its June, summer is so close i can taste it. Right now we are experiencing the storm before the calm - we are swamped - this video is horrible and i keep debating whether no post would be better then a bad one...



we are travelling until the 23rd of July and things kick off with Ian's wedding, we hope to see you while we are in North America.

i'm sick, i have a cold. One thing that really isn't great about living in the Caribbean is that whenever you get a cold...it's like having a "summer cold" - i for one HATE summer colds. Karli went away with the girls last weekend leaving Ollie and i to play like kids, we had a blast.


i just saw the type-o, the handle was under his chin, but i didn't save the file to make changes...oh well.

I even managed to win some money hosting a poker night on Saturday before the cold hit Sunday afternoon. One more weekend and then we are homeward bound!

Check out these babes!!hubba hubba

Happy Mothers' Day!
so it may be two weeks later but living away from home does have its advantages...like two mothers' days. To be honest this year Karli actually celebrated Mexican, North American and Dominican - not bad really. As i watch the video from last year it is tough to imagine how far we've come in twelve months - it sure is a great ride though.
This weekend we had a visitor from the past; our school hosted an international school sports tournament and we got to host a great friend from our Ecuador days - Daniel. It meant little sleep and it was so great to see him - especially happy and doing so well. We hadn't seen him since the last time CMS hosted which was two years ago - Karli and i have had quite a few changes since then. So there was lots to catch up on; the stories, laughs and memories never seemed to cease. We were so busy chatting and catching up - including me chastasing him for not bringing any fotos of Venezuela and friends there - that i don't have one foto to prove he was here. It was a great visit Dan! Let's not wait two more years to do it again.
So you thought you escaped with out picture or movie...no such luck. We did head to the beach on Saturday while poor Daniel coached in the sun, it was a new beach for us: Palenque - tranquillo and very Dominican. Great spot with fresh fish and an incredible drive to get to. The OPP loved the dogs, young Dominicans who played so amazingly and gently with him, the sand and the water but the highlight was the float suit i bought for him Saturday morning. RoboCop - look out!



The video and the big picture seem like overkill; eventually i will have to axe one of them, I'd appreaciate any suggestions you have.

Happy Mothers' Day! We are so fortunate to have incredible mother's and grandmother's and are thankful for them everyday. We really missed you this weekend, and hope to see you in a month's time.

T-minus thirty days...
yup its one of my favorite times of year, time for all you non-teachers to begin hating us...again - summer is around the corner. Twice a month you get to laugh at us (PayDay), but this is our time.

Actually the end of the year is always bittersweet for international teachers because it carries with it a set of "see you laters" that are not easy to go through.

This weekend we went to Las Terrenas to celebrate a truly great friendship that has spanned five years, continents and countless adventures more amazing then many ever know. As always lessons were learned, laughs were shared and hugs and smiles were abound; RD we're gonna miss you when your gone.

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.

back to back?

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



click to see the video

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...

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!

Giant Steps...

'nuff said

a HUGE welcome to Ollie's two new friends Jack Russell Dilworth (26th) and Benjamin Campbell Bradley (29th). We are really hoping to meet these guys during our time in Canada this summer.

We are off to Las Terrenas for the week early tomorrow morning, so take care and pray for wind.

Well it really can’t be argued that the new focus of the internet and blogs seems to be video. It’s everywhere and why not really? I have been talking a lot about it on my professional blog, but here it explodes into my personal one as well. Why? because i don’t have many stills from this weekend.
Pretty relaxing weekend all in all, starting out with a special Friday afternoon ultimate session that led to some pool time and then an impromptu fiesta at our house; great fun with great people. Saturday was to be my first ever time playing spades, what it ended up being was a confirmation of something that i knew; something that had been looming right in front of me for weeks. Oliver is a little boy. It is great and with each step he is more amazing but the days of bringing him to a party and then setting up his pack-and-play in a spare room are gone. He’s too smart for that, he knows where he is and what he wants which is amazing but at the same time it is another change. Needless to say our spades night was a little shorter then expected, we’ll win next time though (for the record: he was jovial and the life of the party and never complained, he just wasn’t going to sleep). (see the baby in the cupboard video) Sunday was spent lounging before going to help out at the SpringFest activities at the school. It really is quite an event with loud music and more kids on a sugar rush then you will see anywhere outside of Halloween. It is a good event and it earns a bunch of money that is largely spent on tech stuff for the school, so i am in full support! This marks three weeks in a row without wind: yes, i am counting. That said this is the last week before we get to go to Las Terrenas for a week, i think i can i think i can. If it stays windy all week up there this little drought will be well worth it!
The OPP was laughing so hard while waiting for Karli to come down on our way out for the evening. He continued until she arrived and then kept it up long enough for me to go back to the apartment and get the camera to capture it. Good Times.
The OPP hits the big time (err at least YouTube).

