We Have Liftoff!!

Ok - it is taking me a month to write about this week-long vacation and from now on I vow to NOT chronicle every waking moment we spend on a trip!! After posting this last day, thank goodness I can move on!

This was the day we had been waiting for! Launch Day! We were packed and ready to leave Orlando for Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center bright and early. We had received special instructions from the KSC for Launch Day and had to arrive there by 11 am or we wouldn't be able to get in. We headed out around 8:30, just to make sure - and Terry and I were excited to get there!

After arriving, we hit the IMAX Theater first. It was awesome! It told all about the International Space Station and how the Space Shuttle services it. Very informative. Especially since I didn't know much about it at all.

Future Astronauts??

Then we went inside a retired Space Shuttle. It was really walk in and out - not much to see since most of the shuttle is a storage space for the things they transport to the ISS. Something else I didn't know. Kinda cool to go in one though.

We went to hear a "launch update" next,that lasted about 30 minutes and a guy explained all about the Space Shuttle - from putting it together, to getting it on the launch pad, to explaining the Space Shuttle program in general. Here I learned that in 2010 the Space Shuttle program will be discontinued. At that time, the ISS will be complete and they will no longer need the Shuttle to carry things to it. Another thing I knew nothing about.

Lunch was an ordeal. So many people, not too many places to eat, etc. It took awhile to wait through the line for food, but after sitting on the ground to eat, we went to the one and only ride there. It's called the Space Shuttle Launch Experience and the only ones to "brave" the ride were Terry and Avery. Anna and I tend to feel sick on motion rides, so we chose to sit out. Tanner wasn't quite tall enough. The outcome of the ride was good. Terry said it was supposed to simulate being an astronaut on the Shuttle and lifting off. They didn't go on and on about it, so I don't think it made the same impression as Splash Mountain.

It was getting closer to Launch time, and we were out of things to look at, so we hit the gift shop, then headed to the Rocket Garden where we would watch the launch. There was a jumbo tron set up there, where they had been showing things all day - the astronauts getting into their space suits and getting on the shuttle, former astronauts telling about what was going in the hours leading up to the launch, people checking out the shuttle for safety, etc.

In the Rocket Garden

We had to wait for 2 hours, with hundreds of people. We found a small patch of shade, were by a pond that had 2 alligators in it, and settled in. Thanks to the alligators, we were entertained and the time went by faster than we thought it would. The weather was GREAT, but hot. It was perfect for a launch but we were still keeping our fingers crossed that it wouldn't get cancelled. At the KSC, we were 6 miles away from the Launch Pad - which is the closest they will let civilians. We could not see the Shuttle on the launch pad, but they showed it on the jumbo tron.

Patiently waiting!

At 5:02, all systems were go and we were pumped!! Terry and I were, anyway. We watched the lift-off on the jumbo tron and about 5 seconds later we saw it!! Whoohooo! We watched it going higher and higher and then it turned away from us. We actually were about to see it and hear it for about a full minute. When it was out of sight, we watched in on the jumbo tron until the booster rockets fell away. AWESOME!

Whooohooo!

We thought the smoke was pretty cool!

It was incredible! I'm an emotional sort and it actually brought tears to my eyes (which surprised me!). The kids thought it was pretty neat, but I'm not sure they really understand now how cool this really was. Maybe when they're older they will.

This launch was the purpose of my 40th birthday trip and I am so glad we were able to experience it. It is something I will never forget. When we got back into the car to leave, I goofily made the kids tell me what they thought about the experience and I wrote it down. We had all thought about what the astronauts had been thinking and feeling during those moments. Terry and I thought about all that had to come together for the liftoff to take place and how cool it would be to go to space. It's amazing how God created the universe and all that is in it and it's humbling to think about how truly small we really are. I keep using this word - but it's so cool!

