Mission to Mars

No, I haven't had any out of this world experiences lately, but my son and his family came close on Monday when they got be be live and in person at Cape Canaveral for the launch of  MAVEN, a Mission to Mars. This was especially exciting for them because for the last few years my son has been a part of a team of rocket scientists at an astrophysics lab at the University of Colorado that built instruments that went aboard the spacecraft. After years of work and a few pre-launch work trips to Cape Canaveral being there for the launch was as good as it gets for my son and his family.

They got to Florida a few days before the launch to be a part of the pre-launch excitement and to soak up some space lore.

A day spent at the Kennedy Space Center got everyone even more excited for a real live launch.

Anna manning a Space Shuttle.

Anna and Wil soaking up some space culture.

Maven on the launch pad the night before launch day.

Wil got a little "spacey" as they were waiting for the bus to the launch site.

Up, up and away,

or as my son said "and that is how you do that".

Yes, I am a proud mama, but mostly I am glad about this dream-come-true experience for a boy who grew up with his eyes on the skies.

Rob at the Space Center in Houston in 1977.

No, he wasn't always that serious and, no, he doesn't still wear his pants that high.

The Older I Get......

The sure fact is that as long as we hang around each of us is getting older every day. I don't recall that I gave a lot of thought to getting older when I was young. Now that I am, well, older, there are a few  things I'm sure my younger self would have never given any thought to but that I find my older self thinking about the older I get.....

Image from Google Images

The older I get.....the less I like to shave my legs.

The older I get.....the more I'm sure there are a lot of things that I'll never be really grown up about.

The older I get.....the more I would like to have and am afraid of having a little "work" done on my face.

The older I get.....the more I wish I had done a better job of keeping up with people I was good friends with in the past.

The older I get.....the more I need to exercise and the less I like to exercise (or I guess these days you have to say work out).

The older I get.....the faster time goes. I know that is a cliche, but it is so, so true.

The older I get.....the less I like the word "retirement". I'm all in favor of not having to go to work anymore, but no so good with calling my self "retired".

The older I get.....the more I wonder what I would look like if I quit coloring my hair...and how I would do that without spending many months looking like a skunk.

The older I get.....the more I realize that being older doesn't necessarily mean being wiser.

The older I get.....the more I wonder how my grandchildren will remember me.

The older I get.....the harder it is to know if certain clothes are "appropriate" for "someone my age" to wear. Okay, I don't worry too much about that, but I do think about it and am pretty much done with sleeveless. (and I can hardly even mention swimsuits)

The older I get.....the older everyone else is getting right along with me and I am grateful for that.

What do you find your older self thinking about that your younger self would never have thought of.?

A Few Catch-up Pictures 'Cause I Don't Have Much Else....

Life has been pretty quiet lately, a good thing to me from most perspectives but not when it comes to blog topics. That leaves me with one of my favorite topics and the main reason for my blog, family activities, and a few catch-up pictures.

Some of my grandkids started out their Halloween night at my house with our traditional Jack-O-Lantern Pizza and some trick-or-treating. The wind was so cold that night that even this motley crew didn't want to stay out for very long.

Of course I had to look back at a Halloween picture from when I first started my blog. The little baby duck in this picture is now in kindergarten (far right above) and the scare crow (in the center above) was a few years from being born. .....and how did cute little Dorothy turn into a pre-teen Vampira so fast?

I went to my other kindergarten-age granddaughter's school party. I didn't get a good picture of Anna, but I did get one of her zombie brother, Wil,

who was a cute little Buzz Lightyear just a short time ago.

At a family get-together this weekend Anna and EJ took turns burying each other in the leaves.

Beck didn't want to get buried.....he just threw the leaves at anyone who tried to take his picture.

     I recently got a sweet surprise in the mail from my blog friend  Granny Annie at Fools Rush In. She has picked several blog friends that she is sending a surprise gift to at some time throughout the year. She lives in Oklahoma which is where I grew up so this little charm was a thoughtful and perfect gift. 

And finally, all of the Halloween candy is gone, thank goodness. It went to a local dentist's office where they contribute so much per pound to local schools and send the candy to the armed forces overseas. 

I'm kind of wishing I had kept a couple of the Snickers bars.