor CeeJ had one of Those Moments. In today's case, the Moment was CJ finally really realizing that every living thing eventually dies - including himself and everyone he knows and loves.

And so, from about, oh, 3:30 p.m. until right now (10:01 p.m.) there were many, many questions and many, MANY tears.

We talked about various stories of what happens after you die, ranging from the whole heaven/hell/judgment day thing many believe to reincarnation and lots of possibilities in between. By bedtime, both CJ AND Annabelle were rather inconsolable. We assured them that what they were thinking and feeling is totally normal and that all humans wrestle with those questions and feelings at some point.

Obviously, it's a conversation we'll continue to have.

Go Fourth

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO U.S.: We couldn't celebrate America's birthday without baking some cake, right?

So before 9 this morning we were sifting and mixing and measuring. I thought it would be fun to make some red, white and blue cupcakes. Enter the food coloring. ...
We baked 'em ... And then we frosted them and planted an Old Glory atop each of them. And shortly thereafter, CJ and Annabelle sampled them.
And our flag was still there :) Of course, there's more to the Fourth of July than food, right? And so, I asked the kids, why we celebrate the Fourth.

Annabelle's first response, "Because it's when America was discovered!?"

Um, no. :/

CJ ventured a guess, "Because it's America's birthday?"

Closer ... but there's more to the story. I told them that July 4 was the day the Declaration of Independence was signed, but that it was only a beginning to the formation of our free nation.

To help flesh out the facts we turned to the magic of the Internet.

First, we watched a really cool video introduced by Morgan Freeman - it's the Declaration of Independence read by a collection of popular actors. I think a fair amount of it didn't speak to the kids, but it certainly didn't hurt them to hear it.

After that, we hopped over to BrainPOP to watch their video about the Declaration of Independence. That helped.

This afternoon/evening, we entertained company - Rick and his friend - and had a feast.And a little after 8 this morning, Christian went and established "Camp Kisky," which we'd scouted out last night on the eastern bluff of Queen Anne Hill, overlooking Lake Union, where the fireworks show is launched. He put out lawn chairs in the street on a dead end in a spot he thought would be a good view.Our scouting paid off. About 30 minutes before the show, the barge that the fireworks are launched from moved into our direct line of vision. That meant we got the see the fireworks from launch point to explosion. So cool!

Happy Campers

CAMP CONCLUDES: We made our trek cross town this morning for the final day of yoga camp. We got there early, so the kids enjoyed 10 minutes of part time before getting down to 'work.' CJ begged me to ride the teeter totter with him. I happily obliged. When class concluded, I (at the teacher's request) took a group photo. All in all the kids had a really good time and the camp was well worth the money and effort to attend.MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH: While the kids were at yoga, instead of hanging out in Columbia City, I came back home. I had a little project to finish. Namely, the cookies we started yesterday that will be heading to the firing room at the Rocket Ranch for the July 8 launch of Atlantis.

I really didn't have a plan for how I was going to decorate them. I just found a good photo of a shuttle on the pad and winged it from there.

What a fun project this was. I used the outline (black) and flood (white) approach for the bodies last night. Today, I did the drawing on them with edible ink markers.

EASY AFTERNOON: The kids had a grand ol' time this afternoon. First, they went over to Queen Anne with Rick, to a newish yogurt shop, Menchies. I'd never heard of the place before, but turns out it's part of a nationwide (plus Canada) company (their Web site is very slick). Customers pick the kind of soft serve yogurt they want, add the toppings they want and pay by the ounce. It got six thumbs up from the three siblings.

When the kids got home, their favorite babysitter, our across the street neighbor, stopped by and invited them to accompany her and her dog to the park. They were thrilled to do that, of course.

TAMALE: I think maybe tomorrow we'll actually break out the math books again - if we can find them.

SAY WHAT?:This afternoon CJ announced, "For my birthday I want a bench press. That way I could work on my abs."

?!?!?!?!

Thursday

BACK IN THE SADDLE: We were out and about relatively early again today in order to make day 4 of yoga camp some 40 minutes away. We made OK time, so we had a couple of minutes to kill, which meant the kids got to enjoy the great teeter totter at Lakewood Park once again.

EARLIER: Lately the kids have been reading themselves to sleep, which is great. I was happy to oblige this morning when CJ asked me for a book so he could read before he even got up. Books for 'breakfast' in bed? You betcha!
AFTERNOON ANTICS: I've posted a couple of windows on Craigslist that we bought but didn't use in our latest round of remodeling. One, a sweet Energy Star casement window, attracted the attention of %$#Lydia^%$## right away. (The characters denote unfamiliar symbols that accompanied her emails to me, including in her name. Usually these types of characters in an email are associated with the 'hot singles in your area!' or something along those lines types of spam. So I was a bit leery.

But Lydia kept writing and calling and I responded and so the plan was to meet at our place today. She said she had to wait until today, when her daughter could drive a truck, because she don't know how to drive a stickshift.

Having spoken to her I envisioned a tiny Chinese mother with a tiny Chinese daughter showing up to move a HUGE (5x5-foot) window. Lo and behold I was right. Fortunately, given my Spidey Senses, I had 'invited' Rick to our place to help load the window. Thank Gawd he could come. I won't recount the whole pick up craziness here, but suffice it to say it did take all four of us to load the window. All the while, CJ and Annabelle were charming the Chinese ladies by offering them flowers, inviting them into our house, etc.

The mother was immediately enamoured with CJ, saying how cute he was and she repeatedly told me how nice my children (yes, including Rick) were. :).

The best part was when the mom and her daughter were getting into their truck to leave, CJ asked me, "Are they part of our family?" The Chinese mother just melted at that, and so did I. Too funny.

BACK FROM THE DEAD: Today marked a day we'd been waiting and waiting and waiting for - we finally received a rubber belt that might - just might - bring our recently acquired and completely defective Famicom Disk System back from the dead.

At this point, most of America is wondering, "What is a Famicom Disk System (FDS)?"

Good question.

Well, FDS was released in February of 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer ("Famicom") console in Japan. The unit uses proprietary "floppy" disks. Though it was announced for the U.S. market, it was never released. Frankly, based on its reviews/performance, it's no wonder why. The system is/was notorious for it rubber drive belt going to tar. That's exactly what had happened in the one we bought.
So, we found tutorials on YouTube about how to replace it and ordered a small rubber belt.

It took CJ and Christian over an hour to follow the many steps to the procedure. But in the end ...
IT WORKED!! CJ was sooooooooo happy. We all were, actually.

OVERHEARD: "You're being so immature," CJ chastised Annabelle at one point today.

It made me chortle, hearing that statement coming from an 8-year-old. But I have to give CJ credit. He was calling a spade a spade at the moment he said it.

CUT IT OUT: Today we got a good start on the cookies we'll be sending to the control room at Cape Canaveral for the last launch shuttle launch.
RIGHTING A WRONG: Today, some generous benefactors (Hi Grandma & Grandpa) surprised CeeJ and Bee by sending $ for them to buy new scooters to replace the ones that were stolen from them earlier this week. Very nice! So now we're on the hunt for replacements - and you can be sure the new pair will be kept locked in the basement rather than parked along side the house in the alley.