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After recovering from the self-inflicted late night, we headed to Johnson Space Center. It was just down the street from our hotel.

The plan was to spend the whole day there. That’s what we did. We pretty much saw and did everything we could.

A few highlights:

Mission Status Center

This started with the Blast-Off Theatre and then moved into an impressive array of screens, monitors and live feeds. The guide in this area was very knowledgeable about what exactly was going on with NASA, like, right then. Since there were astronauts actually in space when we were there, it was especially interesting. She talked in certain terms about returning to space and the upcoming goals and timelines for NASA expeditions. It was fascinating.

Historic Mission Control Center

This was the mission control center that was used from 1964 until 1998. The Apollo missions, including the Apollo 7 and 13, and several Shuttle missions were all controlled here.

Saturn V Complex

This is particular building held the Saturn V rocket used in many of the Apollo missions. Huge is an understatement. The rocket itself was nearly as long as a football field. Toward the top you can walk in-between the last booster stage. It was amazingly complex for being so old.

Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

This particular facility was a 15 minute charter bus trip away. It’s as close as the astronauts get to the extended weightlessness of space. It’s a pool that’s 202 feet wide, 102 feet across and 40 feet deep. I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t get down closer and see inside. You can see the viewing area on the other side of the pool from this Wikipedia panorama shot.

Here’s the other pictures I took.

We planned to spend the whole day at Seaworld and that’s what we did. Everything about Seaworld was great. It exceeded my expectations.

We got there early and they let us in anyway. Since it was a weekday before spring break, it wasn’t very crowded. The weather was really nice, too. Overcast and temperatures in the 70s.

We visited the dolphin pool first thing. Rebecca was over-the-top giddy/excited. Rachel even (briefly) overcame her irrational animals-are-gross complex and touched one. (Baby steps, baby steps.)

Caleb liked the Texas Splashdown ride and the “giant octopus” (in the shark exhibit).

The Shamu show was so cool we watched it twice.

I was a little surprised that Seaworld had a lot of amusement park rides. That wasn’t what I had pictured in my mind. Everything was way better than Worlds of Fun, that’s for sure.

Anyway, here are the 200+ pictures from Seaworld.

We ate a so-so meal at TGI-Friday’s on the way back to the hotel. What is it with TGI Friday’s wait staff? Ours was completely annoying. This is our second such experience there.

We flew out of Kansas City on a 9:00 pm Southwest flight to Dallas. Yeah, I know it was late flight. Hey, it was cheaper. The challenge with the plan was 1) we couldn’t take the DART to the motel since it was so late and 2) the hotel didn’t have shuttle service to and from the airport. There was only one other option: take a cab.

The flight in was not that great — the taking off was fine, but the descent to Dallas Love Field was a killer on everyone’s ears. Much worse than I had experienced on any other flight that I could remember.

We got off the plane trying to get our ears working again. We picked up our luggage with no problem and headed out to the pickup area. It wasn’t long before a minivan taxi pulled up. Perfect. We get in the car and tell him we want to go the Red Roof Inn. He mumbles something that I couldn’t understand and takes off. I’m glad it was late because he was all over the road. I knew where the hotel was in relation to the airport. It seemed like he didn’t even know where he was going. I quizzed him a about the location at the Red Roof Inn. He snapped at me, saying something like “You doubt?” We made it there fine. Whew.

Our room was nice except for the musty smell.

Took my son to Monster Jam at the Sprint Center on Saturday. You can check out the pictures here.

My dad used to take me to things like this at the Kansas Coliseum when I was a kid. I always enjoyed it. Darryl Starbird’s Rod & Custom Show was always a big deal. When I wasn’t playing with Lego, I was out in the sandbox with my Stompers making tracks. The cool cars, big trucks, tractor pulls and the monster truck races were bigger than life.

I think my expectations were a little higher than they should have been. On the way home from the event I felt about the same as I did after watching The Empire Strikes Back again a couple of years ago. It was so awesome as a kid, but as an adult, I’m like, “Wow, this isn’t as good as I remember it being.”

So here’s what I did like about Monster Jam at the Sprint Center:

The Sprint Center is stinkin’ cool. Being able to see the outside from the inside is pretty amazing. We could see that was going on pretty well from the nose-bleed section. Every seat had a cup holder and was pretty comfortable. Didn’t seem too cramped at all. The scoreboard and the marquee around the arena was pretty spectacular and bright. The parking wasn’t a problem at at all. We paid $10 bucks for event parking and only had to walk a block.

So here’s what I didn’t like about Monster Jam at the Sprint Center:

The event itself, well, sucked. Here’s why:

• They took my favorite pocket knife at the front gate. They gave me the chance to take it back to the car, but I didn’t want to do it for the sake of my son. Like I’m going to storm the cockpit of the arena. I’ve been to several events at the Target Center in Minneapolis and the Xcel Energy Center in Minneapolis all post 9/11 and not once have they not allowed small pocket knives. Stupid terrorists who ruined it for us all.
• The arena was too small to really race the trucks. The races were like 20 yards over three cars. What kind of race is that? A wheelie contest?? Hmmpph.
• The drivers were too passive (with the exception of the Avenger driver) and not daring at all.
• The announcer/emcee guy didn’t know what he was doing at certain points in the show.
• The quad races were obviously staged and ho-hum.
• The freestyle motocross riders were also ho-hum. I’ve seen much better stuff on the X-Games on TV on Sunday afternoons.
• There was no surprise. I hoped that Grave Digger would make an appearance and do something crazy, but no. At the end, I’m saying to myself, “That’s it?”

