D.C. Trip

I got back from Washington D.C. last weekend but haven't had time to post anything until now (surprise surprise). I was out there for a conference for work, along with two other guys from NBC. We flew out on Saturday (10/11), but the conference didn't start until Monday. This way, we are able to spend Sunday sightseeing.


It was my first time riding the Metro (subway), which was quite the adventure. The guy I was with, brought his family and they were saying I should really see the NYC subway. The one in DC is really clean compared to that one. Anyways, on Sunday we went to the Pentagon (to see the 9/11 memorial), then to Arlington to see the changing of the guard, the Smithsonian, the National Archives & the Capital. That was a lot of walking, but we had a great time. Below are some pictures.




This was one of the most touching things I have gone to. It seemed surreal.


Another incredible place to visit, Arlington National Cemetery.


Another very touching piece of history, the Tomb of the Unknown.


And yet another touching piece of American history, the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

The Death of a Legend

I don't know how many of you have heard but on Friday 9/26/08, the Lambert family lost a dear friend... I was rear-ended on I35 (just before the Proctor exit) around 12:15 p.m. and our poor Grand Am has finally succumb to her injuries. The insurance company came and finally put her out of her misery yesterday by declaring her a total loss.

It all started when I took a half day off of work to go golfing with my brother and was heading out of town (to Black Bear Golf in Carlton). There was a motorcycle on the right hand shoulder of the road with the rider and an officer there. I was in the center lane and being the nice guy that I am, decide to move over the left lane to give the cars in the right lane some room (to give the motorcycle some room). After I got into the left lane, I noticed a border patrol vehicle in the left lane stopped with its lights on. I began to brake and waited for the car next to me (in the center lane) to pass and then I moved into the center lane. Well apparently, there was a Durango behind me in the left lane and when I moved, they realized that the border patrol vehicle wasn't moving. They locked up their brakes and swerved to miss that vehicle and instead ran into me.

Thankfully, it was just me and not Hilary or the kids. I thought I was ok but Saturday morning, I woke up with my neck and back hurting. I still haven't gone in because I really believe that I just pulled some muscles but maybe this weekend if it still hurts.

I brought the car to an auto body shop to get an estimate and the guy quit adding it up once it hit $7,000. He said that it would be totaled and there was no need to keep going.

Now we are in the process of finding Hilary a new car... I am leaning towards an '83 Buick Le Saber (my first car) for $500 and she is thinking something a little newer... We will see who wins this one. Below are a few pictures... apparently the frame is all bent too.

Well I will try to update again when I have a moment but my schooling and work is keeping me pretty busy... I will be heading to Washington D.C. on October 11 for a week (for work) so hopefully I will get some cool pics and post them when I get back.

Long time...No Post!!

So I know that Troy has been very busy so I thought that I would update the blog (this time)with some things that have happened in the past month and a half as well as some pictures.

My sister Andrea and I were going to have our annual rummage sale in August, but we were both feeling pretty lazy to get it all together. So we made a last minute decision to take the kids down to the cities for a day of fun before they head back to school. We left early in the morning and made our first stop at the science museum. Now this was Tanners favorite part about the whole day (imagine that!!!!).

If you know Tanner at all, you know that he has a passion for weather. This is a machine that shows how tornado's are formed. He was amazed. This is our future meteorologist!!

Dane and electricity. Need I say more!!
Next stop was the children's museum. The kids favorite part was getting their faces painted. But of course, Breckon doesn't like to get dirty so he was the only one with a clean face.

Dane trying out some dance moves!

Breckon trying out the frog jump!The Boys (minus Breck) and Audi with their faces painted. Dane went a little over board (He drew in glasses if you can see them). After the children's museum we went to Burger King were Tanner attempted to clean his face off with a wet wipe. Needless to say, he looked like he had been beaten up because he couldn't get all the color off!!

If you like the Mighty Duck's movies at all you should know what this is. (Hint: It is in D2)
Last stop was Como Zoo. Tanner, Brock, and I enjoyed icee's while Breck and Dane had suckers. Audi really enjoyed looking at the animals. All in all it was a pretty fun day and very relaxing!!

This summer Troy, the kids and I have enjoyed visiting state parks, doing some hiking, and having picnics. We thought this might be our last nice weekend in August, so we made our way to Pattison park and had some fun just hanging out.


