October 11th, 2008

Another year, another Oktoberfest at the German-American Club. This year it did not seem as German, but it was our fault. Since Erin is now old enough to ride most of the attractions,  and they were selling bracelets for unlimited rides...we ended up spending most of the time in the rides area. So much fun it was, that Erin ended up going on both weekends. On the first one we all went together with Angelina and Carolina. A bit later we were joined by Amelia and her family (like last year). Devon could actually go on a few rides, and on some of them she needed an adult companion. The G-force face on her coming down the slide is priceless, no? On the second weekend, Erin returned with Mom, this time getting together with Jordan and Tracy. She got Jordan to go on most of the rides from the previous weekend, and even dared to try a new one. Well, this one was not the ideal one after any meal, and both girls got sick. Bad enough to call it quits.

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September 28th, 2008

Just to get out of the house, this last Sunday morning we decided to check out this place up in Palm Beach Gardens called A Latte Fun. The website is pretty self-explanatory, but it is closer to a suped-up McDonalds playground than a Chuck E. Cheese's. Considering what day it was we didn't find it too crowded or crazy, and the girls had a great time. There's no time limit, so they can warm up to the place first and explore a bit before starting to play for real. The food is very good and they keep it all really clean, which is important with so many kids coming through. It is surprising that such a polished operation is not a chain, this is the only one. In our opinion, it deserves to be a chain, and with locations closer to our house...
On Sundays they close at 2, but stay open for private parties. We're thinking about celebrating Erin's birthday here. The one she had at the Playmobil Castle was OK, but the place was open during the party, and with three other parties going on at the same time, it was very hard to keep track of the kids. This is especially important when you are not familiar with all their friends. At A Latte Fun they keep it closed during your time slot, allowing the parents to relax and enjoy the party a bit more.

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September 26th, 2008

Our neighbor Angelina celebrated her 4th birthday at the end of September. Like last year they had a bounce house, but in addition they also brought in a "fun bus". From the look of it, it appears to be a school bus converted to playhouse. Very cool. Nothing was missing, the music, the slide, the ball pit. At the end, they even had a limbo contest! And any mess the kids may make, just drives away at the end...
The kids (lots of them) had a great time, while the parents were able to relax inside and enjoy the spread that Carolina & Mauricio had prepared. Erin stayed close to Angelina, since she doesn't know any of her friends.Of course Angelina loved that, Erin being the "older friend" and all. Devon just played by her self with anything she would find around. When she had enough, dad and her just walked back home. Some pictures from the party can be found here.



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September 24th, 2008

Delray Beach is the home of the Morikami Gardens, since 1977 a center for Japanese arts and culture in South Florida. The museum and gardens honors the contributions and influences of the Yamato immigrant farming colony in 1904. The gardens demonstrate six periods of Japanese garden history that reflect the island nation's civic history. They have been ranked eighth in quality among more than 300 Japanese Gardens outside Japan. During the summer months they offer the very popular Sushi & Stroll Fridays. Starting at 5:30 and a reduced admission price, one can get a taste (literally) of Japanese garden history. This year it was enhanced with performances by a taiko drumming ensemble, Ronin Taiko. A bit of a challenge with a wandering Devon, the gardens offer a relaxed stroll setting like no other in the urban jungle we live in. We typically go during one of their special events or festivals, but to really appreciate it, it must be visited during the "quiet" times. They offer annual memberships that would make a half an hour visit at any time worth the investment.  Due to the available light in the evenings, the pictures are limited in scope. More of them featuring the expansive gardens will be added at our next opportunity.

