Arlo Guthrie

This afternoon we went to an Arlo Guthrie concert. My husband bought the tickets for me for my birthday a few months ago. I've been looking forward to going ever since. So today the day finally came. The concert was wonderful. Sarah Lee and Johnny opened the concert. Then the other Guthrie kids came out on stage. Finally Arlo himself. Soon after the grandchildren started coming out. At one point all four Guthrie kids and seven Guthrie grandbabies were on stage. They did a lot of Woodie's music. Arlo recited "Mooses Come Walking" which is one of my favorite kid's books. The only songs that you expect to hear at an Arlo concert that they did were, "Comin' Into Los Angeles," "Riding on the City of New Orleans," and "This Land Is Your Land." Just about everything else was from Woody's history.

I loved the concert. I loved seeing all the kids on stage. Even the 2 year olds were singing. Wonderful birthday gift.

Winter Holiday of your Choice

Well, it seems it is that time of year again. People are busy shopping. Getting up at 4:00am to be the first in line for the sales. Knocking people out of the way to grab the last hot item on the shelf. Running over people in parking lots to get that last parking space. It gets so crazy. Now I like to give gifts to my family at the holidays just like everyone else. But I don't like all the craziness surrounding gift giving. I sat at my computer whenever I had free time and perused the Amazon.com website. Every time I saw something that I liked I would add it to my shopping list. When I finally had my list complete, I moved it all over to my shopping cart and pressed enter. Now I just have to wait for USPS and UPS to bring my orders. Then I can wrap my gifts and I'm all done. No stores, no shopping malls, no parking places, no overpriced gifts. I can relax and enjoy the holiday season.

I hope you all have a safe shopping season and can find the time to relax with family and friends instead of being so worried about the rush of the season.

Happy Winter Holiday of Your Choice,
Kathi

Etsy NJ is Having a Sale

My street team on Etsy is having a big sale from Wednesday next week through the following Monday to kick off the holiday shopping season. The different stores are offering different deals. Some are offering a % off of your purchase. Some are offering free shipping. Some are offering a free gift with purchase. And some are offering buy one get one half off. For a complete list of stores participating, go to:

http://etsynj.com/?p=959

I hope you find some great deals for your holiday shopping needs.

Kathi

Space Shuttle Launch

This is a picture of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad that we took on Wednesday, November 11. Atlantis left earth at 2:28 pm on Monday, November 16. It was carrying over 30,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. Among the cargo, were butterflies that will be monitored to see how the develop in space. Also there are hundreds of worms which are being studied to learn more on the effects of weightlessness on the loss of muscle tone in the astronauts. The shuttle is expected to dock with the International Space Station on Wednesday.


We did not take this picture. It is the Atlantis, seconds after liftoff at Kennedy Space Center.
This was our first view of the Atlantis. We were about 15 miles away from the launch site. It looked like a big firey mass in the sky. The flames were about four times as high as they were wide. And the smoke trail was about twenty times the length of the shuttle. This picture was taken about 5 seconds after liftoff.
The Atlantis contines to climb.
This was approximately 10 seconds into the launch.
The Atlantis goes in and out of clouds.
Here it is starting to arch towards the ocean.

The climb is leveling off a bit.

The solid rocket boosters have now been released and the shuttle is now soaring towards space.This was our last view of the shuttle as it disappears from site. What an awesome experience. As soon as the shuttle disappeared we jumped in our car to get to the airport on time for our late afternoon flight home. As we were driving, there were so many cars parked along side the highway watching the space shuttle. Restaurant parking lots were full, but no one was inside. Everyone was standing out front looking up toward the sky. For a few brief moments Titusville stood still as everyone was focused on just one thing. People were slowly returning to their cars as we drove past. What an awesome day it was.

International Space Station Center

We spent most of today at the International Space Station Center. This is where they do all the work preparing the parts they are sending up to the Space Station. This is a picture of the "clean room". Everyone who works in this room must wear sterile suits much like they wear in a hospital operating room. Today, there was no activity in the clean room. All the parts are already loaded on the Space Shuttle in preparation for tomorrow's launch. The crew had the day off.