We had a really busy week between work and social stuff last week. The highlight was hosting twenty people for a sushi roll. We are admitted sushi addicts, but rolling your own really can’t be beat. In the end there was fifty or more rolls prepared and cut leaving all of us in a complete food coma and despite our best efforts there was still more then we could finish for lunch the next day! I am not kidding; the picture shows one of three tables. This has been an event that we had been trying to get together for months and we hope the next one will be sooner!

Then there was the seventeenth of March. What a great day this is. As Oliver and i went to the orchid festival at the botanical gardens i couldn’t help but reflect at some of the days i have scene: walking in a Galway parade while on rugby tour in highschool, breakfast and lunch at the Toucan before heading to the Wellington for a little Gerry O while at Queen’s, even in Bahrain - St. Paddy’s has always treated me well. A comedic friend of mine here in Santo Domingo was going on the other day about how funny it would be if the world treated all national holidays like we do St. Paddy’s Day; that is pretend we are Irish. It was a great little bit - one that i am sure he will eventually take to a stage somewhere.

This year the wonder of St. Paddy’s continued with the second annual Colmado Crawl. As the colmado (a convenience store, they sell everything including beer and often have a group sitting around chatting and playing dominoes) culture here is incredibly strong friends invented the event last year. It combines a photo scavenger hunt with a crawl – jenius. Oliver somehow made it behind the counter in most of the stops and continues to amaze at how calm he is being passed from stranger to stranger. This year’s shirts simply said, “tiene suerte (got luck)?” below the shamrock emblazoned with the Dominican flag. The pictures were amazing but somehow the ones ending up on this blog all seemed to have one thing (lil'man) in common…it seems to me that the only question that remains is: is it live to ride or ride to live?

update...
I may have jumped the gun on that previous post, we have not purchased the Blazer, i am cherishing every moment in Coach though as i know my time with her is limited.
My Heritage - celebrity look alike - very cool little applet.
See Karli, Oliver, or me.
of coures i am using this in my class, and my students are loving it!

Goodbye hockey hair…
It’s is true, despite Boppy’s insistence that Oliver would be a baby until h e was eighteen months old; his first haircut transformed him instantaneously from a baby into a little boy. Yes, it was necessary and maybe even overdue but it is still a reminder of how incredible (and how fast) each second flying by is.
A windless weekend kept us around the capital; it did bring in some money through a poker game which went out three-hundred fold in the shape of a new car. That’s right we spent another day test driving and think we will purchase our new truck this week. It is a two thousand Blazer and although i have been up late going over all of my hypocrisy surrounding it, that fact is: we simply need the clearance of an SUV here. We still drive less then ten kilometers Monday thru Friday, and our new car (despite its V6) will be an improvement on gas usage and the environment then the our 4 Runner with its four cylinders is now. Have i convinced you? i don’t think i would be typing this if i was a hundred percent convinced…must be the driver that lives within my head. I am going to be so sad to sell our car, i really do love her, but it is time to go. Becoming a father has vaulted the importance of airbags and reliability over the rugged toughness and adventure that “coach” has provided these last two years. Beyond this, we have both accepted new positions at CMS that will keep us here a little longer so a newer vehicle just makes sense. Karli will be the writing specialist for the elementary school and i will be the Academic Technology Director. They are both incredible opportunities for us and we are very thankful.
We will sell her soon and she will continue to enrich someone’s life; hopefully she’ll come to visit. You think i am acting but these tears are real.
A weekend around the house was really nice and relaxing: lots of reading, lots of swimming, lots of playing and just generally kicking back; enjoying being with each other, hope yours was wonderful.

