Vacation 2010 - Day 1

Well, today was a travel day with a little fun! We got up and finished packing up the car and headed south! We played 20 questions and the children finally figured out that we were heading to the US Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. We had a SUPER visit! Sorry for all the pictures, but this is my only Scrapbook for the trip! :)

We are ready to go in for an adventure!

Funny that the boys all have on their Lego Star Wars shirts!

Appropriate!

Saturn V

Experiencing how it would feel near a rocket blasting off!

Moon rover.

Makes me think of a song! When I was a kid and sent on vacation with friends to Navarre Beach, FL - we always went to the Holiday Inn down the street to get ice cream at the little Yellow Submarine shop in the Holidome. Fun memories!

Space Shot
What does a rocket launch really feel like? Three, two, one, liftoff!
Rocket 140ft straight up in 2.5 seconds.
4 G's of force on launch!
2 - 3 seconds of weightlessness out of your seat then a 1 G free fall!
You must be 54 inches tall to ride.
You should not ride this ride if you have any neck or back problems, heart conditions, motion sickness, pregnancy or any other major medical conditions.

John before he goes up!

John as he comes down - can you tell he is a little pale?

Daddy and Shelby getting ready to go!

Coming back down!

Jack and Michael rode a mini Space Shot!

Michael almost cried, but figured out that he was ok. It was fun, but they didn't want to do it again!

G-Force Accelerator
Experience three times the force of gravity as you spin like crazy in the G-Force Accelerator!
Experience 3 G's pushing on your body!
As the speed increases you will actually rise up in your seat.
You must be 48in tall to ride the G-Force Accelerator.
You should not ride this simulator if you have heart problems, inner ear problems, asthma, seizures, pregnancy, back or neck pain, claustrophobia, motion sickness, detached retina or any other major medical condition

Shelby, Grant and John rode on this. The last time I did this ride when I was about Shelby's age, I had to head to the trash can as soon as I got off the ride! Ugh! I can barely ride the carousel at the zoo with Michael! :(

This crazy artist is using spray paint to make some cool art. He "performs" to music and setting fire to his painting is part of the show sometimes! Look closely!

I have to tell you how we got to do this stop so economically! A couple of months ago some friends told me about GROUPON - they send you a daily e-mail with a deal that is usually 50%. Right after I signed up I got an e-mail with an offer for a year membership to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville for 50% off! WOW! My kids, John and Uncle Dave had been to the Science Center once a couple of years ago, so this would be a special thing for my kids! After I jumped on the deal I thought about the opportunity that most of these deals have to use them are other like facilities all over the county. Guess what ... with our 50% membership to the Nashville Adventure Science Center , we got in the US Space & Rocket Center for FREE!!!! Awesome deal! You ride all the rides for free - everything is included except the traveling exhibits. (Next month starts the STAR WARS traveling exhibit and after that is the Narnia exhibit! We might have to go back for one of those!)

As we were leaving, we exited the side of the museum by an older version of John's favorite plane!

After our stop at the center we drove about 3 hours to Montgomery, AL to spend the night. Thankfully John has frequent travel points to stay in a Homewood Suite, so all six of us can be in one suite. We ate dinner and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

Fun way to start our vacation!