the sleppys

We went outside on Monday, to watch the ISS fly overhead. A group of kids were hanging out in the dark of their front porch. They were being kind of loud (about 9pm) and pretty much ignored us when the five of us (Isis stayed inside) when we went outside. We looked up, strained our necks to be the first to catch it. The cloudy sky made us a little nervous, but there was one patch of sky, where it was supposed to fly by, that was clear. Kyle said hello to the moon. Ty sang, “Twinkle Little Star.” The neighboring kids kept talking and whatever. I saw a little star that wasn’t there before, brighter than the other “stars,” which are actually planets. This star looked like it was moving steadily across the sky. Could it be? Is it my imagination, an illusion made by the moving clouds? No, it really IS the ISS!! And we told Ty annd Kyle to look up at the sky. Taylor was in my arms again, but she didn’t seem to interested.

All of a sudden it was us who were making all the noise:
“Look, those are the astronauts!”
“Hi, astronauts!”
“That’s the space shuttle!”

The kids who were hanging out on the front porch stopped talking. And I even saw one of them stand up and walk a few feet – his curiosity got the best of him – to look at it.

The ISS moved across the sky and disappeared as it got closer to the moon. I’m sure that must be some sight, to view the moon from such a close distance. But the astronauts were asleep while they passed overhead.

As we walked back inside the house, I was glad to have seen the ISS/Discovery, I was also glad to piqued the interest of one of those kids… who most likely didn’t have the faintest idea that the astronauts were in space.

Dad and I went outside (I was carrying Taylor) before 10pm to watch the ISS and Discovery Shuttle pass overhead, well, by the horizon. As we waited, some people at the end of the cul-de-sac were leaving the house… it was 10pm, so it was pretty dark – and late, for a Sunday. They looked like they were leaving a party, with little kids in tow. They piled into their SUV and started driving into the street. Dad and I were standing in the middle of it, so we stepped aside, keeping a close eye on the sky because we didn’t want to miss the ISS. We must’ve looked odd standing by the side if the road, staring up at the night sky, like we were waiting for the aliens.

But we didn’t see the aliens – Oops! Ah, I mean the ISS. Though it was 10pm, the road lights on the turnpike flooded the night sky. Perhaps we’ll see it tonight, as it passes overhead this time. Let’s hope for clear skies!

And the boys didn’t fall asleep until well after 11pm. I don’t know how they manage to be up and running with only 6 hours’ sleep. They should be sleeping until 10 or something.