"is it REALLY real?"

while we were on vacation this summer in florida,

my son grew a new question for his growing collection.

He's gone through the "why, how, when, where" to the point we've been hoping for a new one.

while visiting my parents, there was a space shuttle launch.

Like any 5 year old, this fascinated my boy.

for 3 days, we watched the NASA channel- and for 3 days the shuttle launch was delayed for weather conditions.

my parents made a comment about being able to see the shuttle from the back porch of their home. Its not a close view, but you can see the smoke and the path line as the shuttle rises far far in the distance.

we turn on the tv to watch the beginning of the launch- the 'cool' part.

my son doesn't realize that to see it from the porch we have to wait a few minutes, so it can get high enough to be seen such a distance away.

3.... 2....1....

and the flames shoot out and it lifts up....

my son is a frantic maniac now, he's running from the tv, to the porch,

"where, where, where?! "

we tell him it'll take a minute, go ahead and watch it on tv, we'll call you when we see it.

he gives me a weird look. "is this really real mama?"

of course it is son, they're sending astronauts to the space station.

"really?"

finally we can see the smoke line, and call him outside-

its so far we could barely make it out.

he takes a look, "oh yea i see it- thats the spaceship on tv?"

yep- thats it.

"really?"

YES thats it.

"oh" and he runs back to the tv.

(because he can see it better there!)

it struck me this is the first time he really associated things on tv being broadcast live.

in real life, not animation or pretend- "really real."

it was neat that he could see it on tv, and in real life at the same time.

This "is it really real?" questioning has gone on and on.

we watched 'pirates of the caribean' (again) and he asked if it was really real.

no son, thats just a movie about pirates, thats a pretend story.

we watch 'funniest home videos'

"is that true life?"

haha, yes son, thats real, people send their funny movies in, like mama makes of you.

just about everything we see on animal planet, discovery, or TLC:

"is it real"

through out the rest of our visit, we watched ALOT of NASA.

the launch and actions of the crew were broadcast live, and my son couldn't get enough of it.

he loved watching them float around, all the views of earth from the shuttle..

and of course, he always asked if it was real- because it was on tv.