Day Trip to Bass Island on Lake Eire

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Lisa deserves a huge applause for planning the first half of this trip! (When I finish bloggin', I'm gunna have to plan the other half). Yesterday we had a beautiful trip to a place we would have never even knew existed, except that we were looking for things to do around Kirtland, Ohio. First, she found "The Great Wolf Lodge", which as I described earlier, is a big outdoorsy themed hotel with an indoor waterpark. Next, she read that a local ISLAND was having a parade and fair! I didn't used to associate islands and water with Ohio, but no longer! Lake Eire was beautiful! We were so lucky that the weather was around 70 degrees all day long. For the ride out, everyone (minus me) was more comfortable wearing a jacket. The air was SOOOOOOOO cool and refreshing. We also had tons of sunshine with the cool air, which was ALMOST all that I needed for a completely fun day. After eating delicious deli sandwhiches, we rented a 6 seater golf car (and I can't believe I didn't get a picture). I DID get some video, howeber, and will post it on this trip if I am able! We cruised up and down the rustic streets of Lower Bass Island (aka Put-In-Bay) for 90 minutes, scoping out the entire island before deciding where we wanted to spend all of our time. The kids posed on the "Evolve" blocks at one end of the island - again, Kudos to my cool wife that was sure we had to stop for a picture. I took video of the next part - crusing past the scouts camped out by the War of 1812 memorial (I didn't know we went to war with those nice Canadian people less than 200 years ago! j/k)

Day Trip to Bass Island on Lake Eire

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Lisa deserves a huge applause for planning the first half of this trip! (When I finish bloggin', I'm gunna have to plan the other half). Yesterday we had a beautiful trip to a place we would have never even knew existed, except that we were looking for things to do around Kirtland, Ohio. First, she found "The Great Wolf Lodge", which as I described earlier, is a big outdoorsy themed hotel with an indoor waterpark. Next, she read that a local ISLAND was having a parade and fair! I didn't used to associate islands and water with Ohio, but no longer! Lake Eire was beautiful! We were so lucky that the weather was around 70 degrees all day long. For the ride out, everyone (minus me) was more comfortable wearing a jacket. The air was SOOOOOOOO cool and refreshing. We also had tons of sunshine with the cool air, which was ALMOST all that I needed for a completely fun day. After eating delicious deli sandwhiches, we rented a 6 seater golf car (and I can't believe I didn't get a picture). I DID get some video, howeber, and will post it on this trip if I am able! We cruised up and down the rustic streets of Lower Bass Island (aka Put-In-Bay) for 90 minutes, scoping out the entire island before deciding where we wanted to spend all of our time. The kids posed on the "Evolve" blocks at one end of the island - again, Kudos to my cool wife that was sure we had to stop for a picture. I took video of the next part - crusing past the scouts camped out by the War of 1812 memorial (I didn't know we went to war with those nice Canadian people less than 200 years ago! j/k)

Japanese Festival - (A week ago in St. Louis)

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Ok, so this blog is out of order - we actually went to the Japanese Festival last week at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens, but I finally have a little time to catch up while on vacation! It was about 95 degrees and very humid - just like the Japan I knew for two years.

I love this picture of Scott trying out his bird whistle. Mom, in the meantime, was preppping the boys in the background for another picture (and cooling her feet off in the fountain).

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Lisa said she was sorry that a stroller wandered into this picture. She felt much better when I told her that I can Photoshop it out in a few minutes. That....hasn't happened yet. I will post it when it happens. I don't think she was worried about the blog version anyway. These are real, gianormous lily pads! Absolutely gorgeous reflecting pond!
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Gotta love the expressions you get from your kids sometimes when you tell them to smile!

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September Vacation? Yes, that's the Orthodontist way.

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So we're on a vacation to Kirland, Ohio. On the way we had to take a picture of yet another unusual water tower for our collection. We're staying in the Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, which is a port town for Lake Eire. Today we will travel by ferry to Put-in-Bay Island for a festival. We'll be sure to update you after this incredible journey (gulp!) Right now the kids are enjoying scaling the walls of their 'wolf den' here in our hotel room. The walls are made of plastic, but the idea is that they have their own little private bunk area in the hotel room with cool lights, and their own television.


Breaking Dawn is Here!

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Lisa has already finished the final book of our LATEST favorite series. Now that she is done, I have made it 1/3 of the way through. The first night, she read until I fell asleep, and I dreamed about the story all through the night. At about 2:00 AM, I 'woke up' unsure if I was vampire, werewolf, or just plain me. After another hour or so, I woke up enough to fall back asleep. Pretty strange. It reminded me of the time I 'woke up' while I was at a YMCA camp, went outside to relieve myself next to a big train, then went back to sleep. The next morning I pondered the memory, and was like "What the heck was up with the train thing? There's no trains here!"

