Photos from Florida

Jen has asked me to post photos of her belly since everyone is asking to have a peek. So, what better photos to use than from the beautiful beaches of Destin.

Here's a photo of the beach and The Back Porch right on the beach. Jen and I had lunch there on Saturday.

Here's a photo of Jen in the water.

Here's another one!


More news later! Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July.

When was the last time you saw one of these ...

... A Pay Phone?

TV Pick: Watch VH-1's I Love The New Millenium ... It's hard to imagine that pop culture has been this junky since Y2K.

Pictures from Destin later this week!

-30-

Time to write a little more

So, it's been a while since we wrote ... Of course, we've posted the latest photos from the womb and a cute video of Connor ... Now, it's probably time for catch-up.


Jen and I had three great baby showers around Memorial Day weekend in Wisconsin and Chicago. Thanks to our sisters, parents, and friends for coordinating these events. It's fun to see everyone and share in the anticipation of the arrival of the twin boys.


Here's where I start to mention names and I need to add a disclaimer. If I miss you, blame it on the pregnancy. Yes, I can make that excuse too.


Amie, Carrie, and Julie for setting up the shower on 5/24 in Brookfield. It was a great day - especially since my father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law could sneak away to Saz's and skip the baby shower games.


I also left early to visit Bratfest in Madison, actually I had to pick up my number for the Madison Marathon. Then, I went and stood backstage at the event with old colleagues - like Bonnie Oleson.


I've stood backstage at every event you can imagine - from NBA games to U2 concerts - and the same axiom is always true: there are two types of people backstage - those standing around doing nothing and those standing around complaining. There is no third category. Don't fool yourself or believe the hype.


The Madison Half-Marathon was a great event for me. Pretty course and a good run. Plus, I know the city and the course like the back of my hand. I have a story for almost every corner. From the start at the capitol in front of Inn on the Park to the stretches along Breese Terrace and Lakeshore Path to the Beer Ball Field in Vilas Park, running Madison always brings back a ton of memories. So does this Kenny Chesney song.


I missed by best time in a 13.1-mile run by 3 minutes and 20 seconds. And Madison does not qualify as a flat course. I also had a little Big Brown in me that day. I pushed it midway through the race and if I died, I'd limp to the finish. Fortunately I didn't die like Big Brown during the Belmont.


Then on Monday, it was a shower with friends at Troy and Kelly Watros' groovy house in Racine. We loved their house and pool plus it was great to see everyone.


I flew back to Atlanta and worked Wednesday through Friday. Then came back to Milwaukee to meet Jen, hang with Aime and Eric, and attend the shower put on by Jill, Jessie, Kathy, and others on Saturday. Sunday, June 1, Jen and I drove back to Atlanta - whew!


I was in Orlando for work last week for 20 hours. The highlight was a $90 cab ride. I should have rented a car.


On Saturday, Jen and I rafted the river behind our house. It was a good four-hour, five-mile float with minimal rapids and lots of wildlife. We saw rats, snakes, herons, geese, ducks, fish, muskrats, and Astro.


We didn't see any bears, but someone one mile from our house hit one with their car. Click here to read more.

Here's a picture of me before jumping off the cliff behind our house (hit the pic for a bigger view):

Here's a picture of me after jumping off the cliff behind our house:


So, Jen and I head to Destin this weekend. Pictures of white sand and blue water next week.

Oh, and before I go, I wish I could have watched the playoff today for the U.S. Open. Alas, I had to make some things happen at the office. However, in an overused phrase, it was one for the ages. I remember watching the 2000 PGA Championship with Tiger and Bob May in Louisville. I'll remember watching Tiger on Saturday night sink putt-after-putt to take the lead. The unique part of this weekend's event was that it happened in prime time on the east coast.

New Pictures - June 10

Jen and I returned to the specialist for what turned out to be a routine visit. I guess that's good when they say everything is OK.

There are pictures below. Baby A is on the bottom.

The nurse practicioner also said Jen can float down the Chattahoochee River this weekend in a raft. We'll have pictures of that coming up, along with some videos. Then again, if it rains, they'll be no rafting as the Hooch is an urban river that fills up with everything you can imagine (I mean think real hard about this) when it rains heavy 36-hours prior to a float. If you follow the link, the picture on the right of the page is 800 yards down the hill from our house. And, on that page there's a mention of Trout Lilly Creek which runs 50 feet out our back door.

Anytime I think of floating on the Hooch or swimming, I get the Alan Jackson song in my head.

On to the pictures ... Here's Baby B:

Here's Baby A ...

Off to Orlando for the night on Wednesday. If I get bored in the hotel, I might post about our trip to Wisconsin and the wonderful baby showers that were held. Or, that might just wait until this weekend.

