Run For Your Lives, Zombie Cam & Report!

Sorry it's taken a little more time to get this one up, but I kept running into some technical issues....but those are resolved now....so we are good. As most of you know, last weekend I headed up to MD to volunteer at a 5k obstacle course race, but I was dressed up as a zombie and placed out on the course to try and pull people's "health flags" [read: flag football flags.] If they lost all of their flags, their time at the end was recorded as a zombie time instead of a human time. I was out on the course for about 5.5 hours chasing people, pulling flags, and attempting to pull flags when I wasn't being hit, slapped, punched, shoved, or cursed at. Needless to say it was quite the experience.

I left at 4am to make the drive up, and when I got up to the event site, I made my way over to the volunteers area to get zombie-fied. They had professional make-up artists there to paint our faces and destroy our clothes in a believable manner. I had also brought along my white contacts to complete the effect. There were plenty of other zombies around that commented at just how freaky I looked with the eyes. Here's a picture of me as a zombie when I got my make up done that morning. And the video of my point of view of the race.

Ready to eat some brains!

[Run For Your Lives, Zombie POV Cam]

After the event I decided it would be worth the effort to drive home in all my make-up [while trying to avoid being spotted by other drivers] to head over to my parents house to try and scare my mom. And scare her I did! [Most of you have already seen the video but I'm posting it again because it's just too funny.] Also, it was my younger sisters homecoming dance that night, so we thought it would be fun to take some pictures we all of us dressed up.

It was quite an interesting drive home!

[Scaring Mom As A Zombie]

All dressed up.

Happy Zombie.

She's so proud.

A Weekend In North Carolina

This past weekend I headed down to North Carolina for my oldest sisters graduation from UNC and her commissioning into the Navy. But not before I stopped to get some of the best [if not the best] BBQ this country has to offer!!

First stop was Raleigh, NC where I was able to meet up with a friend from college for dinner at The Pit, located in downtown raleigh. You may be saying to yourself "Wait a sec, The Pit? This sounds familiar, explain yourself." Well, if you were in fact saying something along those lines in your head, then you're a better follower of my blog than I thought. A little over a year ago, I headed south on my famous BBQ Tour of North Carolina, and our 3rd and final BBQ stop was at The Pit. Well, the memories were so good that I wanted to head back there again, and yes, it was just as good as I remember. I split a platter of carolina style ribs and a platter of pulled and chopped pork with my brother, and added some mac & cheese, and fried okra on the side. [The okra was AMAZING!] Here's a poorly lit picture of the feast I enjoyed my first night down there.

Day #2 consisted of my sister's commissioning in the morning, and graduation from the nursing school in the evening. Here's a video of my dad administering her oath and she swears in and officially became an Ensign in the Navy, and a picture of myself and siblings after the ceremony. [I look like a total goober in this picture though, bad posture or something!]

Erika Swearing In

That evening after a nice walk around the UNC campus, we headed to the Dean Dome for the nursing school graduation. 

The graduate and proud parents.

Day #3 and Sunday morning consisted of early rain showers that thankfully let up just in time for the main commencement ceremony at Kenan Stadium. Here's a before and after pic of all the graudates filing into the stadium. I have some video from this as well, that I just haven't uploaded yet, maybe I'll get to that tonight, maybe not....we'll see. Anyways, the ceremony was real nice and not too terribly long either. If you want some more pictures, head over here. Congratulations Erika!

Easter Sunday 2011

After attending the "sunrise" service at my church at 8:15 this past Sunday, I headed down to the Lorton area to explore the Laurel Hill trails system. I've been hearing for the past year or so about these trails, but had never been or explored them myself. So I hopped on the mountain bike and set off to see what the terrain was like. 

Actually, the night before I had looked up a trail map and directions so I at least had a small inkling of what was in store, but looking at colored lines on a map is entirely different from seeing the trails while riding. Here's the website that I used to read about and find the trails: Trail Voice: Laurel Hill Trails Here's a quick overview of my ride, and you'll see that the gps tracking lines I made are [almost] identical to the trail map. [I did the blue loop twice, and used the Cross County Trail a couple times as well to connect the different areas.]

