Stone Harbor, NJ 2008

One of the annual blessings I look forward to at the end of every summer is, when Amanda & I visit my family for a few days, during their week's vacation "down the shore" in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.

For more years than I can recall, my Mom & Dad, Sister Kim & Brett and his parents rent this wonderful 5-bedroom house, located just a few hundred yards from the ocean.

This year, the weather was perfect. For us, it's a much welcome departure from the humidity of South Florida, to enjoy a few days of summer in the Northeast.

With Mom, Dad, Kim, Brett, Aiden, Brady, Colin, Peg, Ed, Amanda and myself - the house is always buzzin' over one thing or another!

It is so nice to have family around that I don't get to spend enough time with throughout the year. Just to help out in the kitchen, grab someone a beer if they need one, share a thought, give a hug, play a game...to be able to do all of those things at the spur of the moment is really special, and something I don't take for granted.

Even if it's just sitting around enjoying the weather, the view or the fact that we could spend 45 minutes trying to decide where we'd order dinner from, that night. It's just nice having everyone together for a few days.

Of course, I especially enjoy being around our nephews. As much as they LOVE their Aunt Amanda, Uncle Kevin can still find ways to get their attention. (During the week leading up to their vacation, Brady - my Godson! - asked Kim, "Is Aunt Amanda and 'that other guy' gonna be there, too.?)

Aiden surprised me by knowing how to play chess. He, actually, set up the board and knew how to move all the pieces without any coaching. I don't know too many adults I can say that about. Too bad his attention span isn't enough to play through a match. I was quite impressed, though.

Overall, it's just great to see the things that interest them, how they behave and how much they've grown - each one of them with their own unique personality.

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to play a round of golf with my Dad, Brett and his father.

Dad got to take out his new set of golf clubs for the first time. (They were a birthday gift from Mom, Kim and myself, last month.) Well, don't let anyone tell you that the clubs don't make a difference. He looked like a new man out there, from what I recall from the last few times I played with him. As a matter of fact, despite having played a few more times over the past year than he did, I was only able to finish 2 strokes ahead of him...and I understand he broke 100 after I returned to Florida.

Brett, however, carried the "big stick" on the first day, stealing bragging rights from me, until next year.

Brett's Dad, "Steady Eddie" anchored our foursome, as the true "golf aficionado" of the group.

With all the activity - including the majority of each day spent on the beach - there was not much time for relaxation. A few minutes, at best. The motto for this getaway weekend should be, "You Can Leave Your Book at Home."

By the last evening, Amanda & I are, usually, exhausted. Too bad for us, though, because the car service to the airport picks us up around 4:15 AM, so that, we can be back in Florida for the workday, Tuesday. Reading the boys a bedtime story is a pretty good note to leave on, though.

Because we have to leave so early, the "goodbye's" are pretty rushed. Maybe that's best, because I know I miss everyone very much, as soon as, we're on our way back home. This year, though, I can look forward to my folks coming down for a weekend the week after Labor Day, and we'll get to see everyone else for Thanksgiving. There's much for us to be thankful for.

The 2008 Olympics

Amanda & I really enjoyed the Olympics this summer - as evidenced by too many late weeknights spent watching women's gymnastics, swimming, women's beach volleyball and track & field. So, in case you were not watching, here's a little of what I thought were some of our most memorable moments with links to NBC's Olympic website for more info and videos:

• Opening Ceremonies - Honestly, the first time I've ever watched them from start to finish. I love the anticipation leading up to the lighting of the Olympic Flame, and this year was spectacular.
• Benjamin Boukpeti - Who? The 1st ever Olympic medalist from Togo, who won bronze in the individual whitewater kayaking event. Partly, because I got to re-live my whitewater experience during a corporate outing to the U.S. National Whitewater Center in North Carolina - where the U.S. athletes train - a few years ago. Mainly, because I hadn't seen anyone so appreciative of winning a medal, as this guy was when he crossed the finish line. Then, atop the podium he could barely contain himself as he waited for his turn for a medal to be place around his neck. I'm sorry, but I didn't see that once from many of the athletes who seem to find nothing less than gold to be acceptable. I really felt that his emotion truly demonstrated what winning an Olympic medal is supposed to feel like.
• Of course, we didn't miss a minute of Shawn Johnson and Nastia Luikin. Amanda favored Johnson, and she'd call out, "Your girl's on!" to me when Nastia was ready to take "the stage." So, basically, I just admitted that I watched every minute of women's gymnastics and not a single layup of men's basketball...
• Kerry Walsh and Misty May-Traenor - Women's beach volleyball was very exciting, despite their dominance of the sport. Kerry & Misty demonstrated excellent sportsmanship in all of their victories and I, especially, like the way the thanked the President, after they won the gold.
• Usain Bolt - If you appreciate ANY athletic competition, at all...and you didn't see Jamaica's Usain Bolt win his events, then you MUST search the website for video of his victories in the 100m and 200m's. The guy is superhuman! It was just incredible to watch him blow away from the other runners, then slow down before the finish, win and still break a world record!
• Dara Torres - One of the best displays of sportsmanship, was when she walked away from her starting position to alert one of the judges that the Australian swimmer has not made it to her block, yet. Risking disqualification, she held things up long enough for the other swimmer to make it to the pool, and then proceeded to with the event. The Australian swimmer came in second.
• Lolo Jones - Hers was one of the tougher moments to watch. In the 100m hurdles, she held the lead until she hit the 9th hurdle, ultimately, failing to medal. After, graciously, granting an on-track interview, she was photographed alone in one of the tunnels in a very private solemn moment for all the world to see. You couldn't help to feel so sorry for her.

Well, it's not my intention to provide a complete post-Olympic report. Rather, just provide a little reminder the next time the Olympics come around that there are a lot of exciting moments to watch for, if you know where to look.

Our Trip to Costa Rica!

In celebration of our 1st Anniversary, Amanda & I took a vacation to Costa Rica - a first time visit for both of us. After flying into the capital, San Jose, we were driven 3 hours to spend the first 2 nights at the Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort. The resort is an oasis in the rain forest, located at the foot of the Arenal volcano and features a dozen natural hot springs pools and lagoons. Our visit included a variety of monkey and exotic bird sightings, a hike to the volcano and a canopy/zip-line tour of the rain forest, which hung us up to 22 stories above the ground, at times.

From there, we took another 3 hour drive to the Pacific side of the country for 5 nights at the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica at Peninsula Papagayo.

Here we enjoyed some terrific food, truly beautiful scenery, another zip-lining excursion, hiking, white water rafting and - as some of you may have heard - a bit of a harrowing ocean kayak experience. In one particularly brave moment, I asked to hold this 110 lb boa constrictor - the first snake I've ever held in my life!
Overall, the trip was quite an adventure. Far more so than our honeymoon in Grand Cayman, although they were equally spectacular. With that in mind, I couldn't recommend Costa Rica to everyone. If you are considering either destination, let us know. I can tell you more about our experience and share some more pictures. (I'm holding some back, to be posted after I've had the chance to share them all with the family in Jersey.)