To [insert excessively large, yet finite number] And Beyond!

I didn't get around to posting about this last week, but better late than never!

Last weekend was the ever elusive "Salute to Brevard" event at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. This awesome food drive event grants Brevard County residents free admission to Kennedy Space Center, which is a fantastic deal considering normally priced tickets are somewhere around $60 for non-residents these days. Cherry and I went to it many years ago, but because it is so quietly advertised, we've missed it for the last several years.

Thanks to Tarang, however, we heard about it this year, and so, we wasted no time in taking Fifi on her first trip to the Space Center!


 Helpful note for parents with small children: We had initially planned on bringing her new wagon to pull her around in, but apparently, wagons are considered a tripping hazard by NASA and thus prohibitied at Kennedy Space Center. So keep the wagon at home and bring the stroller instead.

No wagon? No problem! I'll just walk!

To be honest, I still can't get over the exorbitantly high price of regular admission at KSC. The visitor's complex is woefully small and there really aren't that many attractions. There is the KSC tour, which we opted to not go on this time around to reduce the amount of walking Fifi would have to do. New since our last trip is a live Star Trek show and mini-exhibition center:

Captain Fifi!

There was also the new Shuttle Launch Experience simulator ride, which is a cool concept but wasn't quite up to snuff, in my opinion.

In front of the Space Shuttle Explorer

For this particular trip, the main attraction turned out to be the Rocket Garden. It gave Fifi plenty of space to run around in and provided some pretty good photo ops!

Experimenting with star-ring the sun

In a Mercury (I think) capsule!

Giant Fifi!

Rawr!

Catwalk

At a price of FREE, however, I can't complain about a nice, relaxing trip like this!

The Lian Family Astronauts!

Safety First

We had a pretty scary episode yesterday. It arguably started when Fifi's pediatrician appointment was inexplicably moved from 8:30 in the morning to 10:30 in the morning. We'd driven all the way to the doctor's office when we were frustrated with that bit of news (the doctor's office is about 20 minutes away from the house). So, we decided we would come back later. I headed to the office and Cherry and Fifi headed back home.

By the time Fifi was fed and happy, I guess 10:00 had rolled around, and Cherry got hungry so she started to warm up some soup on the stove when she realized what time it was. In her rush to get Fifi ready, she rushed out the door without eating, but also without turning the stove off!

After Fifi got her multiple shots and hemoglobin test (poor Fifi!), I headed back to the office again, and Cherry and Fifi back home again. Shortly later, I got a phone call from Cherry telling me to come back home and that there was smoke in the house!

I told Cherry to call 911 and rushed home, and by the time I got there, there were three fire engines and a few police officers at the house already. Fortunately, no fire had blazed, and the only real loss that we incurred was to the pot that the soup was simmering in. The firefighters were able to get most of the smoke out, but the house is still pretty smoky.

We're still trying to get the smoke odor out by airing out the house and cleaning, but we are really lucky to have gotten away this time with fairly minimal impact. We're considering this a lesson learned to always consider safety first, no matter the rush!

Happy First Birthday Sofia!

One year ago today, a very special person arrived - Our very own bundle of joy, Fifi!

Some photos from her birthday party last weekend:

Sweets!

Kenzie personally delivering gifts

Kenzie checking out some of the loot

Reading a card

Trying on a hat

Where's Kitty?

A classic!

Some of the guests

More guests

Taking a ride in her new foldable wagon!

Saying bye bye to Grandma and Aunt

Happy Birthday Fifi! Tiger you!

The History Center

This post is a little late, but better late than never!

Each month, on the first full weekend of the month, Bank of America members can take advantage of their "Museums on Us" program, which grants free admission to all cardholders at a number of cultural attractions all over the country. Last year, we were took the opportunity to visit the Miami Science Museum using this program. Since then, we've been kind of busy and most of our travels have involved nature walks with the occasional multi-month excursion to China!

A few weeks ago, on the first weekend of October, we decided to use this benefit once again. This time, the destination was the Orange County Regional History Center, located in Downtown Orlando. This rather mundanely named attraction is actually a relatively large history museum that focuses on the history of central Florida from prehistoric times all the way up to approximately the mid 70s (significant of course due to the arrival of one Walt Disney World!


The main (and somewhat ugly) gate of the History Center



Actual sized Gator statues prowl the courtyards

The first several exhibits teach you about the geographical characteristics of Central Florida

Fifi wanted to touch all of the model artifacts from the Florida Cracker Home exhibit, which came after a couple of exhibits about the native Floridian and Seminole tribes history

Recipes for Cracker Cuisine

That fake orange from the Citrus Industry exhibit looks pretty tasty!

The History Center actually used to be a (the?) real courthouse of Orange County (which was once called Mosquito County in the 19th century!

Florida has a rich history in Aviation...

...And of course, space travel, as Cape Canaveral is the home to the Kennedy Space Center and numerous launch facilities. Here, Fifi examines the controls inside a model of an early space capsule!

No history museum in the southern US would be complete without some exhibits about the KKK...

... but the advent of Walt Disney World certainly represents a brighter age!

This is an awesome book - I should find a copy of it!

Postcards statue

It was certainly not a shabby way to spend an afternoon, and all at a cost of just the parking spot in downtown Orlando!

We now leave you with an image of true love:

Until next time!

Fifi Walks!

I didn't get a chance to post this last week - Fifi started walking on September 28, 2011, approximately 11 months and one week old!



We're in trouble now... it was pretty hard to keep up with her crawling!