Trip With Daddy

Eli got to do something this last weekend that will hopefully be long-lasting memory for him: he got to travel to Florida with only Daddy to see the final shuttle launch. For the last nine-ish months, Eli has been a bit obsessed with shuttles and all things surrounding them. He has a few shuttle/space program/shuttle program books that he's basically memorized, he drew shuttles at school almost every day, and he even made his own book at home with his drawings and writings about the process a shuttle goes through when it lifts off.

When the date for the final shuttle launch was released, Lehr and I looked at our calendars to see what could be done. A trip for all four of us would be difficult due to plane ticket prices and my weekend 'job', but a trip for two was do-able. The only catch was a scrubbed mission, which happens often. The good news was that the launch was scheduled for Friday, so if it was scrubbed, there would be at least one more opportunity over the weekend. And in the event it was scrubbed for the whole weekend, at least Eli would be able to see the shuttle on the launch pad, and he'd be able to tour Kennedy Space Center (basically Disney World for NASA).

We kept it a surprise from Eli until the last second, packing his backpack on the sly and using the pretense of a 'date night' with Daddy for me to get him downtown to meet Lehr. Once inside Lehr's car, on the way to the airport, Lehr broke the news. He was ecstatic.

I wasn't there, so the rest is just from the stories I've heard from Lehr and Eli. They stayed with Nana all weekend, they surfed, they hung out with family, and they got more than their fill of the shuttle. I know it was by far the coolest thing Eli has ever done.

The morning of the launch they all rose early to go 'get a seat'. Eli is very fortunate to have a grandmother who works for NASA, so in addition to all of the cool paraphernalia she's given him over the last few missions, this time around she got him special viewing passes. Lehr and Eli were able to sit as close as humanly possible to the shuttle (3 miles away). They were seated right next to the big clock that you see on TV. The area around them was mostly made up of press...unbelievable. And this launch estimated one million tourists; they shut down a few causeways so people could just stand and watch. Yet the area Lehr and Eli were in had plenty of space to walk around, sit comfortably, and be very UN-crowded. Special privileges......

After a minor delay, the shuttle took off and Eli cheered like crazy. He still tells me about the look, the sounds, and the events of that morning. It left a definite mark in his memory. There was some surfing later that day. As Eli tells it, he did a really cool trick on Russell's board. I do know he actually stood up on the wave, but beyond that, I'm thinking it was all just chance.

Saturday found the boys at Kennedy Space Center. Lehr said it was a good test for a possible upcoming Disney trip because it was SO crowded and SO hot and SO long lines. And Eli did great. Lehr said he waited patiently and didn't whine or complain. That really does not shock me because I know how into it he all was. So even waiting in line, he could look at and talk about all shuttle things around him.

Before the boys flew out on Sunday they woke up early for the beach. It was close to empty except for them. Lehr really misses the beach and seeing his boy out there, enjoying it with a board the way he always did was pretty cool.

Maddux missed them like crazy. Seriously. Even more than Daddy, she missed Eli. When I told her (around the same time Lehr was telling Eli), she said, "I'm sad...I'll miss Eli." And she must have asked 4 or 5 times each day for us to call them and see what they were doing , or what they were eating for breakfast. They did have one conversation on Saturday. So sweet.