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September 20th, 2008

Wow, another year, and another great time with Miguel and Samuel. This time they brought along charming Barbara, who's father Marco lives a bit further South from us. Since they flew into Miami, they stayed with Marco a couple of days before heading up to our place. By then, Grandma had already been here eagerly anticipating  having some time with her three grandchildren all at once. It never seems enough, just a few days, but we tried to make the best of it. As in the past, Erin and Samuel hit it off in a non-verbal kind of way. They always get along great, and it might be natural (as cousins), or due to the need to gesticulate so much. It does take the edge off a bit, maybe adults should try it on the first couple of dates. Devon just did her thing, of course. She likes the attention she gets from the visitors. We hit all the usual spots and a couple of new ones. We took some time off from work and took advantage of the light crowds. The Palm Beach Zoo on a Wednesday right after the school year starts is almost like a scene from "The Day After". It's not a very crowded place anyway, but this day was almost eerie. Really, we would venture to guess that most of the visitors there were mothers with strollers. We used our yearly pass to enter and since it was so dead, the rest (Barbara, Miguel & Samuel) were let in for free. The next day we went to a place new to all of us. Wannadoo City  is an indoor "city" made for kids. Here, they can play at being whatever profession they want, and they make it as realistic  as possible. This place was also quite empty, but we still didn't manage to cover half the activities. The kids had a great time, but they were probably at the bottom end of the age range targeted here. Some of the "professions" were a little intimidating, especially for Erin. When you're inside, you forget it is basically a huge warehouse. The ceilings are all dark and black, so the impression is that you are in a small city at night. Highly recommended, but maybe not on the weekend. The next day we headed over to Cypress Gardens, which we already covered earlier. Here two factors contributed to the skimpy crowds: it was during the week, and hurricane Hanna was churning off shore. The morning we traveled there was basically rained-out, but it did clear after lunch. In all we got a day and a third in the park, which was plenty, considering we could ride on everything non-stop. In fact, we didn't even get to see the water ski show or the mini zoo they have in the corner. On the second day we spent some time in the water park, which was a good way to relax a bit. On the way to the park we passed the entrance to the River Ranch, a Western-style resort in the middle of nowhere. We'll probably check it out this fall. Back in Lake Worth the visit was winding down and our energy levels were too low for big excursions. The water in the pool was still reasonably warm (the proximity of the lake and the high water table wicks the heat away quickly in the fall), so staying in the house was not a bad deal either. Both Erin and Samuel could show-off their improved swimming technique compared to last year. The last two days were spent down in Miami with the Jimenez', which is starting to be a bit of a tradition (as long as Miguel flies into MIA). We took lots of pictures, you san see some here: A, B & C.

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August 16th, 2008

Today Erin got invited to visit the stables at Two Swans Farm, where Angelina's mom works. Erin has been around horses many times before, but it was at places like the fair, or the ones pulling those carriages at Cityplace. This time she got to see where the horses live, and the people that work there every day to make sure the horses are well fed and comfy. And it wasn't just horses, they had lots of other animals to look at. Angelina is used to visiting this place and had no problems petting all the animals. Erin was her usual super-cautious and kept her distance. Maybe she'll go for it on a future visit! For a sample of pictures taken that day, click here.

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August 8th, 2008

The other day Erin's school had a carnival celebration. Parents and siblings were invited starting in mid-afternoon, so we got to see what they were up to. All kids has a role in the preparations, and each classroom had a theme. To participate, each kid had to "pay" a ticket at each attraction. Beforehand they were given a whole bunch, so many in fact, most of them went unused at the end of the day. The games of skill and luck were the early hits, but soon Erin's gang moved over to face painting and costumes. This is where they stayed until we left, each of them taking turns with a costume and laughing at the way the others looked. For her, it was a bittersweet moment, because in a matter of weeks she would be changing schools and would only be seeing her friends occasionally. For a few more pictures taken that day, click here.


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July 30th, 2008

It's a fact of life; Kristin's GTI was too cool for family duties. Dealing with both kids and their car seats without having rear doors made it a real chore. And when her back acted up, a real pain... So two years ago (yes, that long) we set out to find a more practical alternative that would also be fun to drive. We thought being able to drive around with visitors in one car instead of two made minivans the obvious choice. But fun to drive??? Then we looked at the Mazda5, a mini-minivan with three rows of seats that offered a manual transmission on some of its trim levels. That should be the ticket! Soon we found out that the tiny portions available with a stick were also the least equipped. We were treated like aliens (interplanetary - not the other kind) when we listed all the goodies we wanted AND insisted on a manual transmission. No luck, they weren't even interested in ordering one. So we gave up on the '07s, only to discover months later the '08s made it worse because Mazda eliminated the manual tranny option on all trim levels except the lowest, cheapest one.  With nothing in the horizon as an alternative, we decided to sacrifice our transmission preference and feed the monster what it wants. It sucks, because now Mazda will think they made the right decision... It is still fun to drive and can sit six in a pinch. With four of us the trunk space is huge and the girls have perfect perches to see all around. We'll miss the GTI, but so far (OK it's only been 1 day) this seems like the perfect decision.

At the same time we were buying this one a young guy came in with the F250 pick-up you see behind the GTI. Lots of people are trying to dump their large trucks and SUVs to get something smaller and more economical. Unfortunately for him, demand for his kind of vehicle is so low now that dealers are offering peanuts for them. We didn't quite hear the whole discussion, but he left saying he would be losing $10K in the trade-in. There's probably a lot of this going around these days.