[Click 'View Details' to expand for more info]

After an hour and change, 11.5 mile ride, I headed over to my parents house to celebrate Easter. As with many families, we always do an Easter egg hunt, and it's now become my job to go out and hide all the eggs before the hunt. I try and get pretty creative and sneaky with the hiding of the eggs, making it difficult to find them all, I'm sure we've lost a couple over the years. But once I'm done hiding the eggs, everyone participating in the hunt gather just inside the front door ready to be let loose. My extremely competitive caring sister, Erika tends to end up with the most, but that's because she will bull rush ya to get an egg. As a spectator, it's almost like being at the colosseum.....okay not really, but you get what I'm trying to say. Either way it usually produces a couple really good photos. Below is a great shot of everyone charging out the front door at the start of the hunt.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

No Ordinary Family

This past weekend, my lovely Godmother and aunt was in town visiting, so when I wasn't out riding my bike, I was hanging out at my parents house. Also, my brother and his wife, and my sister, were all in town as well, and when you combine that many of our family members in one house, good times are bound to happen.

For as long as I can remember, Friday night at my parents house has always been pizza night. Way back when, we would gather around the TV and watch all the shows on TGIF, man those were the days! But nowadays, it's mostly pizza [same great home made recipe] and beer [which has been substituted for TGIF.] The family wasted no time on Friday getting the entertainment going. First, my dad was presented his trophy [The Toilet Bowl Award] for finishing dead last in our fantasy football pick 'em league this year. 

The "Winner"

The trophy

Shortly after the award presentation, my sister and her boyfriend decided it would be a good time to serenade the rest of us with some awkwardly loud noises. I'm sure these hidden talents will come in handy one day....

[Hidden Talents]

And people say I'm the crazy one.....

Unfortunately, the fun stopped there for Friday night. But I was back over on Sunday to enjoy some more delicious home cookin' and play a little friendly family game of Trivial Pursuit. My brother is very competitive [it doesn't run in the family or anything], so when he and Katie started to lose their lead things became much more intense. Nevertheless, my team [Erika, Aunt Paula, and myself] came through in the end and were victorious. I think that may have actually been the first time I've ever won at Trivial Pursuit as well. 

VICTORY!

It was another great weekend, with food, family, and laughs. Seriously, there's never a dull moment when you put us all together. I think deep down maybe we're all 6 years old at heart. 

Happy Birthday: Mom [And Fairy Godmother] Edition

Today is February 11th, which means it's my moms [and her twin sisters] Birthday! They are two of the most wonderful and caring women I've ever known, and I'm beyond proud to be a son and nephew to them. I love it when they're both together, because once you get them going, they will crack each other up until they literally fall out of their chairs. While most of the time no one else knows what's going on, it's still hilarious for us to watch. They're both a constant source of entertainment and love, and for that, I feel truly blessed. Happy Birthday to you both!!

The mother and myself at my friends wedding a few years back.

The unstoppable duo.

Here's a video I made for them for their birthday a few years back,

but it's always worth another watch.

Happy Birthday! from Rob Stratton on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday: Erika Edition

Today is my oldest sister, Erika's 22nd birthday. Not really an exciting birthday since you've been able to drink legally for a year now, and you're car insurance rates don't drop till you turn 25, but hey it's a birthday nonetheless right?! Let's take a quick look at the progress of Erika.

Couple days old, shortly after her inaugural birthday.

Sporting some high fashion sometime in the mid 90's.

Celebrating [both of ours] 21st birthday's a couple months/years early while at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany.

This picture may reflect otherwise, but I assure you she's actually come a long way folks.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIKA!! :)

My New Toy!

A little over a week ago I mentioned I had some big news, and today....you get that news! Well, it may not be news anymore because some of you already know, but it's still fun.

Recently I had been saving up and putting money aside every month with the goal of buying a new, louder, more powerful exhaust system for the Challenger. I had a pretty good amount put aside, and then the weather started to get nice, and all of a sudden I started to see motorcycles on the road again. Now, most of you will remember that I did have a motorcycle previously, but decided to sell it last year before I ordered the Challenger, because at the time I knew I couldn't swing both. Well, a year later, it was time to start looking for another one.

Then about 2 weeks ago, I went and looked at one for sale from a member of DCSBN, and really liked it. He let me take it for a quick test spin around the neighborhood and I was hooked. I wanted to get a bike mainly for commuting to and from work in the summer. It's faster, cheaper [55mpg], I get to use the HOV lanes, plus it won't be nearly as tempting to put commuting miles on the Challenger when the weather is nice now, since I'll just ride the bike into work.

What I got is a Suzuki DRZ-400Sm [pictured above], and it's what's referred to as a supermoto bike, or motard, or just 'tard for short. It's basically a big dirt bike, but designed for street use with small off-road capabilities [gravel, packed dirt trails, grass, etc]. It'll be a great commuter bike for riding into and out of DC everyday. So far I really like it, am having a lot of fun, and am glad I decided to get this instead of a new exhaust system for the car...which will still happen, just not as soon as I had originally planned.

