Houston Dillons: STS 135--The final one

We love going to launches! The thing about trying to view launches is that it is a bit like Vegas. Sometimes you are lucky and things go as planned, and sometimes there are delays. Weather delays, mechanical delays, scheduling delays....We were fortunate enough to have a 100% success rate before heading to Florida for this last launch. When we landed and saw all the clouds and rain, we were concerned our lucky streak had come to an end. The forecast was grim--clouds and rain all week. We had planned to stay for a week in case such delays occurred.

The first launch attempt was set for Friday. Since the weather in Florida is usually miserably hot in July--and we knew we could be outside with no shade for hours waiting on launch--we were not planning on taking Mailee to the causeway. (she was going to stay with Gigi and Poppy and watch it from the beach) We had to be at the space center at 7am. Anticipating horrible traffic, we were up at 3:30 AM. Chance for weather to allow launch was 30%. However, the cloudy weather actually made it cooler, so we abandoned our original plan and decided to take Mailee with us.

It was disappointing being up so early when we thought there was no chance of a launch, but we charged forward and enjoyed the sights at Kennedy Space Center.

Self photo. Who knows what I was looking at.... ;)

Kaiden was loving the space shuttles. This is a mock up of the cargo bay.

He was having a blast!

And now their real smiles!

Here at rocket park he ran up to this capsule...

...climbed in...

....into the seat...

...and proceeded to count down... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, lift off!!!! (which greatly entertained the people standing around us)

Mailee enjoyed hanging with Auntie Deana. (and Mommy enjoyed the fact that Mailee could "hang" with someone else as the sling doesn't fit Daddy)

After exploring the visitors center, we boarded the bus to the causeway viewing site.

Pre-launch family photo.

Kaiden was excited when he saw this helicopter.

While we were waiting, we just chilled and enjoyed the "cool-er" weather. Kaiden was starting to get a bit grumpy, but was happy playing games on the iPhone. We were still not expecting to see a launch due to the heavy cloud cover.

To our surprise, we reached the end of the nine minute hold and everything--including weather--was a GO! We were so excited...

...and then equally as distraught when at 31 seconds there was a failure. Fortunately, it was just a failure of the sensor that indicates if the vent hood has been retracted. The easy fix: turn the cameras toward the nose cap to verify it had indeed been retracted. All was fixed in time and the count down continued! Definitely the most suspenseful count down we'd experienced!!!

And after all the suspense, it was an amazing shuttle launch (as they ALL are!) We were all sad to know that it would be the last one.

Post-launch cloud in the background.

Then we got to load back on the buses and wait. And wait. And wait. Mailee had a great time entertaining some people on the back of the bus...

...until she crashed. It was so hot on the bus. Hotter than outside. With no breeze. We got a text from our friend Ark saying he was back at the hotel and I wanted to cry. It was so hot. I was SO happy we'd brought along a battery powered fan! After about an hour of just sitting on the bus we finally started the trek back to KSC. YEA!!!

And now....the story of the epic diaper blow out.

There aren't many pictures. You will soon know why.

After waiting forever on the hot bus, we finally arrived back at KSC. We decided we wanted to grab a few things from the gift shop before tackling the traffic back to Cocoa Beach and our hotel. It was super crowded and not stroller friendly in the gift shop, so we piled all of our garb in a pile just outside of the gift shop right by the exit door. (hind sight = worst idea ever--no AC and lots of people) I went in with Deana, grabbed the things I wanted, handed them off to Deana and went back outside to hang with the kids and pile of stuff (strollers, chairs, bags, etc) while Lichar went back in to get remaining items and to stand in line.

Just let me interrupt this story to paint a little visual. I am sitting with both kids. We only had Kaiden's umbrella stroller (= no stroller for Mailee). Mailee was either in my arms or the sling strapped to the front of me. We also had two umbrella chairs, a blanket, a huge backpack (diaper bag) and Deana's one little bag.

Continue story...

We are chilling and everything is ok. Kaiden is tired, hot, and a little grouchy, but we are managing. I managed some small talk with this nice lady next to me; Kaiden was playing by the bushes behind me. Then I hear it.