Update: A few weeks later, Kristin was driving to work when she recognized her old GTI in front of her. The few dings and scratches were unmistakable. The Mazda5 is proving to be a very versatile car, having already logged in a few trips with it, including one to Cypress Gardens with Miguel & Co.

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July 29th, 2008

We have been doing this sporadically for a few years now. With so much to do around here, it's hard to keep up with what's going on that might be interesting. There's a small amphitheatre downtown West Palm Beach hosting open-air concerts roughly once a month. Because of the weather it can be hit-or-miss, but this last Sunday it worked out. They have it on the fourth Sunday of each month until October, but there's talk of doing it all year round. The quality of the performers has been outstanding so far. More pics here (You might catch a glimpse of us on 12 and 16).


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July 28th, 2008

I wasn't going to say anything, because it's not polite to boast. But this is getting out of hand! In the last few months we have had exceptional results in sports by Spanish teams and individuals. For a relatively small country, this success is out of proportion, because it covers a wide range of sports. Spain always had individual standouts (Nieto, Ballesteros, Santana, Indurain...), but never so many so often. This is a trend that started a few of years ago, and continues strong in the eve of the Summer Olympic Games. Where to start?

July 23rd, 2008

It's hot and humid like you know it can get around here. Crazy golfers everywhere tackle these uncomfortable conditions to push balls into holes. The beaches are full of tourists risking melanoma in the middle of the day, with sand so hot you can't even touch it. In absolute numbers it's not really that hot, but the lack of shade in these places and the humidity make it too risky for us. They key is "shade". If we have that, and a little breeze, we're good. So this year we started going to a couple of water parks operated by the county.  Down in Boca we have Coconut Cove, and in Royal Palm we have Calypso Bay. They are small and inexpensive, but still have the lazy river, slides and splash areas common in larger parks. For us they're perfect, with enough to do for the girls to be entertained for most of the day. The only downside is that in the summer thunderstorms will appear out of nowhere, and they are forced to vacate the park when that happens. On our first visit we joined Annabelle and her family at the Coconut Cove park. Forgot to take a single picture the whole day... The second visit was with Caitlin and her family at the Calypso Bay park. We did manage to snap a few that day. This one has diving boards on the deep end of the pool. Erin cautiously inched forward towards the end of the shaking board. With people waiting behind, we thought the pressure would get the better of her and she would turn back and get off. But she jumped, and did it over and over throughout the day. Her confidence around water is increasing by leaps and bounds this summer. Devon, well, she has the opposite problem. She's fearless. She wants the water so bad, she has to be in it, under it, on it...it doesn't matter. But she's very hard to control. She may learn how to swim earlier than Erin, but right now she's not keen on doing what she's told. It's her way, or a monumental tantrum, making it very hard to achieve results through "instruction".

One step up from these two water parks we have the Rapids Waterpark, famously in the news recently because of an accident on its Black Thunder. This one has many more rides, more thrills (clearly), but costs three times as much. Erin would need to be tall enough to be able to ride half their rides to make it a worthwhile visit. Of course Orlando has a whole bunch, even though we have never visited any of them. The newest one is from the folks that bring you SeaWorld, called Aquatica. Looks interesting.

July 10th, 2008

Our 12th, can you believe that? 12 years ago we were in Malta, a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean. As a former British colony they speak English, and their culture is a mix between the Anglo North and the Islamic South, with a bit of Italy sprinkled around. The music on the radio in those years was very distinctive for us, because it marks that era and because it's different from what we would listen to on the radio in Detroit. This is a sample of what we would immediately identify as "Malta Music":

01. Children by Robert Miles	18. Insomnia by Faithless
02. Seven Days and One Week by BBE	19. Macarena by Los Del Rio
03. Boombastic by Shaggy	20. Wonderwall by Oasis
04. Remember Me by Blue Boy	21. On Your Shore by Enya
05. Messages by Vangelis	22. Sweet Dreams by La Bouche
06. Run Away by The Real McCoy	23. Barbie Girl by Aqua
07. Champagne Supernova by Oasis	24. Return Of The Mack by Mark Morrison
08. You're Gorgeous by Baby Bird	25. You Make Me Believe by Simply Red
09. Bamboleo by The Gipsy Kings	26. Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
10. Baby Baby by Corona	27. I Like It Like That by The Blackout Allstars
11. Scatman by Scatman John	28. Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex
12. Boom Boom Boom by the Outhere Brothers	29. Take Your Time by Max-A-Million
13. Killing Me Softly by The Fugees	30. Scatman's World by Scatman John
14. Be My Lover by La Bouche	31. Gangstas Paradise by Coolio
15. I'll Be There For You by The Rembrandts	32. Wonderful by Adam Ant
16. What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong	33. Con Te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman
17. Ready Or Not by The Fugees	34. Mmmbop by Hanson

