NASA

So we got an early start and made our way to Kennedy Space Center to tour the facility where the first space flights and current space shuttle launches take place. Now I'm a veteran of JPL as we visit it at least once a year with the church school, so we were very surprised at how amazing and very organized KSC is. We began our day with watching the U.S. Air Force present their Honor Guard demonstration. I was very impressed, especially being the son of a career Air Force father, who retired a Senior Master Sergeant. A side note, he wanted me to go in to the Air Force to play in the AF band. I'm not sure how I would have fared, but it's fun to think about. We took a bus tour to the one of the best if not the best Space exhibits I have ever seen. All I can say is "Fascinating". It was well produced from the video content down to the simple touches as having an engineer from the '68 launch there to just answer random questions. The building is huge and filled with wondrous stuff including a piece of the moon that one could touch. We returned to the main entrance to make our way to the star trek experience. It was cute but not what I had expected after going several times to the Las Vegas experience. But the kids enjoyed it and I guess that means a lot.
A drive back to our rooms at the Hilton resort took little time even in rush our traffic. We packed up a small suitcase and took our troupe to the Disney Land wild Animal Park Lodge. Some of the rooms overlook the Savanna and as we experienced tonight, animals are just a stones throw away from our balconies. Giraffes, deer like animals, Zebras were just a few of the wild animals meandering about out side our rooms.

Wednesday in and on the water

Man, I thought I would have more time to actually write, but I guess I will just post pictures. We got up early and went to Boggy Creek to ride on a an actual air boat. You know the boat that has a big propeller on the back and you cruise through the wetlands like your a bird. Well, we all had a great time and no, Janene decided not to push me for the gators to feed on. hmmm lucky me. Afterward, we grabbed some lunch at Chevy's Mexican Restaurant. It's Orlando's version of a El Torito, at least that's my take. We then hit 4 different Sony outlet stores. That's the strange thing, in Socal, we have a starbucks on every corner, here there's a Sony outlet at every corner and finding a starbucks takes work. We returned and caught the girls up on some homework and I caught up on a little napping which I have been missing tremendously. We then caught back up with the Nations and headed out for some more outlet mall shopping. This time we crossed to the other side of the city to another mall for fun. After walking and talking, we finished off the evening with some of that CiCi's pizza. I know what your thinking, but for a buffet, not bad. So enjoy the pictures.

Tomorrow we are off to NASA in the morning and then we have booked a room at the Disney Wild animal park in the Resort where our room over looks the actual park and hopefully we can watch the animals in their natural state. I hope to catch you up then. I look forward to it you should too.

Today was spent mostly sleeping in and then sun bathing by the pool while the kids had lots of swim time. We got them cleaned up afterwards and sent them off to wonderworks where they spent the evening playing, eating and having fun. The wife and I went for more shopping at the outlet mall across the road and ended up having Caribbean food at Bahama Breeze where we enjoyed some very good fare. We met the kids back at the main entrance of the resort and I'm finally able to catch up on some blogging. Enjoy the pics of last night. Btw, change of plans, we are going to NASA on Thursday.

Tonight at Disney World

We hit the scene in full-effect, costumes and all. Since it's 3am here and we are just getting ready for bed, I'm going to post a pic and save what I want to say and post for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a sleep in, hit the big pool, and rest up from tonight. As well, we will be preparing to tour NASA and the Star Trek experience for Tuesday. More on that tomorrow.

Departure from LAX and Land in Orlando

Well, it's late by my watch, but it's early by the clock back home. Three hour jet lag is starting to kick in although we haven't been here very long. The main reason I blog these vacations are of course for my own amusement and for those who dare follow my adventures.

So today, we left pretty early by my standards: 5:30AM Starbucks was not open so we hit Tops Donuts. So for a treat, Anyssa got to enjoy a fresh from the glazier a raised donut. It melts in the mouth as you all know you donut lovers out there.

Anyway, I just going to post a few random pics from our arrival here. The weather is beautiful 78 degrees and the humidity is pleasant. We arrived about 4:30 and the rental car process was a 1 hour process that needs rethinking, but we made our way to Outback Steak house for a really filling and meaty dinner.

We finally got to our final destination and accommodations for the week here at the Hilton Grand Resort just minutes from Disney World. We're moved in and it feels like home now. Have to take this time to give a shout out to our good friends the DeNyse and Tim Nation for kicking down the sweet accommodations here at the Hilton Resorts. The gave us a pretty sweet room here for the week.