The family trip

I say "The" family trip because our upcoming vacation represents one of the most largest financial and emotional investments in a vacation that our family has ever made. On this Friday, we, the four (five) of us, hope to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour launch. To the space station. From Florida. First, a little background.

This launch was originally scheduled for last July, was delayed until last November, then delayed until February, then delayed again until April 19, and finally was pushed back to April 29, where the launch date has firmly held for about the last month.

Feeling pretty good about April 19th (there are websites that keep track of the launches so people like me know when to feel good), we bought plane tickets, and reserved a car and hotel. Knowing that these launches have the potential to scrub and launch 24 hours later, we got one-way tickets and only reserved 2 nights in a hotel. Since our main goal is to see the launch, and we don't consider the boys old enough to enjoy everything else that Orlando offers, we were willing to trade off the premium to buy return tickets at last minute for the chance to get home quicker and quit spending money in Florida. Every extra night means a hotel and car reservation, 3 meals at restaurants, and finding something to do. I know we sound like loser parents, but whatever.

So then they announced the delaying if the launch another 10 days. The hotel and car reservations rescheduled easily enough, but it took a $75/ticket rebooking fee to reschedule. And now instead of leaving on a cheap Monday, we're leaving on a more sought-after Thursday. Let me rephrase that: our tickets went from "hey that's cheap" to "hey that's twice what it was". I also had to reschedule the coverage at my office. There were lots of swears that day.