I also started "Fablehaven" with Tommy and Scott, who seem to be enjoying the read as much as me. Parker is almost finished with book 5 of Harry Potter. He started the series 5 weeks ago. He's our little bookworm. i haven't even finished book 7 yet! Sheesh!


As part of my celebration for the release of Breaking Dawn (or really, more a celebration of selling our other house), we bought a Volvo S-80. I am not sure who likes it more, me or Lisa, but we have a lovely time driving it. Although it's practically new, with a 'sports package', I saved quite a bit by purchasing it pre-owned.


We went to Six Flags on Friday. I can't say I am looking forward to repeating that experience. It wasn't that I detest theme parks, but I...uh,...help me out here Lisa. Ok, it reminds me of camping with toddlers, so much work for what you get out of it! Next time we will have to pick a less busy time, and avoid the Tony Hawk coaster, as it completely put my neck out between C2 and C3. I don't have any clue what I'm talking about, but I will be visiting the Chiropractor. Oh well. We are just a bit spoiled by our many visits to Disneyland and Disneyworld, where we are accustomed to being completely overwhelmed with everything. Pity, as Six Flags is less than 10 miles from our home! I think driving my new car is actually much more fun than any of those rides. Don't worry Dad, I don't drive it like I'm on a roller coaster! It's pretty tight though. It's nice that I can change the handling setting from comfort to sports car setting, then drive it as a manual instead of automatic for the extra kick.

Padme is shaved down like a sheep. She looks better than I thought, considering that she is 'meant' to have long hair. Her body is shaped somewhat like a greyhound, only much smaller, and with a Cavalier head. It's nice for everyone, especially Padme, considering the heat.

Lisa and I went to the movie "Mama Mia" last night. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone, but much of it hit the spot for us. Meryl Streep was incredible, as was the girl who played her daughter. I really, really enjoyed listening to Lisa laughing next to me. We WERE going to go out to dinner, but then I got the idea with only 'moments to spare', so we had PROTEIN BARS and a BIG tub of popcorn for dinner. I'm so romantic. On the way home we shopped at Walgreens for a car fresheners and dark chocolate. We picked Island Colada, and the chocolate was devine - 'intense orange'. Lisa's pick. Loved it! Ohh, can I have some right now? I'm going to get a handful of chocolate chips from our freezer (which is always loaded)!
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So this started as an idea between me and Parker. We thought it would be funny if we decorated a bathroom of our home with watertower pictures. Parker kept the idea alive, and now we have our first official 'Watertowers of Missouri' pictures. Part of the premise is that we are supposed to look really, really excited to be getting our pictures at these amazing landmarks. I am now going into fake photo-journalist mode:

We were very pleased to find a rare Orb-on-a-Stick style watertower in Carl Junction, only blocks from our relatives home! This style has also been referred to as the 'Silver Enema' by watertower historians.

I know this is hard to believe, but we didn't photoshop the words 'Hot' and 'Cold' onto these towers. Although many have been fooled by this clever paint job, we know the truth; the hot water is actually in the one that says 'Cold'. I was so excited when we saw these towers that I spilled my entire McDonalds meal on myself. We are working on building s of both, which we were able to purchase at the local tourism center. This is up there with Mt. Rushmore in terms of number of visits, and tourist photos. The only difference is the type of people in the pictures; mostly rednecks that don't know anything about watertower history.
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You better believe Parker was excited about this one! It's not every day that you see a hexagonal support system, shaped somewhat like a liver cell, with a semi-bullet shaped tower! It is also rather exotic with it's foreign name. No, we're NOT actually in Cuba the country. This is Cuba, Missouri. The lettering is remarkably well aligned, unlike the electric pole to the left in this excellent photo.
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Finally, it's a checkerboard-style tower, painted to attract the attention of tourists. It worked. We couldn't resist the photo opportunity!
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Check the radiator Day!

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For anyone who doesn't know, check the radiator day was a tradition started by my father-in-law with his daughters. He would say "Will you come with me to check the radiator", when he was really saying "Do you want to go get an ice cream?" Well, Lisa's father passed away two weeks before we were married. He had been so sick, that the ever optimistic Lambert family all said "Well that was the only way he was going to make it to the wedding". He WAS there. I think he also shows up for moments of our checking the radiator day, since it's always on his birthday.
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Thomas looks a litte sleepy. But give him a few more minutes, after the sugar hits his stream there will be no stopping him!
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Lisa's sister #5 is Leslie. Lisa is #7. Leslie and Bill are both from California, but boldly moved out to Missouri 7 years before we did. We wish they lived on the EAST side of the state like we do, but we LOVE that they are so close. Lisa's mom, Delores, lives with them now as well, so we have 3 of the living 8 Lambert's here now: Lisa, Leslie, and their mom!