We can say, "We were there."

Jacob & I really wanted to take the kids to see NASA launch the final shuttle. At first it seemed like a crazy pipe dream, but the more we talked about it the more it became a reality. With Jacob starting a new job his time off was limited, so the drive to Florida was going to be a marathon drive. The kids & I packed up the car, and when Jacob came home from work we set out. Luckily I had packed Jake a Rock Star, and that is all it took to enable him to drive until 5 am!! Bonus! I took over the rest of the drive, and we made it to Cape Canaveral with plenty of time to tour Kennedy Space Center & see the shuttle on the pad.
It was breathe taking to see the structures, and support that went into getting the shuttle ready for launch. The VAB (vehicle assembly building) is the largest one story building in the world!! It equals 3.75 Empire State buildings! We also got to take a look at the crawler (the machine that transports the shuttle from the VAB to the launch pad). This thing was massive!!! The top deck was the size of a baseball infield, and its top speed was 1.6km. I mean it was huge! We got to see the backside of the shuttle on the launch pad, so we saw the external tank & boosters peeking out. Exhausted, and hungry we headed to our hotel.
Next morning we set out hoping that they would launch. There was only a 30% chance that the mission would be a go. We were not as close as we would have liked to have been, but people staked those places out as early as 12 am. But we did get a great spot on a bridge. It was an awesome feeling to be surrounded by all the other people, waiting for this human achievement to blast off into space. The anticipation was palatable, and when NASA announced the mission was a "go" the excitement mounted. We all counted down, and then there was a small delay, and then it took off. I tried to take a picture, but I was so engrossed in watching that only 1 picture was taken. It was truly awe inspiring to see the blast of fire, and the shuttle hurtling through the sky.
I am not sure if the boys will remember all the details, but I will never forget that we made it to the last US shuttle launch. It was definitely a "Bucket List" moment, and I am so glad we took a chance and drove to Florida.

The VAB & crawler

Diagram of what we were seeing.

Picture of what the shuttle would have looked like from the front angle.

Ethan & Rhys got to leave a message for the Atlantis astronauts.

I wish this would have been a better picture, but sometimes in life actually watching an event takes precedence over documenting it. And this was definitely one of those times!