Luckily, Mrs. Porter’s class and Mrs. Humphrey’s class were in the same group so I was able to be there to watch Lael and her friends as well as Caeden.  The lighting in there is not really conducive to taking great photos, but I got a few that are decent.  I think the one exhibit that all the kids love is the water one.  There are plastic panels that you can slide in place to direct the stream of water or dam it up.  There is just something about water that all kids, regardless of their age cannot get enough of.  Another popular, fun exhibit was the bubbles.  The metal rings are huge and make equally huge bubbles if you lift it out of the bubble solution just right.  There is another one that some kids really enjoyed and others couldn’t take the time for.  It was one to build simple machines.  There were all sorts of connectors, conductors, transceivers, light bulbs, fans and battery packs.  There were also directions on how to make stuff, or the kids just wing it on their own.  It only took one girl to figure out how to make the fan operate to whet their curiosity and then it was GAME ON!  Caeden was able to build both the fan and light bulb machine.  He was so proud!!  Sci-Quest is a great place to go and spend an afternoon.  Most of the exhibits do not change, but the kids seem to enjoy them the same each time we go.

Population: 378,057
Income Growth: 9.7%
Cost of Living Index: 91
Median Household Income: $51,275
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 40%

Talk about a bulletproof economy. This northern Alabama city represents critical mass for the nation’s missile-defense and aerospace industries. The medical and life-sciences industries are thriving, too. Thousands of new jobs are pouring into town. With a few exceptions, business in Huntsville is so healthy that Mayor Tommy Battle has a pleasant problem: “We have more jobs than we can fill.”

Huntsville owes much of its red-blooded vitality to the U.S. Army, which employs more than 14,000 people, mostly civilians, at the 38,000-acre Redstone Arsenal. “If a soldier drives it, eats it or shoots it, we’re involved — beans to bullets,” says Dan O’Boyle, arsenal spokesman.

As part of an ongoing consolidation of army bases and personnel — known as BRAC, the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process — the arsenal will hire 5,000 more people over the next few years, and another 5,000 jobs will be added indirectly to the area.

As for aerospace, Huntsville isn’t called Rocket City for nothing. The giant rocket replica that pierces the Huntsville skyline not only makes a handy reference point for out-of-towners but also represents Huntsville’s storied — and still strong — role in space exploration. The site of the historic test launch of the Saturn V rocket, which put the U.S. space mission one step closer to the moon, Huntsville houses an original Saturn V at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center and hosts thousands of students each year at the center’s Space Camp. The Marshall Space Flight Center, part of NASA, employs 2,500 scientists, many of whom are working on the next moon launch.

All those scientists and engineers create a bubbling brew of brainpower that attracts other intellectuals. Says Rick Davis, director of Cummings Research Park, “Smart people come here.” Huntsville encourages the influx by offering companies below-market real estate prices and room to grow at Cummings, which encompasses 3,800 acres. The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, a recent arrival, represents Huntsville’s foray into the next frontier. HudsonAlpha translates the results of the Human Genome Project into the development of new, targeted medicines. Says director Richard Myers, “In five years, we will all be taking our genomic sequence with us to the doctor’s office.”

Not every sector in Huntsville is booming. Car sales have plummeted in recent months, and home sales have slowed, especially for houses priced at $300,000 and up. Still, Huntsville’s otherwise strong economy, combined with a scenic, mountain-view setting, a historical downtown, top-quality museums and a 110-acre botanical garden, encourages residents to stay put and newcomers to stream in. Says Battle: “This place never misses a beat.”

I’ve got more pictures on the video camera, and the Room Mom from Lael’s class uploaded the ones she took to Snapfish, so I will get more from there.  But, this picture is Caeden’s class on the bus waiting on the other students to board.  She has a very small class, only 14 students.

This morning, the day of the run, was a bit chilly, so I put on a long sleeved t-shirt under the Savvy Gifts t-shirt we got for being in that team.  I was cold while we were standing around waiting, but once we started walking, it got a bit warm!  I was surprised to see all the people participating!  The website said that official count of walker was 2759.  There were tons more people there though, I guess for support and encouragement.  The route went through the old historic district of downtown Huntsville, so I was having trouble keeping my pace and watching where I was going because I was too busy admiring the old house we were passing.  There are some absolute beauties there!  I did have to concentrate when we started going through a hilly section, that is where it got difficult, I definitely lost some ground there.  We did finish in less than an hour though.  Yay!  Accomplishment – I “ran” in my first race.  This is the official word from the website:

And while money is still coming in, it looks like we will raise close to $100,000 for the Liz Hurley Breast Cancer Fund at Huntsville Hospital Foundation. That’s $30,000 more than last year’s Ribbon Run! All proceeds will help pay for the new Breast MRI machine at The Breast Center at Huntsville Hospital. Thanks to everyone who made the 4th Annual Liz Hurley Ribbon Run a race to remember!

Then we moved on to the older part of the Space Center.  Lots of really cool stuff there too!  There was a rock wall to climb, so the girls wanted to try it out.  Then Heather decided she wanted to do it also.  So I couldn’t be outdone!!  We all got our harnesses on and started climbing.  It was hard, but not as difficult as I thought it would be!  When I got to the top though, I got a bit nervous at the thought of rappelling down.  Heather and I looked at each other at the top and I am sure that my face showed my terror.  Then she takes off, I was like oh man, now I really must do it.  Of course there was no other option, so I lean back and try to remember how to do it.  I’ve done it for real years ago, off of a real mountain!  I even took a class at UA where we had to do it for a grade!  But, that was many years ago when I was young and in better shape!  I did reach the ground safely though, although I did land on my bottom!  Chace roared with laughter when he heard that!

After walking around there for a while, it was time to go get the kids from school.  I got the twins first, and when we go Chace from Liberty, he said that he had just sat down with his tray of food.  So, we ran through the drive-thru at Burger King for him.

Back at the Space Center – we find the Gilmer’s.  Chace wants to head to Space Shot immediately.  But, we are not sure if either of the girls are tall enough.  I know the twins are not.  We walk over and sure enough Mallory is not quite tall enough, and Madeline barely makes it.  So, Chace, Madeline and I climb on.  I’ve never been on it, but Chace has talked about it plenty since he and Todd came to the Space Center last year with TMS.  Here is what the website says about Space Shot:

What does a rocket launch really feel like? Three, two, one, liftoff!

• Rocket 140ft straight up in 2.5 seconds.
• 4 G’s of force on launch!
• 2 – 3 seconds of weightlessness out of your seat then a 1 G free fall!

That about sums it up!  Scary, thrilling but FUN!

Back into the older part – because Chace and the twins want to rappel.  I was not so sure about the twins doing it, I didn’t even know if they were big enough.  The guy said they are supposed to be 50 lb.  But, that they looked close enough.  We get the harnesses on everyone and they take off, Lael is climbing fast – and then she makes the mistake of looking down and gets scared.  The guys has to climb up and get her.  Luckily she had only made it about 15 feet up.  Caeden is doing well, he goes about halfway and then decides he has had enough but he doesn’t know how to get down.  We talk him through it and he rappels down.  Chace of course flies to the top of the wall in like 10 seconds.

Oh, the Space Shot for kids – it is supposed to be kind of like the big Space Shot but without the g-forces etc.  The twins climbed on and Mallory grudgingly did too.  The twins were loving it, throwing their hands up, giggly and thoroughly enjoying it.  Mallory had that smile on, like she was having fun, but didn’t want to admit it.

There were other things we saw and did, but this post has gone on way too long already!