Stardate 67669.47 - Annual Update

It has been well over a year since I last posted to this blog...a far cry from the multiple posts per week that I wrote back near the start (June 24, 2004 to be exact).  I started the blog to mess around with RSS as we were using that technology for work (remember, nearly 10 years ago!), so the first few posts were just messing around.  But then I started posting photos and stories from our lives in Manhattan and later on the Jersey Shore.  It became the main method of keeping our families up-to-date on what we were doing and of sharing photos with them.

The blog was kept pretty well up to date until September, 2011.  At that point, Facebook took over as the main mechanism for keeping people up-to-date on what we were doing and of sharing photos with them.  In a way, it took over from the blog because it was so easy...just upload a bunch of photos, maybe write a caption, and you are done!  It took far less time than the narrative around the photos I wrote for the blog, and uploading photos was so much faster...in fact, getting multiple photos to upload in the proper order was a real hassle in the early days of blogging (at least on Blogger).

The demise of the blog also coincided with the transfer of primary photo-taking responsibility from me to Cheryl.  As Cheryl began shooting in RAW and doing post-processing of the photos, they simply were not available in a format to quickly post after an event or vacation, and once time had passed the urge to get the photos posted with a story wrapped around them would fade.  And it was easier to just share the album once she put it up on Facebook than it was to re-create the whole thing on the blog.

So for now, this blog is pretty idle.  Only had a post or two in 2012, and this is the first post from 2013.  If you are still subscribing to this blog as your primary way of keeping in touch, I recommend that you either click on the links on the left to add us as friends in Facebook, or subscribe to my Twitter feed (@SawyerCurt).  I'm sure you've figured it out by now, but Facebook (and to a lesser extent, Twitter) have pretty much killed off the blog as a "what are we doing" and photo sharing channel.  Until I can figure out a different use for it, one for which it is uniquely qualified, this blog will remain mostly idle.

Atlantic Highlands, NJ

Stardate 65557.05 - April Vacation to BEYC

Back in April we took a 1 week vacation to the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

The club was great, but getting there was not. We were not sure Cheryl would be able to be away from work until shortly before Loren's Spring Break, and the cost of the airfare was so high we decided to travel on miles. This meant that we had limited options on getting there. So we flew from JFK to St. Thomas, stayed overnight on St. Thomas, took a taxi to the ferry which took us to Tortola, took another taxi to the dock where yet another ferry was to take us to Virgin Gorda and the BEYC. Then we repeated in the opposite direction for our return trip. It was a lot of travel to get to our destination and back.

Here is the pool at the hotel we stayed at on St. Thomas.

Here I am trying to keep Kate contained as we wait for the ferry to Tortola.

We ended up not seeing part of the paperwork we needed to complete to enter the BVIs, so after a huge melt-down (me and the kids) at passport control, we ended up missing the ferry to the BEYC. Luckily, they sent a power boat to come pick us up. Unluckily, it was quite a bumpy ride. When we finally got to the BEYC this was the view we had from our room.

Here Loren waits for the "taxi" car to take us down to the main resort.

The food was pretty good, especially the open air bar-b-ques at night. We ate right down by the beach and the kids loved being able to play when they were done eating and we could easily watch them while we finished eating.

Here is the view from our usual table.

There was also a pool, and for the first couple of days we spent a lot of time in the pool.

We took a sunset motor around the resort. It was supposed to be a sail but winds were very light while we were there.

Our room is in one of those little huts up on the hill.

We also took an excursion one day up to Anagada. This trip also involved open pick-up truck taxis to get us to the beach, after a high speed ferry ride to the atoll.

Here is one of their taxis, back at the resort. We walked the first couple of days, but it was a good 20 minutes to get to the main resort so by the end of the week we just called for the taxis.

Loren met a friend (Sadie) at the resort and we ended up hanging out with her parents a lot while the kids played.

We also took a small Boston Whaler out to Oil Nut Cove where a very exclusive resort was just about completed and ready for guests.

Here the girls play after breakfast on our last day at the resort.

And now we're back in the pool on Tortola before our flight back to NYC. At least our return flight was direct - we had a stop in Miami on the way down.

And finally, here are a couple of iPhone photos Cheryl took.

NYC

Stardate 65342.2 - Fisherman's 5K

Cheryl decided to run a 5K so she entered the Fisherman's 5K in NJ and Loren also got to run, although Loren only had to do 100 meters. Cheryl worked hard and trained and did great!! Yea, Cheryl!! Loren also did very well and loves her medal.

NYC

Stardate 65342.18 - March in NJ

Here are a few pictures from NJ from March. Here we visit with Cheryl's grandmother at her beach condo.

The weather was mild enough one weekend for me to break out the grill.

And it was warm enough to open up the windows while the girls practiced ballet.

NYC