Memorial Day at Brian Styles (Catch Up)

We got invited to Brian Styles house in Delray. (check out the link - zoom in and it's the HUGE house on the water) It's on the intracostal and is a multi-million dollar home. Very beautiful and spacious. While the house was amazing, the best part was the backyard pool area. The kids had a blast. Here are a few photos showing off both the kids and the backyard.

Nicholas about to jump in.

Colin hoping to meet some girls.

Maggie having fun in the 4-inch deep walk-in area of the pool. (very helpful for us, BTW)

Ryan spent much of his time in the Hot Tub. He was interest in where the water was leaking out to.

The pool had the coolest feature, a sitting area in the middle of the pool!

Here's a bit of video to show off the pool area. It was a blast hanging out with Brian and friends.

Our 15th Anniversary

J and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary this week. I was out of town in Orlando at a Microsoft conference so I surprised J by flying her up to Orlando for the evening.

I took her to Seasons 52 for dinner and then to SkyVenture Orlando, an Indoor skydiving experience!

It was a complete blast! I DEFINITELY recommend it to anyone looking for a thrill like nothing else. I've always wanted to skydive, but wouldn't because of J and the kids (can't have them going through life without me!) so indoor skydiving is just right for me!

You first go to a classroom and learn how to lay your body while in the air (125MPH air blowing upwards to keep you afloat). Then you suit up: A diving suit, goggles, earplugs and a helmet are required.

Here's a picture of J and I ready for the challenge.

Each one of us got two 1-minute "skydives." this is the equivalent to 2 real skydives (which, according to our instructor, a real 10,000 foot skydive lasts about 50 seconds before you pull the chute). So J and I have "jumped" twice now!

You can see how well J did:

I was next:

Lastly, our instructor, Nick Scott-Tomlin (a very nice guy from South Africa), showed us how it's done (watch how easy he makes it look at watch how he lands at the end - AMAZING!). Nick has logged over 2000 HOURS in the wind tunnel, which translates to over 120,000 jumps!

I loved it so much, I showed the folks from work the video and 8 of us went again the next day! It is VERY addicting. It is amazing how the human mind can figure out how to interact with nothing but AIR and make the body perform amazing stunts.

Needless to say, our anniversay was one we definitely won't forget. 15 down, and the next 15 will be even better!

Trip to Cancun

Every year ScriptLogic has a "President's Club" - a trip awarded to the most successful salespeople. Execs got to go this year as well, so J and I were able to take the kids. This year's President's Club was in Cancun, Mexico!

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun. Here are a few pics to summarize our trip.

The view of the Gulf of Mexico was breathtaking.

J and I were thrilled to be there.

There were several pools there. One had a very shallow end, perfect for Maggie and Ryan.

The boys played together well. Everything you could want was provided.

Colin LOVED bodysurfing in the waves.

I had a blast spending time with the kids. (I think Ryan enjoyed it too! )

Nicholas enjoyed himself in the Gulf, building sandcastles. (More on that little girl in the picture later...)

Mike Lebeau (from ScriptLogic) used to be a swimming instructor, so he enjoyed teaching Ry how to kick and blow bubbles in the water.

Ryan met his first girlfriend, Ava (she was in the pic with Nicholas). More on these two in Ryan's Blog.

The awards dinner was themed with palm fronds threaded into a net on the ceiling, pyramid ruins and more, all to make you feel like you were in the middle of the forest.

J and I at dinner (and Tobin Cultrera, apperently there at the left!).

The trip was a nice departure from everyday work, responsibilities, etc. It was 4 days of pure heaven. I highly recommend a trip to Mexico if you ever have the chance.

An Unexpected Cold Snap

Since there are only two seasons in Florida - Summer and February - it was quite unusual to have a really welcome cold snap that lasted almost a week. The boys were so cold at night, they bundled up three layers full when they slept (yes, we could've turned on the heat, but it was really quite nice out).

Nicholas wearing way too much for bed.

Colin wearing even more.

Even Ry and Maggs got in on the act.

Colin and Nicholas wore two paris of sock as well, so they began slip-sliding down the hall and forgot they would need to stop themselves somehow.

Christmas 2008

OK - so it's February and I'm finally getting around to posting a tons of blogs to catch everyone up.

This Christmas was a ton of work, and went so fast. We had a beautiful 9ft Tree (which we got at a reasonable price this year)





We opened family gifts Christmas morning as always - Colin and Nicholas mostly wanted Clothes and money so it was tough to buy for them this year.

Maggie loved her presents - they all tasted delicious!

Maggie received a mirror to practice for when she's running for Miss USA 2026.

We went to J's parents for a Christmas dinner. After eating (we always do around 2pm or so), the boys all hung out outside with some of their cousins.

Christmas Photos

Thought we'd share our Christmas photos.

This first one has a bit of history. We went to JC Penney's photo center. BIG MISTAKE. The photo shoot couldn't have been worse (Ryan would not smile at all, the boys we're antsy, etc). JC Penney doesn't have digital photos (they're still stuck in the 1970's) so we basically paid $150 for a set of photos we literally threw out (they were THAT bad). So we went to Kiddie Kandids at the local Babies R' Us. We got some great pictures. Here is our family photo.

Next we wanted the annual trip to the Broward Mall to pay hommage to the Jolly one himself. This couldn't be a more wonderful experience. We got up early on Christmas eve to go to the mall by 9am (when they opened). Santa has been the same guy for the last 5 years (for the little eyes reading - he works for Santa since Sant can't be at every mall at once). We love this one - he remembers us each year and spent extra time with us talking about his grandchildren.,

Snow in Florida!

We went to a Panther's game on Saturday night and the boys got to see snow! Mind you, it was shipped in from Gainesville, FL (apparently the home of snow).

We started the evening with a visit from Santa Stanley and Mini-Stanley!

A toboggan slide was set up. Colin and Ryan went first.

Colin loved it. Ryan wasn't so sure...

Nicholas was thrilled to ride the toboggan.

Ryan thought the ice was one big snow cone.

Maggie was interested in the "that cold stuff down there"

The boys couldn't help but be boys and had an impromptu snowball fight (you can see the blurred snowball hurling away from Colin...)

The boys had a blast in the snow, even if it was artificial!