Beautiful Blue Ball (Family Reunion Day Seven)

We finally spent a whole afternoon with the Eberts, after just saying "hi" in the parks, eating supper together, and seeing each other at reunion parties. We visited Kennedy Space Center to get new perspectives on both space and on earth, that "beautiful blue ball," as one of the astronauts described it.But first things first. We girded ourselves for the rigors of sightseeing with pretzels and mustard.We rode a bus to see the launch sites and the "loaders," which carry the shuttles, at 1 mph, to the launch site. The top picture shows a launch site. The bottom picture shows a loader in the foreground and the huge shuttle silo, tall as a 40 story building, in the background.We peered at a space suit, touched a moon rock, and appreciated the immensity and complexity of the equipment for the shuttles.




We also admired the patience, judgment, and sheer grit Steve and Camille showed in maneuvering their six children through the Space Center. "Does Ezra resent the new baby?" I asked Camille. "No, he seems fine with her," she replied. No wonder. Whenever Ezra wants to be babied, Camille picks him up and carries Ezra, as well as Mia!The Eberts lingered to see a rocket launch, with its plumes of smoke spiraling through the Florida sky. Dave and I arrived back at Orlando just in time to join the reunion crowd in celebrating the birthday of Ira, Josh and Jodi's six-year-old son. Josh made a cake. Josh also let us try some of the homemade cheese he learned to make while working as a physics professor in Wisconsin. We all hugged goodbye and agreed to reconvene, in the summer of 2011--probably at a beach resort on the Gulf Coast. Jeanine, who is in charge of the reunion in 2011, lives in Alabama.