Rocket City Fun

On Friday, we went to Huntsville for Cole's karate tournament. We checked the kids out of school early and caravanned with Woody and his parents. Our first stop was to the US Space and Rocket Center. The kids had a lot of fun seeing the rockets, lunar modules, space rovers, and the IMAX movie. Judd and Traci kept us all clean with Germ X every few minutes. With the recent scare of swine flu in the Huntsville area, we were taking every precaution!

Brody didn't want to be left behind!


US Space and Rocket Center
 

Under a rocket booster
 

A true space hero...Darth Vader!
 

I want one of these moon rovers in pink!
 

Can you believe they landed on the moon in one of these?
 

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...BLAST OFF!
 

Cole and Judd land the shuttle
 

I wanna go to the moon!
 

Showing off our souvenirs!
 

The kids' favorite part of traveling is staying in a hotel. They especially loved being right down the hall from Woody, so there was a lot of running between the rooms. The indoor pool and hot tub were the highlights of the evening!

Indoor swimming at its finest!


Hot tubbing with Daddy
 

The next morning, we got up and headed over to the Von Braun Civic Center for the tournament. Originally, it was going to be held at a local middle school, but they changed the location because of the swine flu scare. Crab and her parents drove over from Guntersville to visit with us and watch Cole in the tournament. Cole and Judd were busy getting into "the zone," as Judd calls it. The first event was the forms where Cole did his 24 orange belt moves. They are scored much like gymnastics. As soon as the judges hold up their scores, you immediately know the rankings. The next portion was the sparring. He won the first round and had to spar against Woody for the final round. Cole won first place medals in both of his events.

Visiting with Crab's parents, Mr. Ed and Mrs. Jessie
 

Getting into "the zone"
 

Competing on my 24 moves
 

Awaiting the judges' results
 

Gearing up
 

The medal ceremony
 

Taking gold for the 24 forms
 

Receiving gold for sparring
 

Cole and his instructor, Mr. McMichael
 

Showing off my medals


We went to lunch at the new upscale Bridge Street shopping center in Huntsville. We ate lunch at the trendy LA hotspot, Ketchup. Can you believe they have one of these in Alabama? MC loved it because they had 3 different types of french fries and 5 different kinds of ketchup...her favorite! Even Cole loved the 3 layered PB & J he ordered! Crab and I did a little shopping at the Kate Spade store while the kids feasted on ice cream at Maggie Moo's. We had a great time on our weekend getaway!

Eating at Ketchup...Crab and I should be on the Hills!
 

MC loved the sweet potato fries and mango ketchup the best!
 

PB&J, Ketchup style