Launch Day!

We woke up at 1am, loaded Isaac into the car, and drove an hour from Orlando to Kennedy Space Center.

We drove past the Astronaut Hall of Fame and the Visitor Complex, both of which had lawns packed with launch enthusiasts. 

I must give props to my awesome husband who was able to get us the pass for the Causeway because of his work connections. It was very cool to be waved through at two different checkpoints where crowds of onlookers were gathered.

One of the neatest things we experienced was being stopped on the road to wait for the passing of the astronauts' van (Astrovan) as they headed to the Shuttle. That's when Isaac woke up! (I wasn't fast enough to get a pic.)

In planning for this event, I assumed Isaac would sleep from the time we arrived until we woke him up for the actual launch.

But he and his friend Sophia were up the entire night! Thankfully my friend Kristie brought her DVD player!

We waited from our arrival at 2am until launch at 6:21am. Several times a single dolphin and then a group of dolphins swam past us along the Causeway.

This is a lousy picture of Discovery waiting to launch. We were 7 miles away and it was about the size of a quarter on the horizon.

Launch was just minutes away with no predicted difficulties. Just before the launch we got to see the Space Station pass. It was in view as a little dot of light for three minutes as it zoomed across the sky.  Discovery was launching to rendezvous with it.

And we have liftoff! Check out the reflection on the water.

My pictures of course do NOT do it justice.

All that driving, getting up in the dark of night, and waiting was worth it for this moment.  Those of you who have known Adel even for a little bit know that he rarely looks this excited.  I LOVE this moment between my boys.

Seconds later, Discovery was but a fading spot of light.

Soon all that was left as the sun came up was a beautiful cloud of smoke. I thought it looked just like a Chinese dragon.

The backup of cars getting off the Causeway was awful so we waited until it started moving.  At this point, Isaac was losing it. Poor thing had been up all night.

The drive that had taken us one hour in the dark of night took us three hours to get home in the morning.  It was awful. This is what the Space Center looks like in the daytime. 

Mother and child both sacked out in the car though and experienced very little of the torturous ride home!  THANK YOU Daddy for getting us back safely!

I'm pretty sure I would never recommend driving for four days straight to anyone, but the shared moment between father and son was priceless.  It was also such a joy for me to get to experience this with Adel.  He has given up a lot of his interests and passions for the sake of our family.  He sold his convertible, works super hard to provide for us, and hasn't played golf in years.  I am so glad I finally had the chance, after all these years, to support him in something that he is excited about.  He is a wonderful father and husband.  We love you Adel!