Riding in cars with boys......to space camp.

No, it's not a new Drew Barrymore movie.  It's what I've been doing this weekend, except I wasn't riding in the car, I was driving a carload of boys to Huntsville, Alabama to spend a weekend here:

Doing lots of things like this:

Almost losing my lunch on this:

So that one day Middle Boy may grow up to be this:

And fly in one of these:

Or maybe someone from the thumbs up group will design the next one of these:

Clearly, they are on their way in techno rocket design.....as witnessed by the rocket building class we had one evening.

Yes, they were paper rockets, but hey, even Wernher Von Braun had to start somewhere....and just maybe he started out with paper rockets as well.  Regardless, this was a highlight of the trip....not only were they fun to make, colorful to admire, but functional as well....when you add a little countdown and air pressure, we were able to launch our rockets. 

And not just any old launching....no, this was a NIGHT LAUNCH, on the campus of NASA, with real deal ROCKETS in the background!!

Of course it wasn't all fun and games.....we had to get back to more training again, in the event they do need us in space one day, it would be necessary to learn what it feels like to lift off....and go from 0-200 mph in less than a second.....so we did several rounds of this:

Look closely, yes, that would be my child hanging his head over the edge to make certain I could see how much he was enjoying his Astronaut Training Session:

See.  He's totally ready for a trip to space.

For three days we breathed, ate and trained at the Space and Rocket Center....right there on campus, with this sign posted outside our Habitat door for inspiration:

While on campus, we lived in mock Space Colonies (which may or may not be code word for teeny tiny cramped living quarters where you bunk with 7 other trainees)

Seriously, it wasn't bad at all, and the building was TOTALLY cool looking, inside and out.

And in case you are wondering, or if you ever get a chance to go to space, and you need to use the bathroom, here's what you need to look for:

And I'd do it all again for Middle Boy....he's my astronaut in training hero....it ain't easy making a white marshmallow suit look as good as he does!

There you have it, a weekend at Space Camp.  Sure, I'd love to go into more detail and give you the ins and outs of what NASA is up to, the missions being planned and prepped for, the high tech rocket science stuff that we were briefed on in our top secret meetings.....but alas, the space industry frowns on leaking their secrets, so you'll just have to be satisfied with this silly post which includes this last shot, taken when Middle Boy heard the news about Buzz Aldrin, one of his fellow NASA space buddies.....

one small step for man, one giant  fox trot for Dancing with the Stars.

The future of the Space Program is in good hands, trust me.