Getting stuck in traffic on the way out proved to be an adventure too. The ocean was on both sides of the road we were on and we were entertained, once again, by animals. Anna spotted a dolphin in the water, and the more we watched, there were many! Then I saw a stingray jump completely out of the water! What a way for the day to end.

God has blessed me with 40 great years. He's blessed me in great big ways, and millions of small ways. This trip has been a blessing and a blast. It will add to the memories I will always treasure.

Hangin' out in Orlando

I am becoming the Queen of loooonng blog posts. As I continue on to Day 5 of our trip, hopefully I can shorten them some.

On Friday of my birthday trip to Florida, we took a day off. It was a welcome break - for the grownups anyway - after going strong for 2 days at the theme parks. After sleeping late, we had breakfast then headed for the pool. The kids love to swim and although we had swam at night on this trip, this was the first time in daylight hours. We had the pool to ourselves (I guess everyone was at Disney World) which was nice. Especially since I've decided ,while on this trip, that I need to lose about 25 pounds!

After swimming, we set out for lunch, then hit the Jungle Golf putt-putt course (Which I'll have to say I dominated! I've never beaten Terry before so this was significant!) It was HOT, very HOT!, but luckily a Dairy Queen was nearby so we all had a Blizzard (ice cream makes everything better!). None of us particularly like to shop, but Target was next on the agenda because Terry had something he needed to swap. Terry and I hardly ever buy clothes, but we found some things we liked and had a little unplanned shopping spree!

A great dinner topped off the night. The kids shot some hoops with Anna's new Mickey Mouse basketball goal (yes, in the hotel room!), then to bed to get ready for the GRAND FINALE! The Space Shuttle Launch! We were still keeping our fingers crossed that it would happen.

This relaxing day has been nice for us. Something we think we should incorporate into every trip. It's really nice to GO, but it's great too to just kick back somewhere else besides home and enjoy each other. We head to the Kennedy Space Center first thing in the morning with car packed and bells on! This is what we came to see - the Launch - and we (Terry and I especially!)cannot wait!!

The Return to the Magic Kingdom

About 2 years ago, we made our first family trek to Disney World and had a blast! On this trip, since our main goal was to see the Shuttle Launch, we gave the kids a choice of one Disney park to revisit. Of course they chose the Magic Kingdom because of the RIDES!! On this trip, Tanner is now 5 1/2 and tall enough to ride ALL the rides there, so he was pretty pumped.

I may go down in the book of bad moms, but I only took 17 pictures while we were there! Can you believe that? I probably took a million the last time! This trip was pretty cool though because we knew what we wanted to do and what we didn't. The lines weren't bad either and luckily we didn't have to wait more than 30 minutes to ride any of the rides. Most of them we only waited 10 - 15 minutes. Yea!!

Right when we got there, we rode the train to the backside of the park to hit Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain first! Tanner wasn't scared at all and the girls cracked me up trying to see how much they could scream. Splash Mountain was next and was another first for Tanner. Terry and I got absolutely soaked - and the kids hardly had a drop on them. Just like Sea World, typical! They loved the suspense of the "drop" at the end, as well as the actual drop, and improved their scream techniques as we splashed into the "Briar Patch".

Tanner's 1st ride on Thunder Mountain

Tanner's 1st ride on Splash Mountain.

There were several "firsts" for Tanner on this trip - hence more pics of him - sorry girls!

The Buzz Lightyear ride is at the top of our "favorites" list and we kept riding it trying to up our laser-shooting scores. The kids rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride for the first time (it was being refurbished the last time we were there) and It's A Small World is always a favorite. I love Space Mountain and although Tanner was tall enough to ride this for the first time, he opted to wait until our next trip (After riding it again, I was very glad he made that decision!). The Monsters, Inc show was new at Disney and was pretty funny.

On the search for Zurg!