"Mommmmmmy, I go pooooooppppy!" Nice. Let's see....I am no where near a restroom; WAY too much stuff to try and move to the restroom myself; even if I got to a restroom I'd have to strap Mailee in the sling, which would make it near impossible to reach Kaiden in order to change a diaper. Ok, maybe it was possible, but I couldn't imagine that happening without someone--or all three of us--covered in poo at the end of that story. Hmmmm, what to do now? Normally a poopy diaper isn't a big problem--but with no where to put Mailee I found myself in quite a pickle.

I pondered for a few seconds.....

"I can watch your things," says the nice lady next to me. That would have been perfect if only she could have kept Mailee too.

Ahhh, come on. No big deal. I'll just put Kaiden on the ground and change him here. Not the best, but no biggie. I can change diapers super quick. This will be easy.

I pull out the blanket, arrange it all nice and put Mailee down on the blanket. She is NOT happy. She starts off quietly complaining...and quickly escalates to a cry, and before long a nice scream. I ignore her and continue on my quest. I grab the changing pad, diaper and wipes--quicker now because I have BOTH hands free. Screaming gets a little louder. I tried to arrange Kaiden behind the bench...but no room. Oh well, so the whole world will be able to see his bare bum as they walk out of the gift shop. Get over it.

I pick up Kaiden to lay him on the changing pad. Wait, what's that moisture on my arm?!? Oh yeah, that's poo all over my arm. A quick inspection reveals poo ALL down his legs. Dripping down his legs. Nice. Not just any poopy diaper, it is a cosmic sized blow out. Ok, stay cool....I can do this. Quick change, no problem. Mailee screams louder. I wipe my hands/arms to get most of the poo off, then pull out the nice baggies to hold the explosive diaper and poo covered wipes. They are in this cute little holder, you can pull on one and it just rolls out. (Don't EVER buy that kind!!!) I yank, pull and tug as hard as I can, but no baggie. Seriously?!? I finally somehow summoned that crazy strength that you get in emergencies, you know the kind that allows people to lift cars and things? I broke the cute holder and freed the all important baggies. Two left. Oyy.

The nice lady next to us gets up and leaves. Mailee screams on...

Finally, I'm getting to the root of the problem. Remove clothes, remove diaper, easy as pie. Yeah, easy when not all components are covered in a nice slimy layer of brown goo. I finally get clothes off and divided into my two baggies--one to throw away and the other things we needed to keep (like clothes). Yes, it entered my mind just to throw it ALL away. Did I mention Mailee was screaming?!?

Now I have Kaiden's poo-covered bum (and legs) totally exposed. People walking out of the gift shop had no idea what they were walking out to see. They probably couldn't miss it even if they tried. And just in case they did, Mailee was there to alert them! So about 20 wipes, and at least 200 people walking out of the gift shop later, (what felt like 30 minutes) Kaiden's bum is now clean. (enough) I stand him up and clean my hands/arms. Whew, at least all privates are now covered. Mailee screams more.... I gathered the bags (now overflowing) and moved on to dress Kaiden. Fortunately, since we thought we would be in the rain all day we packed extra shoes for him. But I didn't pack any extra shorts. Three extra outfits for Mailee, but no shorts for Kaiden. Great. At this point I don't care.

Even though I needed to take a complete shower to get all the poo off completely, I wiped myself off one more time and picked up screaming Mailee. I was sweating, stressed and covered in poo. I then made the best decision of this little saga and totally abandoned our pile of stuff to move inside the air conditioned doors of the gift shop. We waited for Daddy and Deana to finish shopping in the air conditioning. Kaiden was running around in his diaper and I didn't even care. It was the best. People stared. I dared them to say something with my best "don't you dare judge me" smile.

And now when you exit the gift shop at KSC, don't forget to look for our poo stain on the concrete just behind the benches there. It rocks.

Before we left I had to get one picture of Kaiden in his shorts-less outfit. Just to remember. As if I could forget!

And thus ends the epic story of the cosmic diaper blow out.

When we finally got back to the hotel, I had two tired boys. Kaiden is still short-less. Seriously, why put on shorts now?!? ;)

We left the kids with Gigi and Poppy to rest and we went to the beach to cool off and visit friends. Remember that nice beach side restaurant? They also make yummy drinks!