Monday 16 July 2012

Camp KSC and Cocoa Beach

Today marks the 1st official day of space camp for Laurel. (Yesterday was Orientation and Registration) As most of you know she was raising money for her trip because she received a scholarship for an essay she wrote. She sold a few paintings & received a few donations via her fb fundraising page...and she finally got there! When we checked in for Space Camp - they directed us to the US Astronaut Hall of Fame (which happens to be across the street from the American Police Hall of Fame). As part of registration, we were able to tour the Hall of Fame for free. I think this was wonderful - because it really got Laurel excited about Space Camp. Here we wandered through memorials and tributes and exhibits about space exploration and science and history! By the time we left, Laurel was bursting at the seams with excitement and she said she just couldn't wait for Monday!

We managed to get a hotel room with a combination of using our frequent flyer miles and some of the cash she raised. The best part is... we managed to get an oceanfront resort for cheaper... yes, cheaper... than a dive. So this week we are staying at the International Palms Resort & Conference CenterIt's oh so nice to literally walk out your door and be on the sand in less than 3 minutes! We checked in late and headed straight for the surf - jeans, long pants - everything! The water was surprisingly warm, so much so that Ella didn't even protest when we put our toes in. Towards the end of the evening though, the surf/tide starts to pick up. No sand castles for us! We made it a point last night to set our alarms this morning so we could watch the sun rise as dawn breaks. Unfortunately, there was so much cloud cover on the horizon, we could only see the colors of the sky overhead... not quite the sun... but it was a beautiful sight nonetheless. 


After picking Laurel up from Space Camp today - well, let's just say it was non stop chatter. She made rockets, participated in the Mission Launch Experience. Her camp instructor, Bruno, came over to us and told us that he really loved having Laurel in his group (They were Team Enterprise). He said she was such an active participant with lots of questions and so much enthusiasm about what they were doing. Laurel was literally BEAMING! She brought home the paper rocket she made - apparently, they set off a bunch of rockets throughout the day - and a collectible coin. She also got her Mission Commander pin, since she was Mission Specialist 5 - here I found out that she got to mix chemicals to create combustion prior to launch... um, let's see, we're going to teach our 7 year old to become a rocket chemist... Is this a great idea? lol! In any event, I think it's safe to say that for the first day of camp, Laurel was definitely busy. They wore her out (see image) and she's just way too excited for tomorrow!


 

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