Anyway, I picked up the bike on Sunday afternoon, and on Wednesday afternoon had a chance to ride it over to my parents house to share with them my news! The following is a quick video of what went down. That's my roommate Chris with me in the video on his Harley Davidson sportster something something. Enjoy, and expect plenty more motorcycle videos to come!

[motorcycle surprise]

Kid On A Leash Part IV

Well, kid on a ski-leash really, either way it's still funny. My brosef and his wife Katie went snowboarding the same place I did this week, just a few days later, and they were able to capture this picture on the slopes. Hats off for your crack-reporting and photography skills guys!

As always, take a picture of a kid on a leash, send it to me, it goes on the blog. Enjoy!

A Stratton Family Christmas

Here's a couple choice pictures from Christmas morning this year (and one sequence) but the above picture should give you a pretty good understanding to how things went. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, and has a safe and Happy New Year! On with the pictures!

Flowergirl On A Leash!

In an exciting twist, Katie once again has come through with these super duper shots of a FLOWERGIRL ON A LEASH from a wedding she recently attended. Now, I don't have any kids of my own, but I can't imagine trying to pick up your kid by the leash itself. C'mon lady!! Just remember, that kid your slinging around will be responsible for your care in like another 50 years!

Flowergirl on a leash is being hung by said leash!

Kid On A Leash Part III

Okay, my apologies for not updating this as often as I had. I hit a really busy spell, and am way behind on posting stuff. That being said, ON WITH THE SHOW!

My most favorite of all of my sister-in-law's, Katie, has been quite the sleuth behind the lens as of late. This first set of 'Kid on a leash' pictures were sent in about 2 weeks ago. I think we have some serious paparazzi talent on our hands! Enjoy!

Video of 'The Colonel'

I had been meaning to do this for a short while but only got around to it this afternoon. Decided to shoot a short little video walk-around of the Challenger, so all of my friends and family out of state could get a better view of it. I didn't really know what to say so I just winged it, I think it came out pretty good. As always; Enjoy!

Brosef's Birthday

Today is my favorite brother's 24th birthday. Happy Birthday dude.

How he didn't end up modeling for the Gap or something I have no idea. Just look at that pose. Seriously.

Enjoying some beer and Redskins football.

Also, since my bro is a huge fan of Scrubs, I felt like including one of my favorite clips on this post as well.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 26th Anniversary Mom & Dad!! Love you both very much!

The Fairfax Rap

Some of you may recall my brothers blog post about the Arlington Rap video a few months back. In case you don't, you can catch it here. Pretty funny stuff, esp since my bro lived in Arlington at the time....instead of Farmville USA, his current residence.

Anyway I am proud to bring you the Fairfax Rap! It's funny cause I live in Fairfax, whereas my bro lived in Arlington....it's like he and I are rap-battling and.......ah forget it, just enjoy the clip from my neck of the woods!

Kidsongs: What I Want To Be

How about these videos for a blast from the past!? No....just me? Well I know of at least two people who will remember the awesomeness that was Kidsongs!! It's incredible how much I remember from these videos, I'm pretty sure my brother and I watched these videos on a constant repeating loop....with a little TOP GUN mixed in for good measure. Here's the 'What I Want To Be' episode, enjoy!

And as a side note: this first song totally reminds me of my sister.

UNC: National Champs

As we all know by now. The UNC Tarheels are the 2009 Mens NCAA Basketball Champions. My sister happens to go to UNC [and thus why I've become such a fan] and she also happens to be crazier than I had previously thought. She was part of this madness last night!! Go Erika.


Franklin Street: The Celebration from The Daily Tar Heel on Vimeo.

On another note, I'm still so incredibly bitter over losing the bracket run by my brother on a tiebreaker in the national championship game by 1 lousy point!! How many bball games have we watched over the past 3 weeks and I lose by 1 point?! Lesson of this story: when filling out your brackets, do not take lightly the importance of the tiebreaker score prediction.

I See Your Video, And Raise You Two More!

My brother recently just finished up a critiquing series on those freecreditreport.com videos over on his and Katie's blog. Fascinating reading. I shudder to think of what he might say about this little diddy I just found....

Birthday Video

My mom's (50th) Birthday was on Wednesday, but we couldn't celebrate as a family until yesterday evening. With some huge help in tracking down these pictures, I was able to turn them into a video slideshow, burn a dvd, and give it to my mom for her birhday. It's a 'Blast Through The Past' if you will of all kinds of old family photos of my mom and her twin. I didn't put this up until now cause she couldn't see it until last night. I'd say it's safe to say she loved it. Hope you do too!


Happy Birthday! from Rob Stratton on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Mom's Birthday! Everyone join me in wishing her a great day! :)

And purely for laughs: