Florida 2018 - Kennedy Space Center

We started the day with breakfast in our room which we brought from Canada to save money on at least one of our meals each day.  Things get expensive when you have to add 30% to every price you see. Although our main destination this spring break was Disney World we added a few new destinations to our trip to Florida. The first was a trip to the Kennedy Space Center which was about an hour from our hotel so we needed to rent a car for our first couple days. The shuttle for the car rental place picked us up at the hotel and with the help of Google Maps we made it to the Space Center just as it was opening.

We hadn't originally planned on doing the Kennedy Space Center on our first day but Callie's friend from school got in at 2:30a and our plan to meet up with them at Universal Studios wasn't going to work. They asked if we could switch up our plans which worked out okay because we had the car for two days. The only hiccup was that our tickets to the Space Center didn't start until the following day. Apparently we weren't the only people with this problem and were able to use our tickets anyways.

We started our day with a tour of the rocket garden. Unlike SpaceX launches, rockets from the 60's were not reusable so rockets that actually flew in space are at the bottom of the Atlantic. The rockets in the garden however were mostly real rockets, that just never launched. After the tour we went to the Shuttle Atlantis building. This wasn't here the last time I was here and was constructed to house the real shuttle after it was decommissioned with the end of the shuttle program. At $100 million  the presentation was amazing with real shuttle hanging from the ceiling and other great displays.

The highlights included a shuttle launch simulator, life sized models of the Hubble Space Telescope as well as portions of the International Space Station. The space station exhibit was a bit frightening with a glass tube suspended about 50 feet above the ground that you had to crawl through. Kerry did not enter.

After the shuttle building we got in line for the bus tour to the launch pads. This was my only complaint about the whole day. They didn't seem to have enough buses running to keep the lines manageable.

The tour itself was great. We got to see the shuttle launch building where they assembled the shuttles as well as the launch site for SpaceX which recently launched a car into space. SpaceX decided to build their own building which doesn't surprise me since they are in this for the long run and renting space with other companies doesn't mesh with that. The tour also stopped at a building where you can get lunch and see the original Apollo rockets which are absolutely massive. There are only 3 left in the world that were originally planned for further moon launches and the presentation was great.

After lunch we got back on the bus and stopped by the gift shop before going to see an IMAX show. This was a good day to have the option to be inside. As we were walking to the gift shop, there was an announcement that we needed to get inside due to lightning. We slowly made our way there and after a few minutes of shopping realized why. Rain, wind, lightning and thunder had us trapped for about 45 minutes. We couldn't even go to another building while the storm was over us and there were apparently even tornado warnings. Other than the long lines and almost tornado, it was a great day.We even got to see several gators on our bus tour!

Florida 2018 - Getting There

Question - What time do you leave for the airport when your flight leaves at 6:30a? Answer - You leave at 11:00p the day before of course. I should clarify that we booked a flight out of Seattle to save money on airfare so it doesn't really make sense to then stay in a hotel the night before. Getting up at 2:00a just seemed like a disaster so that left leaving late the night before with the intention of having a bit of a nap in the airport and sleeping on the plane. We were the only car at the border when we crossed and our drive down was very quick. Carter and I slept while Kerry and Callie played various Disney tunes. We dropped our car off at a long term parking lot and took a shuttle to the airport where we arrived approximately 4 1/2 hours early for our flight. Our plan to sleep at the airport didn't work out well because they decided 2:00a was a good time to drill concrete and for some reason they play an incredibly loud announcement about the size of your carry-on every 5 minutes. Things got a bit better once we were able to check in and get through security.

The best thing about getting through security was we were able to find some older style seats without the stupid bars in between each seat so you could lay down. We had a 3 hour lay over at Chicago and finally arrived in Orlando around 8:00p despite some crazy weather. Our plane had to circle for about 30 minutes and it seems we were lucky to land at all. Callie has a friend that is coming to Orlando at the same time and their plane got diverted to Tampa. By the time they got into their hotel room and into bed it was 2:30a in the morning local time.

We got to our hotel room around 10:00p local time and were pleased to find that the dining area was still open. We were quite hungry though after ordering our food we realized we were not American portion hungry. We each got our own meal and in hindsight could probably have gotten away with 2 or 3 meals split between us. The food was excellent but a bit on the expensive side. Good value for the amount of food we did get.

Before I end explaining our first day I must mention our wonderful travel agent. Kerry did the initial booking but our other travel agent always calls into the hotel later to see if there is anything special they can do for us. In this case this meant asking from a room that was a bit closer to the pool. Due to construction at the hotel, the only option was a 4th floor 'preferred' room near the secondary pool and close to the front entrance. We're also close to the first bus stop so we should always get a seat on the bus. I highly recommend BK Travel.

Callie's New High School

This year Callie is in grade 7. That means that next year Callie will be in high school. I'm okay with it but I think it will drive Kerry mad. She's pretty much been within 100 ft of Callie her entire life with the exception of dance which is 4 blocks away. High school is only 2k but it might as well be another planet if you talk to Kerry.

In January we had an opportunity to go check out the high school Callie will be going to. Since Kerry is a grade 7 teacher she does this every year but it was the first time I've ever been. I had heard some bad things about North Surrey from work colleagues however I've discovered that was all old news.