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June 10th, 2008

It will probably become a tradition that we meet with Grandma & Grandma somewhere in the middle of the State on long weekends. This time it was Memorial Day weekended and we picked Cape Canaveral. Kristin found a great deal on a two-bedroom condo where we all could stay together. It is normally a time-share resort, but they do rent any vacancies they may have. If you have plans to be in the area, you may want to check it out, as the location is quite good. It's called Discovery Beach Resort, in Cocoa Beach. It beats a hotel room, not just because of the two bedrooms, but also because you have everything you could need: full kitchen, washer & dryer... From here, what they call The Treasure Coast, Orlando is about an hour away, Daytona is a short drive to the North, and of course, the Kennedy Space Center is right there. This is what we did on our first full day. And you really need a full day to see it all. The main part of the visit is a bus tour that stops at a few key places, like an observation tower or the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The key to remember for families with babies and toddlers, is that you leave your stroller at the visitors center. This means around three hours without one, and you get creative on what to do when nap time comes around, for example (see picture in gallery). We were there on the days prior to the launch of Discovery. This trip had the peculiar addition of a repair kit for the Space Stations toilet, remember? There's plenty of stuff to do indoors, but on a hot day it gets heavy to be outside, like around the rocket garden. You find yourself hopping from rocket shadow to rocket shadow... While it's not an attraction in the Disney form, Erin is now old enough to enjoy and appreciate many of the things they have to see, and Devon, well, she was happy just to get the attention from four adults. They have two IMAX theaters, plus a few rides we did not have the patience to wait in line for.
On our day of "rest" we did a bit of beach, a bit of shopping and strolling around the pier area. If you are just a bit familiar with I-95, you have probably  seen the Ron Jon Surf Shop billboards. This is where that store is. Neat place, live music and all, but you really need to be into the beach scene to connect with what they have. The pier is similar to the many Florida has along the coast: It has a few places to eat, and of course the end is dedicated to fishing. Not a lot of that while we were there, though. On the beach, we finally can leave Devon playing in the sand without the fear of her eating it, or rubbing it all over her face and eyes. She will do everything Erin does, so we need to make sure what she attempts is safe for her.
Before leaving for home, we spent some time in Jungle Adventures, and old-style Zoo full of Florida animals. A neat place, even if some of the animals (the wolves and panthers. And bears. And raccoons. Well, most of them, really) were lacking the open spaces they need. The have a very interesting presentation on the life of the native indians before the whites arrived, with real examples of the utensils and tools they used around their homes. Of course, the main attraction is the huge number of alligators they have in the mote surrounding the park, and the variety of crocodilians from other parts of the world. The gators in the mote were so fat and lazy, that a piece of raw chicken hitting the water barely made them blink. And that could have been because the ripples bothered their eyes...

This is Discovery Beach Resort on Google Maps Street View and on Google Earth
These are a few Google Earth links at the Space Center: A, B, C, D & E.
This is Jungle Adventures on Google Maps Street View and on Google Earth


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May 26th, 2008

Well, it's happened. It was a little over a year ago that we broke the $3 a gallon milestone, and now it looks like it will be much less than one year before we reach $5 a gallon. To those of you in Europe paying much more for much longer, we finally feel your pain. You are probably getting more in return, maybe your roads are better. On the flip side, those giant SUVs seem to be driving slower these days.
Here you have a couple of websites to help you determine who's selling the cheapest gas in your area: MSN Autos and Mapquest. On general issues concerning fuel economy, this is a great resource: FuelEconomy.gov
This is a pet peeve, but now that we are paying so much, do you think gas stations should finally drop the ridiculous 9/10th from the end of their prices?