Well Breckon now started kindergarten this year and his first day went pretty well. He really wanted to ride the bus and after talking with some of Breck's friends moms, who were letting their kids ride the bus, we decided to let Breckon do it too!! The bus picked him up right at the end of our driveway and drops him off there too. Troy and I followed the bus to school to make sure he arrived all right, which of course, he did. He was very excited to be there and to learn. I think it was harder for Troy and I to see our little boy grow up. It is weird not having him home during the day, but Audi is enjoying the time by herself. She does seem to get bored quicker without her big brother there though.

"Don't worry Mom, I am going to be alright"

Getting off the bus at school.

Breck and one of his best friend's Heidi

Finding his locker.Since we have been so busy, this last weekend, we decided to go down the cities with the kids and just hang out. Breckon enjoyed time at Nickelodeon Universe on the rides. Audi decided that she is now a shoplifter and stole a stuffed dog from a store. We decided that since she must have wanted it so bad we would buy it for her. She loves animals but everything is a "kitty" to her. Her vocaulary is ever growing and is finally calling me "Mama". She still isn't walking and our MD wants us to see a specialist from Gillette if she isn't walking in month. We have no worries about her walking and are pretty sure she should take off soon if she wasn't so lazy.

Well with Troy and I so busy I hope this keeps everyone caught up for while. Between the two of us writing 20 page papers, work, and the kids we will try to keep you all updated!!

Hawaii

I figured that I would post something about one of our favorite vacations so far... Hawaii. This is the first trip (over 500 miles) that we had gone on with another couple (Andrea (Hilary's sister) and her husband Chris).

We left just before New Years 2007 and stayed for a week in Maui. The funny thing is that this was our (Hilary & I) first time in Hawaii and we still talk, to this day, about how we would love to move there. We have never said that about any other vacation we have gone on. There is something about Hawaii... If you have been there before, you know what I am talking about, if not, I highly encourage you to make at least one trip there in your lifetime.

Here are some pictures and a few short stories to go along with them.

Hilary & I at Hard Rock Maui

Ok, this is a good story... Above is a picture of Big Beach in Maui. Behind me, is Little Beach. Now keeping in mind that Hilary was around five months pregnant at this time, Chris & I made her and Andrea climb these rocks so we could get over to Little Beach. It had a little more privacy and everything but as we started walking down the trail, Chris came running back laughing. As I rounded the corner, I seen a guy on all fours, building a sand castle... NAKED!!!! Little Beach is a nude beach!!! As I looked around, I noticed that these people have never heard of an iron before because I seen more wrinkles than I ever wanted too!! We quickly headed back to Big Beach and spent the day there.

I like McDonalds food and did you know that depending on where in the world you are, McDonalds serve different items by region. Well in Hawaii, they have something called Saimin. I asked the kid what is was and he said it was like "cup of noodles". Well, lets just say it smelled like rotten fish. Below is the picture of what is in that nasty cup.

We decided to go out for a nice dinner one night to a place that Chris has always wanted to go... it is called Ruth Chris Steakhouse. I really like this picture because you can see that both couples have their plastic on the table to pay for this meal. Lets see my steak was $46 and Hilary's was $43 and yes... that was just the steak. Mashed potatoes were another $9 (I think) and all the other stuff. Was it good? Yes. Was it $128 good? hmmm I don't think so. But, its something we can all laugh about now.

Even if you aren't a history buff, you can probable figure out what this is (remember we are in Hawaii and that sure looks like an oil slick). This was one thing that I have always wanted to do and I must say, it was very touching being there and seeing it. This is the oil that is still coming up from the USS Arizona (remember Pearl Harbor?). This ship was sank during the attack on December 7, 1941 and it is still bleeding oil. About 10 quarts a day bleed out. It was very eerie standing above that much history.

No pot of gold... we checked (we had to pay for that steak dinner somehow)

Black Sand Beach... you should take a 4x4 down here... I drove our Grand Prix down

No this isn't our hotel pool... instead this was the pool that I took my resort scuba course at. If you are not PADI certified, you can take a resort course and go scuba diving. I have gone several times and just love it so I spend a day by myself doing this. You go through a classroom portion and then swim around in the pool for awhile. Once you "pass" you get to go on an open water dive in the ocean (see below)

This is my friend... Diver Dan... or wait maybe its Scuba Steve... or maybe its me.

When we went into the open water portion, we seen TONS of sea turtles. They are amazing. This one almost bite me though and if you harass any sea turtle its something like a $10,000 fine plus jail time.

Just swimming with the turtles dude (Crush is one of my favorites from Finding Nemo)


Our dive master "found", this octopus. Eventually it pulled off his mask and see below for what else he did


Yep, they really do shoot out "ink"