"Houston, We'll be back!"

Gregg had a conference in Houston so the boys and I tagged along with the goal of going to the Space Museum as both boys want to be astronauts when they grow up. We could not have had more fun! We left the museum after 6 hours only because we stranded Gregg for 3 1/2 hours and we were hungry but truthfully did not want to leave. The enthusiasm of both biys was astonishing! There was an incredible play area with rockets balls, guns, slides etc but they would play and then ran out to displays. Nolan begged to see more movies (educational on space travel etc) and moon rocks. I could not get Nathan out of the model space lab and all day he told me "Mommy..... I am an astronaut!" The interesting thing was that Nolan was into all the test driving and touch. Nathan was into investigating and the building centers. I beleive it was Grandpa Pierre who once said, "Nathan will build the space ships Nolan flies one day" These words rang true all day. But I do hope Nathan goes to space someday too if he wants. Speaking of which, the president has charged NASA with a trip to the moon by 2020 and Mars by 2030. They had all the 5-12 year olds raise their hands and said that they would be on the Mars expedition. So, how long is that? Well 6 months to travel there (today's technology) and then an 18 month stay until the planets realign, and 6 months back! Nolan said he wasn't sure he could eat dry food that long!:) So who goes? To fly the shuttle you have to have been a test pilot. To be an astronaut, a masters or phd in anything but probably geology or agriculture. They can't fly two years of food to Mars, they have to grow it and so let's go aggies! NASA receives 2000 applications q2-3 years, interviews 150 and takes 19 or 20! On a lighter note, I tipped the scales at 300+ on Neptune! We had astronaut ice cream on the way home, Nolan thought maybe two years would be okay. Hopefully Nathan will make a faster shuttle:) Go Ales boys!