Kennedy Space Center

We "blasted off" our vacation with a trip out to Kennedy Space Center. It is located about an hour east of Orlando. After sleeping in due to our flight not getting in until after midnight, we journeyed out to the coast. We discovered Florida has at least one toll road ~ we also learned to carry change in the car. Three tolls both coming and going.....
Anyway, I was told to watch the waterways along the roadside for alligators and we weren't disappointed as we spotted two! I wasn't able to get any pictures as we were driving, but everyone was pretty excited!

We were greeted at the Space Center by this astronaut...

The NASA logo ~ great things have been discovered in this name. It was super windy on this day but the kids still look fantastic despite the weather!

This is the hangar where the space shuttles are prepared for launch. There is a crane that lifts the shuttle upright and mounts it on the launch rockets. It then travels to the launch pad on a giant platform called a crawler that moves at the rate of 1 mph.

Stage 3 of a Saturn rocket ~ the first successful rockets launched by the USA.

Anna, Rachel and Jay prepare for the return trip to earth

We even got to meet an astronaut!!

The NASA Rocket Garden at sunset

We had a fantastic visit to the Kennedy Space Center! We watched a lot of interesting and informative shows about the space program, ate freeze-dried astronaut food, saw the actual launch pad for the shuttle, viewed items that are being prepped for delivery to the International Space Station, and most importantly, learned how astronauts sleep and use the bathroom. Anna said "You put that tube where?!?!?"

Tang anyone?