The girls got a rocket this year for Christmas. Bob has secret hopes that one of his blue eyed dears will one day fall in love with all things space and quite possibly end up out of this world. As a closet "wanna be" astronaut himself Bob LOVEs space, rockets, Mars and stars. He completely geeks out on the stuff and has been all but a kid in a candy shop with his girls recently. They watch every rocket launch from SpaceX, ULA and others. The girls jump up and down on the couch counting down each and every launch. Lily has even tweeted (yes tweeted) questions to the CEO of ULA and gotten a personal response. He even sent her a few little gifts as a result.
A rocket for Christmas was the logical next step of course. The girls could not wait to launch it so one afternoon we headed over to a local open space and let it fly.
When Bob was searching for a rocket he was appalled that there were no rockets for little girls. Sure there were superhero ones, car ones and monster ones, but nothing appealing to a little girl who likes princesses (contrary to a lot of thought....many little girls still prefer pink and princess to black and neutral). So, smart Bob bought a plain rocket and a notebook of princess stickers. The girls sat one morning and made it a princess rocket complete with hearts and tiaras. Who says princesses can't go to the moon?
It was chilly on the afternoon that we went, but the excitement of the girls was tangible. Oh they couldn't wait........Lily got to push the button for its first launch. It flew way up in the air and came down with great fervor :). It was a little loud so the girls had a moment of trepidation, but were only too quick to say, "Do it again Daddy!!!"
Lily learned how to install the engine and we were able to successfully launch it 2 more times before it blew apart into 3 pieces and we needed more than a push and a shove to fix it.
Sometimes its the smallest things that make the biggest impact on young lives. Bob is so intentional about doing these kinds of things with his girls and I am truly grateful. He wants his little girls to dream big and experience the joy of space......rockets.......and beyond. The sky is no longer the limit for my girls and with a little hope, a lot of school, an awesome Dad and a rocket one of them just might find a dream amongst stars.
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