Friday, May 28, 2010

Launches

(I apologize for the weird spacing of this post. Something went wrong and I don't know what). There have been 2 shuttle launches since we moved here...and there are only 2 left in the history of this space program. We watched this first one in early April (at 6:20am) from the beach at our condo. We had drinks & cinnamon rolls while we waited, then played on the beach until sunrise. It is one of my favorite times we've ever had as a family!





























The sonic boom left this shimmery spot of gasses


















And THIS was the aftermath of that entire launch - the exhaust & gasses paired with the rising sun made it an amazing glowing dragon head!














The kids playing at the waters edge awaiting the sunrise
















The last launch was 2 weeks ago at 2:20pm. We parked by the Indian River (along with half the population of this area) to watch the launch. It wasn't as spectacular as the early-morning launch, but it was cool to see!

Take-off from Kennedy Space Center

Sorry it's sideways
5 minutes after takeoff, it was halfway across the Atlantic!!! It's so crazy how fast it flies!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The homestead

So here you go - finally, pictures of our new place! Thanks for bearing with me and waiting for ages for this post. After this, I'll catch up on the last 2 months.
Our house and front yard! And riding mower #1...the kids love 'helping' in the trailer...this lasted one cut then we got our money back to get a 'real' machine...
My view to the backyard from the kitchen counter. Our property goes all the way to those huge trees way in the distance.
And this is the 'real' machine...a John Deere! A 90's classic, it still runs great.
We couldn't leave the hammock in a box for long! It's now a daily routine for Charlotte and me to have a swing in it.
Look at that little hiney! This has to happen almost every time he comes inside after playing.
Climbing the fence into the stable yard.
Our dining room, complete with friends Liam and Estella. We love these guys!
The 4 munchkins watching a move while the adults ate dinner
The newest addition to our family - Tiger Willy! This is right when we brought him home. He now loves sleeping under the mower, even though we bought him a cozy bed. We bought him to be an outdoor/barn cat, since there are mice & snakes around. He is already killing roaches, so he's on his way to being a master hunter :)
His first morning at our house right after church. Can you tell he's not starved for attention?
This was typical for the first 48 hours. Now, they could care less about each other.
Charlotte's first time fishing with Daddy in our pond...I snuck up on them to take this.
This lovely crane-type bird is here every morning from around 7-9:00 and we love watching him catch fish while we eat breakfast!
The stable and end of pond. We will be raising our chickens in there and building an enclosure on the attached grass for them to roam. Jonathan built the bench on the left for bonfire nights.
The other end of the pond and our street
Our immediate fenced-in backyard + storage shed. Taxi wants to be in the picture :)
Charlotte on our patio, posing next to the cilantro & basil corner (love how she coordinates her socks with her pj shorts?)
Our porch and some of our tomatoes, peppers & herbs
Where Charlotte and I spend almost every morning while TJ naps and where J and I spend almost every evening after the kids are in bed.