The high school was rebuilt in the early 90's so anyone that had gone to North Surrey before that time had been in a rickety old wooden building. The new building was much more modern and way more than what I was expecting. There is a great art studio, wide open cafeteria, lot's of computer labs, two gyms, a band room and even a stage with seating. What impressed me the most however was the woodworking and machinery area. They've got an enormous wood shop and a separate machine shop as well as an automotive area with two car lifts. Apparently the school offers first year apprenticeships to several trades. As much as university has worked out for myself and Kerry it may not end up being the best direction for our kids. Hands on capabilities are disappearing and the trades may have the best job opportunities. Still a few more years left before they have to decide but it's good to know they will have options.

Sledding at Cypres

We don't get a lot of snow in Vancouver however we are only a 30 minute drive to the local ski hills so we try to go at least once per year. We attempted a trip last year but were a bit late getting on the road and the mountain was full by the time we got there. This year we were much more careful about understanding what time the mountain opened. The mountain wasn't technically full last year however there was no more parking up top which meant we would have had to shuttle up which is a bit of pain with smaller kids and your sleds.

Our annual tradition is to go with the Kilden's. Ryan isn't a big kid but I'm pretty amazed at how long he lasts walking up and down. This year he outlasted both Callie and Carter who got a bit bored and went to the snack shack early. (I was there too.) Next year I want to do tubing instead. I've never been and neither have the kids and I think if we bring some of their friends they will last a lot longer. The tube parks are great because they include a lift and the tubes are much more comfortable.

Gingerbread House Extravaganza 2017

We continued our on again, off again tradition of making gingerbread houses again this year. It's a fairly involved process to create all the parts and I refuse to purchase a kit so it seems we've been doing it every second year lately. This year the plan was for each of the kids to invite two friends. I make all of the parts using a form from Lee Valley. One year I think I'll try just doing parts by cutting them out because I think it's a lot easier. I like the form because the parts come out very consistently sized and are designed to fit together. They also have imprints of the doors, windows etc. so it's a bit easier to decorate.

The last time we had kids over we had their parents over as well which I think was a bit to hectic. We had to visit with the parents and the parents felt inclined to help put together the houses which was a bit of a disaster. It was much easier for the kids to decorate themselves and have me put them together. I don't have any specific trick other than using soup cans and lot's of icing. I made one at a work function this year and we only had teacups instead of soup cans. It worked but I think we left one of the cups in the house.

We did the party like a grown up party with appetizers and non alcoholic beverages. Callie and her friends are the first picture and Carter and his friends the second picture. Not a huge difference in overall house quality however Callie and her friends had a lot of fun decorating the yards. I think they made each house a theme from a book series they are reading. I have no idea which one so I don't quite understand them. Everyone had a lot of fun and I really enjoyed eating the roof off of Callie's which was solid peppermint chocolate wafers.

Carter's Field Trip to Britannia Mine

In early December Carter and I went on a field trip with his class to Britannia Mine. I came here two years ago with Callie and was lucky enough to be picked as one of the four parent volunteers for Carter's trip too. I'm quite impressed with what they've done with this historic site. BC isn't very old so we don't have a lot of interesting historic sights in comparison to places I've been in the US or eastern Canada. This mine closed in the mid 70's and sat empty for many years before being turned into a historic site and they did some major upgrades a few years ago.

We broken into groups and Carter's group was the first one to get to go on the mine train. The mine goes 1.5 km down but the mine train is at the top and goes just a short distance into the mountain. The train travels a few hundred meters and stops at a dead end where the guide shows you the various types of mining equipment including pick and shovel, various types of air tools and the first kinds of mechanized equipment. All very small scale compared to some of the equipment they show outside the mine including a mine truck and a much bigger mechanized shovel.

We finished off with a bit of gold mining. Apparently the mine seeds their mining area with about $25k of gold dust each year and gives you the opportunity to pan for gold. I'm glad they heat the water because it was only about 2 degrees and cold water would not have been fun. I've been gold panning a few times now so I knew what technique to use. I found a few flakes and then helped Carter with his. He managed to find four flakes, some pyrite and some other rare minerals. He was very excited. Gold Fever!

Christmas Tree Hunt

We had to get our tree in late November this year because I was going to Prince George for the first weekend of December. This meant heading to the Christmas Tree farm on the first day that it was open. We've been going to the Dogwood Christmas Tree Farm the past couple of years. It's quite scenic and they continually grow trees, planting new ones when old ones are cut down. This seems like the most environmentally friendly option since we don't even have to have our tree trucked in from out of town. Our favourite tree is the Noble Fir. It looks, smells and feels like a tree and the needles last a long time.

Last year we just grabbed one of the trees they have already cut down. They seem to know what they're doing and they're at the front of the lot. We still get the atmosphere of cutting our own tree without having to get on the ground. I had my shop pants and jacket on though and for some reason we decided we didn't like the trees they had cut down so after the tree guy brought out a saw for us I got in the dirt and started cutting. There wasn't a lot of room to so I was glad I wasn't wearing nice clothes. It was still pretty dry and they have lots of wood chips on the ground so it wasn't too messy. We got our tree down and got it all the way home before realizing it was crooked in about 3 directions. I think it was on a bit of a hill and seemed straighter before we cut it down. We still like it and it has since been named 'Noble' with a heavy French accent. (Noblaaay) I usually make something out of the trunk after Christmas. Perhaps a French woodworking tool of some kind.