Avery's favorite of the day was Splash Mountain, Anna and Tanner's was Thunder Mountain, Terry's was Splash Mountain and mine was probably Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Our only disappointment was that the Goofy rollercoaster (Barnstormer)was not running, so we didn't get to ride it and it was one of our favorites on the last trip. Souvenirs: Avery- snow globe, Anna - key chain and a Mickey Mouse over-the-door basketball goal, Tanner - a Buzz Lightyear laser gun and a Star Wars car.

We had to get another castle picture!

A family picture to remember the day!

It was a super fun day, even though we didn't lay eyes on Mickey or Minnie this time. I hope they didn't miss us too much!

Sea World

Mickey Mouse waffles for breakfast at our hotel, then off to Sea World. I was pretty excited about going here. I knew there weren't many rides but I really dig a good animal show. Of course the kids wanted to hit the rides first, so Avery, Anna and I stood in line for the Journey to Atlantis ride. It's like a log ride, but better. Terry and Tanner had to wait (Tanner wasn't big enough) and we did the child swap thing so Terry could ride after us. Journey to Atlantis was really fun! Lots of unexpected drops. I got thouroughly soaked -- I mean all the way to my underwear! The girls hardly had a drop of water on them. Typical. Terry and Avery went and rode it and they barely got wet either. Oh well! We went to a whale and dolphin show, the Shamu Rocks show, a sea lion show and an awesome waterski show. Here are some pics of those:

The Whale and Dolphin Show

Sweaty, but happy!

Shamu Rocks Show -- we decided we would all like to be whale or dolphin trainers.

Huge Shamu!!

This is me (Tracey). They asked for an audience volunteer who wanted to try this! (Ha! I wish!)

When I turn 50 and start looking for a different direction in life, the above picture is what I want to do! Seriously! Mike, remember the days of trying stuff sort of like this, except on a kneeboard? Maybe 40 would be a good time to start it too......

The Kracken roller coaster is awesome at Sea World. I couldn't talk anyone into riding it with me, so I went by myself. It was worth it. Tanner's favorite ride of the day was the Shamu roller coaster. The girls actually thought it was one of the funnest too. But the shows ended up being at the top. The whale and dolphin show was unanimously the kids favorite. As for souvenirs, Avery got a snowglobe (collects them), Anna a keychain (collects them) and Tanner a Seaworld sword (doesn't collect them - thank goodness!).

It was a fun day and I think we would all highly recommend Sea World. It's not as "action-packed" as Disney, but is fun in a different way. Oh yeah, one more thing - none of us could figure out why almost everyone there had on a swimsuit??? We were so confused! I know you can do the thing where you go swim with the dolphins, but I wouldn't think THAT many people were planning on doing that! Maybe they were. If anyone has insight on that, fill me in please!

Orlando Bound!

The Goggans' family left Atlanta early Tuesday morning headed for Orlando! We were on a mission to see a Space Shuttle Launch on Saturday and we tacked on a few extra days of play. We finally rolled into Orlando that afternoon. The kids do so well in the car. For some reason we have been so blessed and one of those blessings is that our kids don't have to be entertained to do well on long driving trips. I don't know why they don't, that's just the way it's always been. We always take the laptop for them to watch movies on but they very rarely want to. Go figure!

After checking into the hotel, we decided to just mess around until time for dinner. After unpacking, we hit a big dilemma - Avery and Anna forgot their belts! HORRORS! Actually for Avery this IS a big horror because she insists on wearing a belt with EVERYTHING, and almost cuts herself in half with it because it's so tight. This has been going on for a couple of years now and I am still waiting for this "stage" to be over before I lose every hair on my head! This dilemma changed our plans slightly and we were on the lookout for a Walmart, Target, anything where we could find a belt. Luckily we found a Target and solved the problem fairly easily.

We had dinner at Pacino's, an Italian restaurant that had great bread that you dip in olive oil. Yummy! Then back to the hotel, watch a little Disney Channel and to bed. Big day at SeaWorld tomorrow - which none of us have ever been to. Should be fun!

First leg of trip!

My brother, Mike, poses with Avery, Anna and Tanner at his house in Atlanta. Details follow!

