Space Boy

To say Nate has developed an infatuation with space is a bit of an understatement...he truly has a passion for learning about it and has actually educated me on some things as well.  Every time he goes to the library he comes home with more books about planets...he even brought a Space Encyclopedia home one time which made for riveting bedtime reading.

He no longer says he "loves me to the moon and back" he says he "loves me to Ceres and back" - for those non-NASA types, Ceres is a dwarf planet that is obviously much further away than the moon. :)  Even Matthew says things like "I am hot like Mercury" or "cold like Pluto".  This stuff is really sinking in around here - and, being that I had a love of space as a kid (hence the reason I attended Space Camp) I am thrilled with our little shared interest.

It has been an interesting hobby for us this summer so it was only fitting that we take him to the planetarium at the Fernbank Science Center.  I wasn't really sure if it was going to be kid-friendly but it turned out to be right up his alley.  He loved it and paid attention to everything the astronomer said.  Even Matthew sat quietly and star-gazed (there may have been snacks involved).

Fred's grandson Davis was in town visiting that week and, even though he almost twice Nate's age, they had a blast together.  This is them in front of the giant star projector - apparently the flash on my phone is more than Nate can handle.

After the star show, we explored the rest of the grounds...

While I share this picture because Matthew's bug eyes are cute, I also include it to show that this was "Dad Dressed Me" day.  Michael bought this Turkey Leg shirt at the Magic Kingdom because he thought it was funny...I didn't realize he wanted him to wear it in public!  The tattoo, however, is my doing.