Andrea's Visit

At the end of February, my long-time friend Andrea and her mother  drove out to Texas for a visit. I went to school with Andrea from kindergarten all the way through high school, and their family was also active within our church, so our families have a lot of history! It was fun to show her around the Houston area. On the first day of her visit, my parents and I took both Andrea and her mom to visit NASA.

We took a tram tour to the astronaut training facility. This building is also a site where scientists and engineers develop new space exploration vehicles.

The tram tour also stops at Rocket Park.

Andrea, me, Mellodie, Mom

Most impressive is the Saturn V-- reportedly the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever flown. Only 3 of these rockets are on display in the world.

At the end of our visit, we attended a presentation called Living in Space. The show detailed how astronauts spend their days aboard the International Space Station. The NASA presenter asked for a volunteer and when nobody raised a hand, I gave in.

The presenter had me demonstrate how astronauts are strapped into a wall bed and how they work out with an arm bicycle.

He also offered some recycled urine for me to drink, but I politely refused. :)

We enjoyed various other exhibits at the space center and ate a picnic lunch in the car. It was an enjoyable day!

Over the weekend, our family took Andrea to Kemah Boardwalk. This small waterfront amusement park was new to Jason and our kids, so we were glad that Andrea chose this tourist spot. Our kids had an amazing time! 

In the months of January and February, Kemah offers discount tickets, so it was a perfect time to visit. Plus, with the weather still being a tad cool and breezy, it wasn't busy at all, especially in the morning. We arrived right when Kemah opened at 10:00, and we didn't have to wait in line for anything! Our kids could run from one ride to the next, or even just go on the same favorite ride repeatedly. What a great deal! One of Adley's favorites was this double-decker carousel. Andrea took her on this several times. Adley always wanted to ride on the top level.

Adley also liked the Wonder Wheel-- a ferris wheel that was just her size! We loved the views of the Galveston Bay.

 

Adley's very favorite was the Jungle Bounce. Once Daddy helped Adley get over her initial nervousness, our little girlie rode this ride at least 10 times! She would laugh and laugh as the ride bounced her down.

Kemah only has about a dozen rides, and two were closed for repairs, so Jaden and Cody were easily able to try out every ride. They loved the HypoSpin.. 

...and the Aviator. Mommy thought this ride was fairly chilly with the breeze that came off over the water!

Jaden and Cody surprised us by asking to try out this upside-down ride. Both boys, though, looked quite terrified when the ride actually started travelling upside-down. They told us later that they were worried they would fall out! Neither boy cried, but neither asked to ride it again either. :)

This train was the only ride that all 6 of us were able to go on together. It took us past the various restaurants and shops along the Boardwalk.

Daddy and Andrea were the only two brave enough to ride the Drop Zone-- a 140 ft free fall. They even rode it twice! The rest of us were content to just watch them. :)

My favorite was the Boardwalk Tower, a slowly spinning ride that offered us beautiful panoramic views of the entire Bay and surrounding area. This ride had apparently only recently reopened, after being shut down for over a year following Hurricane Harvey. We were thankful we were able to try it out!

After getting our fill of the rides, we visited some of the shops, where Andrea graciously bought our kids wooden train whistles and small stuffed dolphins. They were so excited!

Having out-of-town visitors is always such a fun time to explore new places in our area. We were thankful that Andrea visited our family!