There are various pictures of the Space Station around the building.



This is the laboratory room on the Space Station.
Among the displays in the lab are these plants. They are researching how weightlessness effects growing plants. The butterflies will probably have a section in this room as well.
This torture device is actually the bathroom. You will notice the footpedals that help to hold you on the toilet and the hose for men and women to use to urinate without it flying all over the room.
This is a shower.
Everything on the Space Station is very compact. This is an apartment for one. You will notice the sleeping bag hanging on the wall. The astronauts zip themselves into this so they don't float away during the night. The other side of the room has the tiny compartment for the astronauts to store their personal items. This is all the space they have for everything they need for the four to six months they will be living here.




















As we were leaving tonight we saw this astronaut outside the Space Center Store. We got there just in time to get this picture. He left a few minutes later.

Many things were closed down today or off limits. They are preparing for tomorrow's launch. We are really hoping to be able to catch a glimpse of the shuttle as it goes up. If there are no delays, we should be able to see it and still make it to the airport in time. But even a short delay will cause us to miss our flight. Let's hope there are no delays.

Today we went to the Brevard County Zoo. We saw all kinds of dangerous creatures. Like these two dinosaurs from days long past.
To alligators

Even an armadillo
A huge Rhino
I don't even remember what this guy was called. He looked like a cow from the back and an anteater from the front.
Another critter that I can't remember his name.

The giraffe was so friendly. He was eating right out of Dakota's hand.
And so, so many beautiful birds. There were several bald eagles in this enclosure.
This guy just stood there with his wings spread so we could see how beautiful he was.
The owl sat so still, at first I thought he was stuffed. But he was very much alive.

This one bite Dakota's finger.



The zoo was small, but it had four distinct areas to visit. Rainforest, Australia, Wild Florida, and Africa. I really liked the beautiful colored birds and the giraffe's. We had a great time exploring everything.

Tonight Dakota and Daddy are going to a Pink Floyd lazer light show at the planetarium. Ans mom is enjoying a night off. Tomorrow we will be going back to Kennedy Space Center for one last visit.

Another Day In Florida

We were back at Kennedy Space Center again on Wednesday. This time we went on a tour that took us out to where the space shuttle Atlantis is sitting on the launch pad waiting to lift off on Monday afternoon. This is a picture of the VAB, the Vehicle Assembly Building. This is where they ready the space shuttle for it's launch and lift it to an upright position.


This interesting looking thing is called the Crawler. This is the device that takes the space shuttle out to the launch pad. It is very gas efficient getting a whopping 42 feet per gallon of gas. It has a 5000 gallon tank. Anyone want to take this to the gas station for a fill-up.And this is the space shuttle Atlantis. It is already on the pad and ready for Monday's launch.We also went to the Saturn V Building. They have a real Saturn V shuttle hanging from the ceiling. One of the other things they have is this tiny piece of Moon Rock. Here we are all three touching the moon rock. I guess you could say we left earth for a minute and touched a piece of outer space.

Florida Vacation

So we are finally on a much needed vacation. We spent the day yesterday at Kennedy Space Center. We will probably spend most of the week there.

Dakota and Daddy with the original seven Mercury astronauts.
This is part of the rocket garden. There are models of each of the many kinds of rockets that were sent up in the past.

A mercury capsule.

Today we went on a two hour cruise to see dolphins, manatees, and various seabirds.Dakota at the head of the boat.These pictures are hard to see, but it is a mama dolphin and her baby. The little baby was only about 1 foot long. So tiny and so cute.This island is full of pelicans that migrate down from the Carolinas for the winter. No one knows why they all come here every year, but the trees were full of them. The white stuff on the trees is, you guessed it, pelican poop.

I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say as the week goes on. But tonight I'm tired and I'm going to bed. Tomorrow we will go out and see the next space shuttle on the launch pad ready to go up next Monday. I'll post pictures of it tomorrow.