Last Friday was the first science lab I volunteered at Connor’s class.  I was waiting in the classroom first; as soon as the class arrived, Connor waved to me and gave me a hug.  When the teacher was giving her lecture, Connor signaled me over and wanted me to stand by him.  He also wanted me to hold his hand, but of course, I told him to focus on the teacher talking instead.  At one point, when I kneeled down next to Connor to look at some of the materials, he gave me a kiss on my face and hugged me.  He is so sweet!  The lesson was great too and I learned a lot about amphibians that day as well.

    After we returned from Orlando, I stayed off on Thu and Fri to watch the kids while Stuart worked.  The boys had some make up time to spend with their friends, a play date with Maxim and lots of play time with Cole.  After video game time on Thu, I took all three boys for a walk on the trail and a treat at T4U afterward.  The next day, Logan, Connor and I went for a bike ride on our own. 

    Before the fall break coming to an end and returning to school, we decided to reach out to Connor’s doctor to ask about his throat.  Connor was complaining something in his throat for two weeks, and he tried to clear his throat often as well.  Other than that, Connor was his normal self and did not have any other symptoms.  We were suggested to take him for a checkup just to be sure.  Nothing abnormal was found and the doctor did a strep throat test anyway which was negative later.  She also suggested that the symptom could be related to reflux or allergy.  Since we were taking Connor in, we decided to make it a family trip for flu shots as well.  When I told Connor about it while we were still in the exam room, he was almost in tears.  Stuart also prepared Logan while they waited for us outside.  When it was our turn, Logan agreed to be the first one.  He was scared, but he did take the injection very well without any hesitation.  It was then Stuart before Connor was willing to take his turn.  He was nervous but was able to stay very still for the nurse to get the work done quickly.  Afterward, the boys had a frozen yogurt treat as a reward for a job well done.

    On Monday and Tuesday while Katie and Kevin were at school and Yvonne and Allen were at work, we took day trips on our own.  On Monday, we decided to go to Kennedy Space Center, and Dora came with us.  I had previously visited 20 years ago, but none of the others had visited before.  There were many nice exhibits and it was not too crowded.  The boys played in a huge crawling structure for the “Junior astronauts” for awhile.  Then we took the bus tour out to the launching area.  The day we were there, 10/1/18, turned out to be the 60th anniversary of NASA, but surprisingly there were no displays or promotions about it.  However, the boys did receive a pin for this occasion at the end of the visit. 

     The tour was interesting, learned some facts from the bus driver and watched some videos shown in the bus.  We also had a chance to see the hanger for the space rocket and some of the launching pads still in use.  Then they took us to another visitor building.  We were led into a control room where we watched a simulation controlling a rocket take-off.  Next we could walk around other rooms to see a variety of Apollo space rockets and apparatus.  We also took lunch there at the cafe which had a huge saturn rocket hanging overhead.  When we returned back to the main visitor site, we headed into the Atlantis building and we lined up for the takeoff simulation.  We had our pictures taken and we were given many precautions by the announcement.  We had no idea what to expect and both Logan and Connor were a bit nervous.  The ride was actually more tame than we were led to believe, but it was cool to feel like as astronaut taking off into the space within those few minutes.  We also got to see our pictures superimposed onto an astronaut suit afterward.

    Another film showed us how they wanted to create a reusable space shuttle and all the hurdles they faced, and at the end of the film, the screen turned into a glass and showed the retired Atlantis behind.  It was a powerful moment they had created and we were all so excited to see and be able to walk around this huge spacecraft.  Inside this building, there were also many hands-on activities or demonstration, so the boys enjoyed those as well.  When we were finished with this building (already 5 hours total at the space center), all of us were tired and ready to head home even though we noticed that we had at least another building that we missed.  This was a great place to visit, even Stuart, being a tough critic, enjoyed it a lot.

    On Tuesday, we headed over to the Cocoa Beach, and this time we did not have anyone wanting to tag along with us.  It was different on the east coast on the Atlantic ocean side where the water was warmer and we could comfortably be touching the water.  The waves were strong with the red flag warning, but the boys and I enjoyed jumping and hoping over the waves.  Stuart was trying body surfing as well.  Connor was also making sand castles, and we helped him periodically.  At lunchtime, we walked to this cool beach bar place to have some fish and chips, and it was yummy.  Afterward, we returned to the beach to play.  Stuart was tired and took a break laying down while the three of us continued our game of jumping over the waves.  It was a fun time at the beach.

    After our day trips, we tried to be home as the Liangs did, so we could spend more time with them.  The boys certainly loved hanging out with Kevin and Katie too.  This short trip to Orlando was nice to be able to see family and we did some daytrips too.

   Yvonne, Dora and my stepmom all have a special birthday this year, so we decided to meet up at Orlando to celebrate.  Mom was there first on Friday, and Dora and Gloria arrived on Saturday afternoon while the four of us arrived at their Yvonne and Allen’s house later at 7pm in our rented minivan.  Their house was recently remodeled and it was even more beautiful than before.  The next day we hung out together and relaxed in the house.  Katie was busy as she had practice and studying to do, but she hung out with the boys when she could.  Kevin on the other hand was more than happy to play with our boys on video game.  The three of them immediately bonded on their favorite game and played with each other on and off all throughout the trip.  During one of our outings, Kevin asked the boys to play this virtual shooting game, but only Logan joined him as Connor was a bit nervous trying something new.  The two boys had a good time shooting at monsters.  They were hoping to get back in and shoot some zombies next.

    On Sunday night, we met up at the Chinese restaurant to have a banquet meal for the birthday celebration.  It was a yummy dinner and we all were stuffed afterward.  We then took a stroll at the City Walk, and the kids quickly worked up an appetite for popcorn.  With the hot weather in FL, the evening was definitely more comfortable and enjoyable for a walk.  On another evening, we stayed in for a homemade dinner.  The kids all enjoyed the chicken and shortribs Yvonne made for us.

    One important addition to this trip was playing with Katie’s new puppy Butter.  She is still very young and not well trained yet.  So while we were there, Butter had caused a lot of chaos or stress, but at the same time, she was super cute.  We all had fun playing with her and trying to train her too.  Dora and Gloria had shared their knowledge of dogs with us and getting us ready for a doggie one day.

   This was sort of the first reunion trip we had and it was nice to see everyone.