Hello,
First I want to start off saying that I am new to this hobby. I wanted to get the kids into the hobby as well so for Christmas we got them a Celestron NexStar 6SE. Last night was the very first time I was able to get it sky aligned after learning I needed a cardboard shim under the finder scope mount so that it would align with the scope.
For the first time last night I was able to look at Uranus and the Andromeda Galaxy.
As a new comer to this hobby I did first do my research (just not well enough). I googled for images of what could be seen through the 6SE and saw some pretty amazing pictures. I should have known right then that they were "pictures".
I found last night that Uranus just looked like another star through the eye piece, Andromeda looked like a pencil eraser smudge, needless to say I was a bit disappointed.
I do have to put blame on both images from Hubble (no I didn't expect those views) and from manufacturers claiming views you will not see.
At first I was quite disappointed and a bit depressed thinking the kids were not going to like what they could see through this scope. After a while of sitting on the couch thinking about what I saw I have to say I was actually pretty amazed. I was looking at billions of objects in a cluster 2.5 million light years away. I question if my expectations too high before seeing what I saw? I think they were, but I am not one to get let down and give up.
It's time to invest some money in photography gear, I don't think I will need too much since I have the scope now and a Canon 70D which should work just fine. The investment will come from all of the learning I will have to do through the process of learning astrophotography.
I am hoping the kids will be excited with what they can see on the next clear night, it just might be time to drive to a darker zone than where I am with the street light pollution