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May 9th, 2008

We arrived in beautiful Austin, Texas on Thursday, April 30, and the fun began immediately. First we went to the famous Tex Mex restaurant “Rio Grande”, where they had a kayak in the fountain! Me and my table partner Greg became quite good friends and even took a little trip in the kayak together. Then it was off to “Esther’s Follies” – a funny and fast-paced show, part comedy, part magic show. I did not get all the jokes and I got scared when the magician cut the woman in half and had a spear through his body, but Greg told me that it was just a show and not real. If you are in the area, check it out.
Next day it was off to the spa with the all the girls (Valentina, Jaime, Rebecca, Kim, Teresa and mommy) for a 1st class pedicure and manicure. I am already quite an expert, since my friend Courtney’s birthday party was at a spa, so I know how to hold still and get beautified.
After that we had lunch at Rebecca’s house. My friend Greg was there and we played with a giant basketball. Then it was off to the hotel where we quickly changed and went to church to practice for the big day. The rehearsal went smooth, I had my flower girl routine down in no time. Then it was off to The Melting Pot – a fondue restaurant where you get to cook your own food. I was sitting at the kids table with Greg when the other kids arrived: Jessica – the other flower girl, Jimmy – the ring bearer (or ring barrier as he called himself), Joshua and John (you guessed it- they are all siblings and must have taken advantage of a letter "J" sale).  We had a great time at dinner, dipping strawberries in chocolate. Now and then I went back to mommy's table to see how the cooking was going. Michael was declared the Fondue Bully, because he took other people’s food and kicked food of the forks that he did not consider fork-worthy. Check the picture that has all the people of table 3 in it. Can you see me?
The next morning we went to yoga class. After an hour of that I felt like I had lots of energy to tackle the day! Next was our hair appointment. The stylist did all our hair, and I got to wear a flower girl wreath in my hair. Then we went to church and it got serious! Lots of pictures with the photographer first. Then came the ceremony. It was beautiful! Since we were both in the wedding party, we didn't get a chance to take any pictures. We will add some as soon as other people come forward with their pictures. For now, you can browse some of the ones we took here. For some reason there's a whole bunch of me...
A short while later we were off to the party where I danced the night away with Michael, Jessica, Jeff – and oh I cannot possible remember the names of the boys I danced with that night!
Thank you Rebecca and Jeremy for this wonderful wedding! We wish you a wonderful honeymoon and a great and exciting trip down the road of life together.

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April 17th, 2007

Have you noticed the way our YouTube videos look on this website? They are horrible! It's no consolation that we are in the majority, for the most part, YouTube videos look bad. But it turns out it can be fixed, or at least, improved to the point where you are not forced to look away. We have done a lot of reading, and then a lot of tinkering, and found a few things that can be done to improve the way the videos look. Both the viewer and the "submitter" need to contribute to make the experience the best it can be. Click through to this page for more info on what we have found. 

April 5th, 2008

It's spring, and the alligators are on the move. It starts now and it peaks in May, when alligators move around looking for mates. They also just ended their lethargic winter period and are more interested in food to start recovering the energy lost. Nuisance calls also go up during this period, when people discover gators in their back yards and swimming pools. We've been in this house almost ten years, and  from the start we have noticed alligators in the lake. But it's always only one, and it sticks around for a few weeks and then disappear. A while later another one shows up, or is it the same one? It's hard to tell, but you can see the young ones still have their yellow stripes, while the larger ones are almost completely black. Our first guest, we named Allie, and was clearly a juvenile. During the next few years we saw her grow and change into an adult. Or at least, we think we did. At one point, someone in the neighborhood got spooked and called a trapper, so we fear Allie never made it out of our lake. 
We used to have a next-door neighbor who enjoyed fishing from his little wooden pier. One day he was reeling in a fish, and when he had it about three feet from the pier a gator shot from underneath and took it. For a while we had a face off, with our neighbor on one end of the line, and the gator, head out of the water and fish in jaw, on the other. Eventually, the gator won when the neighbor cut the line. Click on the picture for a small gallery of the alligators we have seen around our house.

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March 29th, 2008

The Village of Wellington is just around the corner from us, and before all the development around 441 brought the mall, restaurants and stores, it was a quiet community dedicated to horses. It's still that way, and when you mention Wellington, people around here think either the mall or horses. Believe it or not, the festival is the oldest and longest running equestrian competition in the World. This year it was special, two weeks longer, because the Olympic trials would be taking place during the festival. Apart from that, the regularly scheduled competitions offered more than $5 million in prize money, with competitors from all over the world. High-roller stuff, really. But one Saturday they let everyone (us, commoners) in for free, and bring in some activities for the kids: bounce houses, face painting, live music & pony rides. Only these were no ponies, small horses maybe, but not ponies. All free! We're there.
The event started at 6PM, the weather was great and no mosquitoes. Couldn't ask for anything better. We joined our neighbor Carolina and her daughter Angelina, both very familiar with the world of horses. It was also Devon's first week walking, and she was eager to show off her new skills in public. She did scuff her knees quite a bit, but overall did great. We took a few pictures, check them out here.