Space Center

Last week we got to visit the Space Center for the first time.  It was closed to the public except for homeschool families.  We enjoyed it very much.  Definitely educational.  The only thing we didn't get to do was take the 90 minute tram ride that went to where they were actually working, and we've heard it's really neat to see so we'll definitely go back to check that out sometime.  The kids had fun, and Jaxon was a little champ.  He does really well on outings, and I'm so thankful for that!  Since we're so used to living in Houston now, I was reminded how awesome it is to be here because things like this are in our own backyard.  So many cool opportunities for us as a family to experience.

A few of our photo ops.  Of course every picture couldn't be a serious one :)

Just some of the cool stuff we saw.  The bottom right pic was our souvenir- space ice cream and strawberries (freeze dried).  Pretty yummy!

This was a presentation from the inside of a mock space shuttle to see how astronauts live in space.  She showed us the toilet and bathroom area and how they used them (top left), the kitchen and how they ate their food (top right), and how they slept (bottom right).  It was a really cool little presentation.

Some fun stuff. There was this station that showed the weight conversion of what you would weigh on the different planets.  Top left Addison would weigh 232 lbs on Mars and bottom right Cadence would weigh 115 lbs on Jupiter.  Some of the planets they would weigh way less than what their normal weight was.  The germophobe germ-cautious mother in me was trying not to freak out when Cadence put on that helmet...And of course Addison will find any kind of trivia or facts out there- he loves that stuff!

They had a massive play place (like so big you couldn't see them inside of it so they had monitors to watch from) that of course the kids loved romping around in.  

 Some samples of the suits they had all around.

 

What is not pictured is a session we went to with a retired astronaut (now a Southwest Airlines pilot) who talked about his time in space and had video footage of his trips there.  We got a signed picture from him at the end. He let all the kids ask him questions about being in space and his stories were really cool.  We also saw a short film about training to go into space in this imax type theater that had the largest movie screen in Texas, or so they said.  Like five stories high or something. I believe it- that thing was huge.  It was a great day indeed!  

Peace out from the Pate house.

Brothers.

As we were looking through our pictures of Addison as a baby, we have found a striking resemblance to Jaxon.  Of course there are differences I can see, and I know he will be his own little person, but take a look at these pictures- there's no denying they were cut from the same mold!!

They are both around four to five weeks old in this one.  This is the closest I could find to Jaxon making the expression Addison is making.  I have seen that exact face, though!

This is the one that's just killing me- same hands up sleep position and everything!

My sweet, handsome boys.  Just a little visual entertainment for you today.  That's all. Peace out from the Pate house.