Since we live in Utah and are a large family, we tend to take most of our family vacations on the west coast. Flights and driving times are obviously easier, plus there is an abundance of things to see and do within the western United States. Now that our kids are a little older, and flying with them has become a little easier, we decided to turn our family vacation compass in the opposite direction and start discovering more of what the eastern U.S. has to offer.
For our eastern U.S. discovery trip this year, we decided to visit Florida for two specific reasons: The first reason is that we’d just finished a record snow and cold winter season in Utah, and we were excited to find out if the rumors were true about Florida's warm ocean water and pristine long beach fronts. The second major reason we decided to go to Florida was to visit the Kennedy Space Center.
My 10-year old daughter, Ali, has wanted to be an astronaut since she was five. As she got older, I assumed that, like most kids, her career hopes would bounce in many different directions, but hers never did. She continued to read and learn as much as she could about rocket ships and space exploration. Her dream of becoming an astronaut has grown over the years, and she has now decided that she would like to be the first woman to walk on the moon. For our family, this trip was not only about seeing some of the fun things that Florida has to offer, but also about helping our daughter discover what it takes to realize her dream.