birthdays, ecua-friends, chicken pox, wind and more…
wow it amazes me that another weekend has come and gone, every time i sit down to write these entries i am blown away about how lucky we are. It really feels like every weekend is an adventure, and seriously: would we wouldn’t want it any other way?
Friday marked the first time i was invited to a Dominican’s first birthday. i have witnessed these extravaganzas from afar in the park but Maria Matilde’s birthday allowed me to take part. Complete with dancing, entertainers, food, a full bar, jumping castles, yeah i Oliver really was in heaven (scene).
Saturday Salinas was nukin’ and jefe and i were there. Some super long cruising and carving sessions. i could go into the details but it would likely not make sense to the vast majority of the people reading this, if you want details email me.
Sunday we got together with a visiting friend from our days in Ecuador. It was so great to hear about what was going on in my beloved Ecuador. i worry so much for it; its jungle, its beaches, its cloud forests, its volcanoes, it…incredible diversity - i just wish it wasn’t marred with oil and the greedy eyes that accompany it. i won’t get into that, as the vast majority of you have heard my soapbox rants too many times before. A huge reason for our friends visit was so Oliver could meet her son Mateo, the day before they were to play for the first time ‘Teo goes and gets chicken pox; it was so sad, we did get to hang out but the kids had to be kept apart from each other which was too bad cause it was obvious that they wanted to play (more standing his refusal to step for the camera continues, luckily i am diligent and patient).
So this is a pretty bland post, sorry i am swamped at the moment; but wanted to share a little while i can.

professional blog

baby steps...
yup it is happening. He waited until Aba was around to break out step number one and is now testing the waters all the time. Unfortunately he thwarted my attempt to get it on tape yesterday so all i have is him standing - or is he doing squats? Certainly these are exciting times.

with friends like these…
It has to be said, somehow through some unknown action in a previous life i continue to be surrounded by incredible people. There is a tonne that could be written here but all i am going to say is that Tuesday was a holiday, Karli was with her mom and i was out kitesurfing; or more accurately, sitting on the beach waiting for wind. i get home before Karli but somehow the house is completely decorated for a birthday celebration, there are two freshly baked cakes on the table, a bottle of wine, a note giving simple instructions for heating the lasagna and garlic bread that sat ready and waiting in the fridge and a DVD. Being left speechless doesn’t happen too often but …

Thursday Aba (aka. Kristy) arrived and Karli, Oliver and i couldn’t have been happier. Like always she came bearing more gifts then Santa Claus - we are continually spoiled (not to be confused as a complaint!!); of course the real gift for us is having Aba here to play with us.

Friday we headed to Cabarete and like is true in so many aspects of life: an integral part of the adventure was the journey. After a record setting departure from the city and getting way ahead of the long-weekend traffic ... we had a flat. This wasn’t just a flat, the tire was absolutely destroyed. I am amazed at how incredibly efficient the Dominican AAA is; before i had the truck to a complete stop we had two motoconchos there offering help. "No worries it is just a flat," this would be true if the piece that is used to lower the spare from underneath the truck was there, which of course it wasn’t. By this point a woman has come out from her brightly coloured wooden house and is playing and singing with Oliver and taking Karli, Kristy and O to look at the river that runs behind her house. So now we are surrounded by men who are jabbering on in Dominican (a very loose relative of Spanish), i obviously have no way of getting my spare down, i have two gringas and a baby with me and a car full of gear. You could see how this situation could be stressful, maybe even scary…but it isn’t. The vast majority of Dominicans i know or have met are caring, helpful and wonderful people. In just a couple minutes Karli and her new best friend are in one of the guys car going to buy a tire, Oliver is “driving” the truck (see pic) and Kristy is taking photos while we catch up. In minutes they return with a new tire, which the Dominican AAA won’t let me near, it is on in a flash and we are on our way pretty quickly (all things considered). Did we give these people money? Some of them yes, some of them no – none of them very much; were they doing this for money? some of them yes,some of them no. We debated after driving away the standard protocol for this situation. I paid them because they helped me and i was thankful, i didn’t know how else to express my gratification. I hope i did not set a horrible precedent.
So arriving a little later then we wanted it was dinner on the beach before a relatively early night. Saturday was a great day for Oliver and i. We went to watch the sunrise and surfers at encuentro; there was no waves so we just played in the sand, i had a coffee and we hung out before going back to get the girls for breakfast followed by some bodysurfing for me then i joined him for a morning nap. When we got up it was lightly raining (perfect napping weather!) and we celebrated by riding jaguars (video), marching around the pool and then going swimming in the rain. We ate early and put Ollie to bed. Karli and i went to listen to a DJ who was spinning on the beach as part of the Master of the Ocean event. He was phenomenal and the rain that was keeping the people away was just not fair. We called some friends who trekked through wind and the rain and met up with us (yup we have great friends), by the time we all made it to the dance floor there was a new DJ who was not on the same level as the first. Put lets put things in perspective here: dancing with the waves crashing behind you surrounded by good people, does it get better?
Actually yes it does.
Dancing with the waves behind you while all the other people are under the tent watching you thinking that you must be insane; just you and your beautiful (and great dancing) wife bouncing around in the rain like fools – now that’s better.
There was a trade-off however, in order to keep Karli dancing i had to give up my turn for a sleep-in on Sunday. No worries. A repeat of the day before with coffee and pastries at the surf break, this time though the waves were enormous and we were able to watch the surfers involved in the competition. The waves were a little messy with lots of close-outs and plenty of bails but i couldn’t help but think: Ollie is a year old hanging out at the surf break for sunrise, the last time in Cabarete he was left at the KiteSchool so his dad could get his fix. Look out - this kid is going to be good (of course only if he chooses too - his weekend change table is pictured). Sunday tested my patience. I sat on the beach kite ready, mentally psyched and waited for the wind that the internet said would arrive early. I was tested to my limit after a full three hours of waiting i was rewarded with some incredible wind and great waves. Sailed for more then two hours without a second’s break and the rush was big enough to carry me all the way through the long drive home. As i was packing up i heard one of the guys who lives on kite beach come in claiming: “this is as good as Cabarete gets”

