Traveling by proxy
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - What started as a hobby for twin 7-year-olds has turned into a mission to visit as many places in the universe as they can.
But they don't actually do the visiting.
On Thursday, Noodles and Sam - the alter-egos of Ava and Jakob Armbruster of Rancho Cucamonga - will be at Cape Canaveral, Fla., to "witness" the launch of the shuttle Discovery on its 38th, and last, flight into space.
Noodles and Sam are stuffed animals that the youngsters have been loaning to friends, family and basically anyone who doesn't mind taking pictures of a pink pig and a grey and brown dog while on their vacation or business trip.
But they don't actually do the visiting.
On Thursday, Noodles and Sam - the alter-egos of Ava and Jakob Armbruster of Rancho Cucamonga - will be at Cape Canaveral, Fla., to "witness" the launch of the shuttle Discovery on its 38th, and last, flight into space.
Noodles and Sam are stuffed animals that the youngsters have been loaning to friends, family and basically anyone who doesn't mind taking pictures of a pink pig and a grey and brown dog while on their vacation or business trip.
The kids only ask that the traveler take photos of the plush animals at key locations and notes of where they went so they can post the adventures online at NoodlesAndSam.com.
Oh, yeah, and send them back safely.
"First our cousin was going to go to Washington, D.C., and we wanted to go but the answer was 'No,' so we thought maybe our stuffed animals may go," Ava said.
"And we thought instead we could send Noodles and Sam around the world to help children learn about things," Sam said.
Almost a year later, with no passport necessary, Noodles and Sam have visited nine states and eight countries. They're booked to visit New Zealand, Australia, Africa and Kansas, all before Labor Day.
But before that, there's this week's launch of Discovery.
"We wrote to NASA and asked if Noodles and Sam could visit them on a trip and teach us about the space program," said Greg Armbruster, the twin's dad. "And we did that because the year before last Jakob dressed up as an astronaut for Halloween. I knew he was interested in the space program and being an astronaut."
Officials from the agency contacted the Armbruster family saying they would not only love to host Noodles and Sam days before the launch, but also have them watch the launch, Greg Armbruster said.
To keep with their mission of helping people learn, students from the twins' first-grade classes at John L. Golden Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga will be able to video chat and ask questions of a NASA engineer on Wednesday using Skype, a computer-to-computer video-conferencing service.
"I'm a little surprised about the way people have reacted to Noodles and Sam, in particular the way adults have taken to it," said Joleene Armbruster, the twins' mom.
"This is a home-grown website and something that was just meant to be a little hobby to help the kids learn new things and to share it with their friends. But the next thing we knew is we're finding out teachers want to use it in their classrooms and think it's this amazing thing."
Noodles and Sam have also allowed Ava and Jakob to think outside of their backyards and start thinking about their future.
Joleene Armbruster said most kids want to run out and play but Ava and Jakob talk about what they want to do and how to get there.
She said one of their friends took Noodles and Sam to Texas Tech University and that got them thinking about college.
The twins' parents said the kids not only have a genuine interest for traveling but also a curiosity about how the rest of the world lives and what people do.
Noodles and Sam's trip to Battembang, Cambodia, inspired Ava and Jakob to collect $150 of donations online to purchase school supplies.
Never having to worry about enough sunscreen or toothpaste or a $25 baggage fee, for Noodles and Sam the sky is the limit. That is, unless they're booked to go somewhere else.
Noodles and Sam not only have a blog detailing what they're doing, they have a calendar on their website highlighting when their trips are scheduled - or basically, when they're free for another trip.
"So if the schedule says it's already booked then they (the travelers) have to go on the next day," Ava said.
To some, Noodles and Sam may be just a couple of toys that Ava and Jakob will grow out of. Perhaps they will, but in the meantime the animals are very much real.
"When they're dirty, they get baths and we get to play with them," Ava said.
"I like reading to him and playing with him," said Jakob about Sam before he has to go off to another adventure. "It just feels really good."
Oh, yeah, and send them back safely.
"First our cousin was going to go to Washington, D.C., and we wanted to go but the answer was 'No,' so we thought maybe our stuffed animals may go," Ava said.
"And we thought instead we could send Noodles and Sam around the world to help children learn about things," Sam said.
Almost a year later, with no passport necessary, Noodles and Sam have visited nine states and eight countries. They're booked to visit New Zealand, Australia, Africa and Kansas, all before Labor Day.
But before that, there's this week's launch of Discovery.
"We wrote to NASA and asked if Noodles and Sam could visit them on a trip and teach us about the space program," said Greg Armbruster, the twin's dad. "And we did that because the year before last Jakob dressed up as an astronaut for Halloween. I knew he was interested in the space program and being an astronaut."
Officials from the agency contacted the Armbruster family saying they would not only love to host Noodles and Sam days before the launch, but also have them watch the launch, Greg Armbruster said.
To keep with their mission of helping people learn, students from the twins' first-grade classes at John L. Golden Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga will be able to video chat and ask questions of a NASA engineer on Wednesday using Skype, a computer-to-computer video-conferencing service.
"I'm a little surprised about the way people have reacted to Noodles and Sam, in particular the way adults have taken to it," said Joleene Armbruster, the twins' mom.
"This is a home-grown website and something that was just meant to be a little hobby to help the kids learn new things and to share it with their friends. But the next thing we knew is we're finding out teachers want to use it in their classrooms and think it's this amazing thing."
Noodles and Sam have also allowed Ava and Jakob to think outside of their backyards and start thinking about their future.
Joleene Armbruster said most kids want to run out and play but Ava and Jakob talk about what they want to do and how to get there.
She said one of their friends took Noodles and Sam to Texas Tech University and that got them thinking about college.
The twins' parents said the kids not only have a genuine interest for traveling but also a curiosity about how the rest of the world lives and what people do.
Noodles and Sam's trip to Battembang, Cambodia, inspired Ava and Jakob to collect $150 of donations online to purchase school supplies.
Never having to worry about enough sunscreen or toothpaste or a $25 baggage fee, for Noodles and Sam the sky is the limit. That is, unless they're booked to go somewhere else.
Noodles and Sam not only have a blog detailing what they're doing, they have a calendar on their website highlighting when their trips are scheduled - or basically, when they're free for another trip.
"So if the schedule says it's already booked then they (the travelers) have to go on the next day," Ava said.
To some, Noodles and Sam may be just a couple of toys that Ava and Jakob will grow out of. Perhaps they will, but in the meantime the animals are very much real.
"When they're dirty, they get baths and we get to play with them," Ava said.
"I like reading to him and playing with him," said Jakob about Sam before he has to go off to another adventure. "It just feels really good."
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