So, in conclusion, it was fun to get out and do something with my son, but it was pretty obvious to me that monster truck racing has gone the way of WWF wrestling — much better in the good old days. Take me back to Bigfoot and Snake Bite thank you. The Sprint Center was cool, and I’m looking forward to seeing a real event there some day — a basketball game or something.

Made a quick trip over lunch last week to visit Grandpa. Had some stuff from Mom to drop off — some old tractor-feed computer paper (my Grandpa makes notepads) and some homemade Christmas ornaments (for the nice Christmas tree that my aunt bought for him — which he didn’t really want).

I wasn’t planning on staying but he seemed interested in fixing me lunch. I obliged.

He started off explaining me the difference between hobos and tramps. Hobos were the good ones. They work for food and contribute it to the community pot of food over the fire at the tent. The tramps, well, they steal and aren’t good neighbors. Hobos are basically good. His story continued with lots of interesting details as he fixed my “hobo stew” lunch.

I was a little uneasy when he set the bowl in front of me. I recognized most of the ingredients. I ate it like a good grandson should. It wasn’t very easy on my stomach or my taste buds. About halfway through my bowl Grandpa said something like “now that you’ve gotten through some of your stew, here’s what’s in it: cream of mushroom soup, shredded roast beef, mixed vegetables, diced French fries and…crumbled up pancakes.” Yes, pancakes. I used my buttered toast and a big glass of milk as a buffer between bites after that.

I was mostly done with my stew by the time Grandpa sat down with his bowl.

Grandpa started off with a mini-rant about Nancy Pelosi.  I don’t really remember what the context was or even the point, I just thought to my self, cool, Grandpa’s raking on Nancy Pelosi. Anyway, I digress…

He talked about how his life hasn’t been anything spectacular, but good because of the situations the Lord has put him in various points in his life.   Stories of God’s compassion and hidden agendas to help people that really needed it.   For my Grandpa, God’s plan is an exciting, daily mission to discover and execute with flexibility — blessing people and finding fulfillment along the way.

Something about what he was saying — about being ordinary and in the middle of God’s plan — resonated with me.  I felt a connection.  I’ve always viewed myself as pretty ordinary — nothing spectacular or amazingly skilled.  I do find fulfillment in making things easier for people, which is a trait (I now see) that Grandpa has been exhibiting his whole life.

I’ve heard a lot of stories from Grandpa in my lifetime.  Some of them I dismissed in my head with a “yeah, right, Grandpa.”  All kinds of stories set during World War II in France, the chaos surrounding the flood of 1951 in Argentine, KS, and chance encounters with various people of intrigue, etc.  I think the stories last week are my new favorites.

I have to restrain myself when I observe people (like this blogger) talking about someone else’s or treating their own children as an unwelcome burden. These days children are treated like noisy little pets, neglected, or spoiled so much that they’re controlling the whole family. It’s obvious (at least to me) which parents don’t care about their children. Attitudes like those in the above blog post make it worse. Those attitudes are passed along one way or another. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

My family is more important than my career and my entertainment. I honestly can’t remember feeling the need to escape from my children. That being said, I certainly could do less of “my thing” and spend more quality time with my children.

One of the best decisions my wife and I have ever made was for her to stay home with our kids. It wasn’t easy and there were times we didn’t know what the heck we were doing. Ultimately there were no good reasons to let anyone else raise our children.

I don’t buy a lot of excuses that people make about parenthood.

What is it really?

Not enough money in the bank? Career not in the right place? Kids scare you? Dirty diapers not for you? Like your 8 hours of sleep every night? Cramps your style too much? Kids are way too gross? Feel inadequate?

Here’s my 10 reasons why why you should have kids:

1. You get to choose what values you pass along to your children.
   Don’t like that your parents forced you to eat brussel sprouts? Here’s your chance.
2. Kids are fun and it only gets better as they get older
   Yes, my son did say: “Superman wears a cape with Velcro on it so that when he goes the bathroom he doesn’t get poop on it.”
3. Children bring joy into your life that you can’t measure.
   The first cry. The first steps. The first words. The first “I love you, dad”, etc. Good times…no, really good times.
4. It is very satisfying when they understand something you’ve been trying to teach them.
   It’s priceless when they do or say something that you taught them without any prompting — especially in front of someone who’s not part of your family.
5. Responsibility brings maturity
   Life takes on a new seriousness when you are responsible for children.
6. You’ll never have enough money or be totally prepared
   Stop kidding yourself.
7. Your parents love grandchildren.
   Why not nip those questions in the bud?
8. Your kids may just be interested in something you’re doing or something you know…
   And be convinced that you know everything there is to know about it.
9. At some point, your children will actually help you.
   Personally, I’m looking forward to my son being old enough to mow the yard.
10. Your parents did.
    Nuclear families are what makes society work.

Have anything to add, Faithful Reader?