Hilton Head 2008

We took our family vacation this year as we did last year in the Spring to Hilton Head Island, SC. As we typically do in Hilton Head, we had a BLAST!

We stayed at the Marriott's Surfwatch Resort and loved the resort. I can't really remember all that we did that week since I was so lazy in posting anything since April...I just finished perusing our friends' blogs and felt really lousy. So I'll let the pictures tell the story for me...

Enjoy,
HSHLD 5


This was the view of the rest of the resort from our room





Drew and I built a circular castle and had a "battle with his Army men (look real close). I think the good guys won!


A nice picture of "the man" sitting on the porch of the main building just before our fishing tournament!

This is the winning fish caught by Drew (well, as the war story is told by him). A nice size catfish caught in the lake at our resort. I think Drew was more afraid of the fish than excited that he caught it based off of the look on his face!

Daddy and Drew on the beach

We traditionally go to a restaurant called Hudson's on the Calibogue Sound for dinner when we are at Hilton Head. It's on eof the best places for seafood on the island and has cool fishing boats to explore!

Mommy and Drew flying his Dragon kite on the beach at our resort

One of the days while we were there we took a morning kayak trip on Broad Creek which runs East/West. We didn't see any dolphins but saw plenty of other wildlife such as crabs, egrets and a giant sea ray!

Playing shuffleboard at the resort turned out to be one of Drew'
s favorite things to do! We played more games of shuffleboard than I can count! He got pretty good by weeks end!

Storm Troopers!

We were in Philadelphia for a family members wedding this past weekend and were going to head back to Picatinny on Sunday morning after the wedding...that was until we saw the sign for the Star Wars exhibit at the Frankin Museum in downtown Phila!

It was a cool museum and a good Star Wars exhibit! Here's some pics...

Who's Your Candidate?

This is the only time I have gotten into politics on this bog. One of my friends from college sent me this link:

www.vajoe.com/candidate_calculator.html

Take the quiz and see who it spits out. It pretty much hit the nail on the head as far as who I plan on voting for...but we'll not discuss that for now!

HSHLD 5

City Trip

This past weekend as part of the ongoing Unexploded Ordnance Removal project here at Picatinny, we were forced out of our house all day on Saturday (and Sunday). On Saturday, we took a bus trip to New York and to the American Museum of Natural History.

What a cool museum! And what a cool location. This was Drew's first trip to the city and he had his face pressed up against the glass of the bus on the way through downtown trying to see the tops of the buildings.

Words can't really do the museum justice so I'll just attach pictures with explanations.



Drew with amazing growths the size of pre-historic Wooly Mammoth horns coming out of his head!


The main entryway to the museum off of Central Park West Blvd.




Cretacious period shark...RRRRR!

The infamous Giant Blue Whale


Drew called this the "Wall of Creatures" which included models of animals as old as 500 million years to ones as recent as modern day birds...pretty cool!


There's a pre-historic alligator eating Drew's head!!!

T-REX!!!!!!!

Big Big Big News!

Well, we and a select few relatives and friends have known for a couple weeks but we wanted to wait for the first ultrasound to tell "the world" that after alot of effort and time Kristin is pregnant with our second child!

I was actually in Yuma, AZ when we found out and I don't think Kristin could have waited so she called me out there. We are both very excited and so is Drew! He's been asking for a baby brother or sister for some time now and is very thrilled he will be a big brother. Kristin is not due until October, so many updates will follow, just wanted to let you all know it's official! God is so good!

Attached is a picture of baby peanut:)

New Car!!!

I know...some of you family members are thinking "they just bought a new car like 2 years ago!" You're right, we did...but it was a piece of @$%^! For those of you out there that are possibly considering buying a Chrysler Pacifica, continue reading...

We bought the Pacifica in 2006 just before we PCS'd from Fort Riley. Got a great deal on it b/c it was a 2005 that was still on the lot when the 2006's began arriving. We should have seen things to come when we had it for 1 day and the DVD/CD changer gobbled-up 3 of our DVD's and wouldn't spit them back out. This happened twice in the first month. We finally got the DVD system fixed and largely had success with the car until about a year later when Kristin noticed a small "ticking" sound coming from the front end. Up examination at the dealer, they said the entire All Wheel Drive system had to be replaced (basically the entire transmission). the mechanic at the dealer told me that it would have been a $10,000 job had it not been covered under the warranty. Fast forward to a couple months ago when we had to have the rear axle-seal replaced, brake drums replaced and the gas pedel started sticking all of which was not covered under the powertrain warranty. So, with only 39,000 miles on it I had had enough.

So I started research on the internet and the field quickly narrowed to either the Honda Accord, or Toyota Camry, both of which are great cars. We test-drove both and felt the Accord to be a better car. So yesterday, we brought our new Honda Accord home! This is my first Honda and I must say that I am very, very impressed! The engineering is superb, the interior is awesome, the power and engine are great...I could go on for quite a while. Plus, the CD player is still working so we are already ahead of where we were with the Pacifica at this point.

So if you want to know more about both cars if you are in the market for a new car I have quite a bit of info. to share. Just email me if you want more info. Until then, I have attached a couple pics for your enjoyment...

Karate!

I have been meaning to post for a while but it has bee a really busy month at work with travel...

A couple of weeks back Drew finally started Karate, which he has been really wanting to do for some time now. He is very excited each and every lesson we got to and his attention could not be diverted by anything short of a nuclear explosion. So we are happy he has found something he really enjoys...let's see how long it lasts!

Here's a few pics of some of his "moves"


Drew in his "strike position"


This is his "ready position"