Cassady Family: Godspeed Dottie and Hello Mickey Mouse!

What a great week! We went to Florida to see the launch of STS-131 on April 5th. We were invited by our friend Dottie Metcalf-Lindenberger, who is Mission Specialist 2 on STS-131. How cool is that?! We arrived on Saturday, April 3rd and checked into our hotel in Orlando. We rented villa with our friends the Clems. It was so much fun.

On Sunday we hit the pool and then headed to a reception for Dottie thrown by her husband for all the friends and family in town for the launch. Dottie wasn't there as all astronauts go into quarantine a week before launch so they don't get sick while in space. But we got to see her family and hang out with a lot of friends, including "flat Dottie" - a life size cardboard cutout of Dottie in her flight suit (we all had a few too many jokes about that one)! Then we went back to the villa for some rest so we could get up at midnight to get a good spot on the causeway for the launch at 6:21am. We went with Katie and Fred. Samantha was such a trooper! She slept in the car on the way there, but was up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night. We got her settled for a little while, but had to wake her up for the launch. She was so cute, saying "shuttle" and pointing to it and our shirts (yes we all had matching shirts on). It was the most beautiful and amazing launch. It lit up the pre-dawn sky and the plumes were amazing - all colors of the rainbow as the shuttle went into the dawn light. We saw it for about 7 minutes, which is a really long time! Samantha described the launch as "loud", but I got a little emotional. I had such mixed emotions - Dottie - my friend - a person I know and care for on the most amazing machine built by man - on the ultimate adventure! I can't even describe it in words - I am so excited for her and can't wait to see her land (yes, I will be there for work) and hear all her stories! Combine that with my profound sadness here, at the end of the Space Shuttle era. Only three missions left (at most four if congress approves). I watched this launch with the knowledge that I will never personally see one again. It weighs quite heavily on me. With the changes going on at NASA and the uncertain future of human spaceflight, it is hard to come to terms with the fact that I may not have the opportunity to fly a spacecraft I help design. As one of my friends said "I am very optimistist about the future of the space program, but I am decidedly unoptimistic about my role in it". It was hard to have that in my heart as I watched the launch...

On Monday after the launch, we grabbed breakfast with Boyles and the Clems and then hit Cocoa Beach. Samantha loves the ocean and the sand, we had a great time for about an hour and then we all got hit with the sleepies and decided to head back to the villa.

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. It was so much fun. We saw giraffes, rhinos, a cheetah, gorillas, an ant eater, elephants, huge bats, a lion king show, and a finding nemo show! Samantha got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger! She's been walking around saying "Tigger the Pooh" ever since!

Here are some pictures! I will post more in the next couple days!