Friday, April 27, 2007

so with each week that passes, it gets harder and harder to get caught up, yet with time i feel an increased desire to give each wonderful weekend its due.

three weekends ago
sometimes life is about riding things out, i felt horrible that things around me felt a little off-kilter this week - why did it have to be when Boppy and Granny are visiting? It just felt like i had a million things going on in every aspect of my life. A weekend with them at Boca Chica seemed to sort things out and although the mountain at work still lies in front of me, i think i will be able to manage. I really do love the Hamaca at Boca Chica; mom and dad have been there i think five times and whenever they are there, i am - for some stretch of their vacation as well. I am always trying to ensure that Granny and Boppy get some relaxing time to go with their Oliver time to go with their Karli and mark time, and i really think they scored on all levels this trip. After putting down O, i return to the beach to swim with mom and dad on Saturday to see Boppy in a rare state...vegging; book closed, on sun bed staring up at the inPictures can be seen here.



two weekends ago
a long weekend here in the Dominican and we returned to Cabarete: to Nanny's Estates. We were lucky to find a place there when some previous plans fell through, but the vacation was the stuff dreams are made of - well kiter's dreams anyway. I averaged more then five hours of kiting a day in two or three sessions. Did some of the best riding of my life, really charging. The downside was my wife's first use of the term kite widow. Which is undoubtedly not a great thing. Of course she did follow this by signing herself up for a lesson - she's the best.
This was also the first trip in our new car, a 1999 Blazer. She's a dream, comfortable, smooth and powerful. Of course by overheating on the way home it had me missing our 4runner more then ever. I got it back from the shop today, and am confident good times are ahead.

last weekend
Finally after a stretch of six weekends out of the city we stayed in town and it was really nice. Thursday we tried to get to Spiderman3 but the lines were like nothing i have ever seen before. Friday i played nine holes at the niner - the greatest golf course in the world. Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, an ultimate tournament that i organized, by all accounts it was a success. The highlight was Karli playing incredibly and winning the "Dark Horse" award. She came prancing in to the house announcing her award and swearing that she would return to the field, a place i have been trying to get her for three years. Success.

So its lame, its rushed, but it has me somewhat up to date...which is better then where i was yesterday.

Friday, April 20, 2007

back to back?

yup but it is worth it! Look what Karli captured, Ollie with Raymond and Winney



click to see the video

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

granny and boppy arrived on Friday and the spoiling began immediately...well that is lie actually - it began right after he woke up from his nap. They were on a plane at six in the morning and arrived at our apartment at quarter to two, not bad really, of course i rewarded them by throwing them in the car for a little more then three hours so we could go to Cabarete.

A return to Cabarete and to Nanny Estates, which has to be one of my favorite places in the world. Mom and dad hadn't been there since i lived in Cabarete working at ISS, so they were flabbergasted by the changes that continue to go on (the last affordable nice hotel for families was closed a week ago for ... yup you guessed it, luxury condos). If you can't beat 'em join 'em.

The kiting was beyond epic (video coming soon). Saturday i kited from noon until five thirty, and Sunday i got on the water at eleven and left exhausted at two forty-five. Simply stated this weekend was as good as Cabarete (one of the best places in the world to kite) gets, and with four extra hands and eyes wanting to watch and care for Oliver, i had to take full advantage.





The OPP got his first pair of havianas escalating him to full beach bum status. Daddy is oh so proud. OK so i may have jumped the gun but he'll grow into them.

We ate in, we went to sleep early and the weekend was fantastic.



how you doin?
in a surprise unannounced realease Ollie broke out blue steel at Sunday's breakfast, no one expected to see it until this years baby fashion awards...



Tuesday, April 10, 2007

last year i had more then three hundred photos from my spring break; this year...thirty one.

wha' happened? Is Las Terrenas somehow less beautiful? Certainly not. Is Oliver getting uncute? not at all, if anything he is more cute then he was a year ago, this teetering around on two feet is really something to behold. Maybe i am just lazy, but anyone who has known me for longer then a year will assuredly tell you that this is not a new trait. I guess, to steal a phrase from my younger and much wiser brother, i was too busy living my life to consider documenting it.

CopOut? perhaps, but that is my story and i am sticking to it.

So i apologize to all of you non-teachers for going on about my week holiday, but you definitely have your time to laugh at me - every payday. We headed back to Las Terrenas arguably the most beautiful place on earth for the better part of the week sharing a house with our friends the Dungans. They have a 3 year old Aidan, and Mia who will turn one tomorrow. Within minutes of our arrival we had created an outdoor play pen which was a huge hit and the relaxation began, our biggest responsibilities were to figure out what we would prepare for dinner each night. Ahhh the good life. Would it be grilled pork tenderloin, or fish bought off of the boat? Life is full of tough decisions like these.
Jeff and i prayed for wind every day but really were only heard once. We had a couple of light days and one shutout but there was one day that was as good as LT gets, with huge fun rollers on the outside for our kiting pleasure. At times (while being shutout) i questioned being a kitesurfer; there i stood on a gorgeous secluded beach, perfect weather ... cursing the fact that there wasn't any wind. One millisecond of sailing erased those thoughts...until the next shutout. There isn't a whole lot to write here; reading, playing, napping, relaxing. It really was wonderful; so wonderful that both couples passed on the opportunity to head into town for a night knowing that the food, ambiance and company we had couldn't be topped. With each day more people arrived at the sleepy little beach town and by Thursday it was booming; luckily we were driving against traffic on our way out of there.
We went to Cabarete where i scored another monster session before retreating to the hills of the Blue Moon for incredible food and ... yup more relaxing. I sat on Cabarete beach enduring another incredibly painful shutout (and yes questioning the whole sport) on Good Friday before spending Saturday and Sunday getting ready for the final push of the '06-'07 school year. Santo Domingo is a wonderful city when so many of the people are out of town, quiet and no traffic!

As for Ollie he spent the week mastering "the walking", it is amazing how few times the kid has actually fallen (touch wood), the unlevel beach is always a challenge.



His mom continues to get more beautiful, which simply doesn't seem possible, but somehow is true.

Granny and Boppy arrive on Friday and the excitement can only be described as electric.

Ben now has a blog of his own!