My birthday trip started on Monday - Memorial Day - with a trip to Atlanta. We went to visit my brother, Mike and my sister, Paige. Mike got the "honor", or curse, of putting us up for the night (ha) and the kids couldn't wait because he has some fun toys at his house!

Once in Atlanta, our first stop was at Paige's to see her new digs. She gave us a tour of her apartment, which is in the basement of one of her friend's house. Paige always makes her living spaces really cool and this was no exception. Even though this is a temporary place for her right now, it is very cozy and I always love seeing how she decorates with the art and pictures and fun things she's collected over the years from her travels.

We then took a side-trip to get ice cream - a quick trip to Target - then to Mike's, where he was anxiously awaiting our arrival!

After visiting for awhile, the kids were ready to play. My kids love to shoot pool (we have a "mini" table at our house) and we had several rousing games on Mike's pool table.

Then it was on to the next toy...................

The HOT TUB!!

After a few swan dives and cannonballs into the hot tub (jk), with a rubber duckie, no less, we moved on to PIZZA!

Then Birthday cupcakes from Paige (very thoughtful)! Chocolate! Yea!

MOVIE TIME was next!

Mike has a "theater room" in his house and we all had a blast watching National Treasure 2 on his big screen! Popcorn and a theater-style movie in the comfort of home was really cool! After the movie, it was time for bed, since we had a long drive to Orlando ahead the next day.

Look closely! We are not in a hotel, but yes, this is an elevator! Mike actually has an elevator in his house and the kids think this is the coolest thing! I actually enjoyed it too, since it saved me from climbing 3 flights of stairs! (I know - how lazy am I!) We hit the hay and then hit the road the next morning for the next leg of our trip!

Thanks Mike and Paige for the hospitality and the fun! When can we come back??

The Big 4-0!

It's not everyday you turn 40, but today is my day. Luckily, it has not bothered me at all to reach this milestone. Every day is a blessing and God has truly blessed me in my life so far. When I woke up this morning (at 10am - sleeping late was my first bday present!), I walked through the den and Tanner nonchalantly said, "Happy Birthday!" It made my day, right then. Tanner has such a sweet spirit and to be only 5 years old, he is really a thoughtful child. My day was spent shopping with Avery for clothes (for those of you that know me well, I DON'T like to shop), then we went to pick up Gran from the hospital (she's in there with a broken leg) to get her out of there for a few hours so she could come to our house to eat a birthday meal for me that my sweet husband cooked. (That was the longest sentence!)

While Avery and I were gone on our 'mission' to find her some shorts, Anna and Tanner had the best time of the day by playing in a tent Terry set up for them, and then the best part, playing in the rain. Oh, to be a kid again! Avery was so mad she missed it! Gran enjoyed the visit, the meal was excellent, and we even had CAKE! Triple decker chocolate! Terry was so sweet to cook for me and get me some nice gifts from him and the kids. The gift certificate for an hour long massage was like the icing on the cake! ha. The sweet words Gran wrote to me in a card were something I will treasure always and the blessing of being with my family made for a very special day. A great way to turn forty!

In 2 days we are leaving on an adventure to Florida that is my birthday present - Terry knows how much I like to "go"! We are headed down to hopefully see a Space Shuttle Launch from the Kennedy Space Center, and will check out Sea World and do an encore of the Magic Kingdom too. We're praying the launch doesn't get postponed, but even if it does, it'll be a fun trip. We're starting it off by making our first stop in Atlanta to spend the night with Uncle Mike and see Aunt Paige too. We'll keep you posted on the events of the trip! Keep your fingers crossed that the launch is a go! How cool it will be if we can see that!

Turning 40 is such a big deal we think we need a week to celebrate! (Although it's really just a good excuse to go on a trip!) We're always looking for a reason to go somewhere. It's such fun family time and also makes us appreciate home even more. The big 4-0 will be a good memory though. One filled with my awesome family!