Space Center

Friday's field trip to the Huntsville Space and Rocket Center was great. All the kids loved it. My philosophy for the day was "if it looks cool, try it". So I went on the G-force (spins you around and you stick to the wall). Once was enough. I went on the "Mars Experience" rollercoaster simulation. That was fun. Then there was the "Martian" rock wall.

I'm fat. I'm not supposed to be able to climb a rock wall. But you know what? I weighed less than their weight limit, so I thought hey, why not try and see if I can do it.

I got halfway up the rock wall before my arms and legs said "ok, that's enough. We're done." I then proceeded to jump down on my safety line. I should have put more thought into the getting down part. Apparently I was higher than I thought. I *should* have made little tiny hops to rappel down the wall. Instead I tried to take it all in one go. When the line sensor finally decided to tighten, I crashed sideways into a wall. One of the "rock" hand/foot holds dug into my hip. I continued in my downward trajectory and landed oh-not-so delicately on my fat ass. hehe.

I was pretty proud of myself for attempting it though. And I have a clementine-orange-size bruise on my hip now. Not too different from summers when I capsize in a canoe on my favorite camping trip.

We were at the center from about 9:45am till 4:30pm. We had lunch at noon, and an IMAX movie at 3:00. Lunch was.... weird. I swear I thought I knew all the colors edible ground meat could be, and still be good. I'm sure they called it a hamburger, but I'm sure it was too grey to be ground beef. Maybe turkey and soy. Didn't make us sleepy though. Copious amounts of ketchup, mustard, and a layer of Lay's potato chips made it better. The boy next to me decided to "invent" two new foods: the Oreo and meat burger, as well as a tasty dessert of the Potato chip Oreo. He said the latter tasted better. I decided not to try oreo on the bun with said mystery meat.

We had dinner at Cici's pizza in Huntsville. Thirty six kids, 12 adults invaded the restaurant. Soon as pizza was wolfed down, 36 kids invaded their game room there.

We got back about 10:30, 10:45pm. I was sooooo tired. I couldn't sleep right on the bus, and was too self conscious about snoring.

All in all a great trip. It was awesome to see the kids working together and learning.

Well, when they weren't begging to go on rides that made adults want to throw up, that is.