Lesson learned: patience is rewarded.

I know this entry has too many words and not enough pictures, i will add more when i get my hands on Aba’s camera.

yes its my birthday but i have passed the age where that is cool, now i am just old.

so every attempt that i have made at hitting "pause" through the last year has officially failed. Despite all of them, Oliver is one year old. Of course every step has been more incredible then the one before it but i am constantly worrying that i am going to miss something or not totally remember a sound or a stage as we fly forward at "ludicrous speed." Great friends of ours just announced their pregnancy and when i reflect at my life over the past twenty-one months, the emotions, the events, i sometimes feel like i have been living at an amusement park: not quite sick but with an extra hit of adrenaline coursing through my veins non-stop. (wow, where'd that stream of concsiousness come from?) and yes for the record – i love amusement parks.
So Ollie is one; this morning we opened presents with him in bed and contemplated whether or not we could still refer to him as "baby" or "the baby." What is the half-life of "the baby?" Sorry O but you are our baby.
Saturday we hosted a BBQ at our pool to celebrate the first year of his life and had lots of our friends over for a feast of epic proportions. It was a wonderful day. i couldn't help but remember that it was February and we were hosting a pool party (yeah i know i rub that in too much), however i sincerely hope that Oliver will also enjoy the thrills of a tobogganing party as well. Of course especially on days like this we really miss having our families here; i smiled on the inside however as the day was dominated by "adults" launching themselves into the water to catch footballs and Frisbees knowing that Oliver's uncles would be proud (scene video here).
There are too many pictures to go here so there is a little slideshow you can view it here. i put the pictures up at a relatively low resolution, if you would like to have any of these at high resolution please contact me.
Do you think Oliver is going to be a DJ? he's already got the form down (video) and don't miss the little move he throws at the end of this clip (thank god he dances like his mom and not his dad!)
Time for a first haircut?

another weekend has come and gone.
It is scary how quickly that seems to happen these days. It marked the passing of the fifty-first week of Oliver’s life; his birthday is virtually upon us (also scary and hard to believe). It marked the beginning of yet another masters’ class for Karli – she may be the hardest working person on the planet. Studying, teaching, mothering…there really is no end. It gave Ollie and me lots of time together which is always enjoyed; walking, swimming and just generally hanging out. He discovered the joys of the pot cupboard (below), and we turned his box of diapers into a jet plane – so yeah i guess you could say we had fun – sometimes i worry i have too much fun. Even with Karli slaving away in masters’ class i was able to find some baby coverage and get in some kiting on Sunday which was just incredible. Long long cruising sessions with just Jeff and me on the water, wasn’t even its normal gusty self – truly the stuff of dreams. i am starting to get a better feel for the new kite and the lift it has when i get it clicking properly can be a little scary (in a very good way). The highlight of this weekend however may not even have been that; armed with information from friends currently in Bangkok and Brazil, Karli and i have set out with a new vigor to spend as much time as possible in the park. i run there in the morning and we go for family walks regularly, this weekend however we found a new spot to set down our blanket and watch the sunset on Friday – the place is so good we went back for the show on Sunday. i think it may become a regular deal (i will have to take my camera this week).

Finally for those of you who saw my parenting tips video ("the nose"), this week's video is in that vein (it is really dark), but click here to learn how to feed your baby while keeping their hands clean (very useful).