Connor eats a noodle

Here's a video of our nephew Connor enjoying a noodle at dinner on Friday night. We were at a restaurant in Pewaukee. Jen enjoyed her traditional Wisconsin Friday Nigh Fish Fry and Connor liked the noodles.

Watch this video shot on my Motorola Q phone! They didn't have these in 1972 when I was born. It was more like this. (OK Dad, click the link to read about Super 8 mm formats).

More news from our travels north later this week!

Catching Up on a Sunday Night

Happy Sunday!

I wanted to take a minute to post some news from us as we're hanging out on a Sunday night watching the Academy of Country Music Awards.

A couple posts ago I mentioned that Jen and I hiked to the top of Stone Mountain with my father. Well, since she's three weeks more pregnant today than that day, we decided to hike to the top of Kennesaw Mountain a few miles from our house. Kennesaw Mountain was the scene of an important battle during the war between the states.

Here's a "super-compressed" video of Jen hiking up the mountain just to prove she did it:




Topic number 2: I mention I was back in Austin a couple weeks ago for a meeting. I was having a drink with a friend around midnight when a celebrity walked in.

He's more famous for his hair and his ex-wife than he is for his music in some parts.

If you guessed Lyle Lovett, you're right.

Those of us there that evening resisted the urge to use camera phones to snap photos of him with his companion. One of our party did introduce herself and let him know that she enjoyed his music.

Topic number 3: Jen and I live 800 yards up the hill from the Chattahoochee River in Atlanta. Our backyard butts up against the national recreation area.

Last Wednesday night, Jen and I were sitting on the backporch, listening to some bluegrass music, and a deer wandered into view.

Here's another "compressed" video:



No other news about the twins as we're still debating names.

More news coming soon!

The Latest Baby Pictures and Texas Adventures

Here are the latest photos of the boys from latest week's visit with the specialist.

Everything is healthy and they're growing as scheduled - according to the doctor.

Enjoy the photos and read on for some exciting stories about air travel.

In other news, Jennifer had a great baby shower in Houston with friends. We're thankful for the gifts she received as she caught up with some old friends.

She also got to eat at two of her favorite restaurants in the world: El Rancho and Sushi Hana. I'm only a little jealous because Jen got to eat the best Mexican food this side of the Rio Grande. She also got to hang out with Tony, owner of Sushi Hana and the sushi bar's resident comedy act.

However, I did get to eat at two of my favorite places in Austin: Aussie's and El Arroyo. More on that in a minute.

The day she returned from Houston to the ATL, I was on my way to Austin for a conference. We had overlapping time in the airport and it was nice to see each other. So, Jen and I hung out at the E gates for a few minutes.

My flight to AUS was scheduled to leave from the international terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson. I'd never flown out of the international terminal in ATL and i got worried I missed some news about an uprising in my former state of residence.

However, as I was getting ready to board the plane to AUS, we received a call about an intrusion at our house.

Talk about un-nerving.

What should I do?

There really wasn't a choice.

So, I re-booked for a later flight and jumped the terminal train to go investigate with my wife.

Well, about three terminals away from my gate, we found out it was a false alarm at the house.

I jumped off the train, got on one going the other direction, and headed for the gate.

A credit to Delta Airlines as they put me on the last seat on the plane. So, I had two hours in the air to worry about whether it was really a false alarm or not. Turns out everything was fine and I made my way to The Four Seasons to check in before a dinner appointment.

Here's a picture from my room:

I would make it to Austin in time for dinner with our friend Michelle Diedrick at El Arroyo - a restaurant forever immortalized in a Pat Green song (Song lyric: We'll go down to El Arroyo have some tacos and beer and let ourselves go! Oh Yeah, Alright. Carry On!). Jen and I saw Pat Green at Rodeo Houston in 2007 - maybe the biggest party of my Rodeo Houston career.

The conference in Austin was great. In addition to the two restaurants I mentioned already, we also hit The Iron Cactus on Sixth Street and I showed off the Driskill Hotel to some colleagues from not familiar with the famous hotel that served at LBJ's residence when he was away from the White House.

The conference was great - my speaking part was strong, according to feedback I received following our presentation. I also met my new marketing hero George Wright. He's responsible for this fine work: Will It Blend?

My two favorites are the golf ball blending episode and the Coca-Cola Chicken. A $50 investment increased sales by a factor of 5.

I was also introduced to Blue Ocean Strategy - a great strategic concept that applies to every business - especially the emerging world of digital media.

Then the fun began - getting out of town.

Leaving Austin used to be easy. There were flights late into the evening. Now, as fuel prices soar and airline timetables have been sliced and diced - just like an iPhone from Will It Blend?

Now, five colleagues and I were on the last flight to Atlanta that Wednesday - the 6:10 Delta. We arrived at the airport with time to spare so I had a beer and a conference wrap-up chat with one of the consultants who works with Cox Radio.

Then were asked to board our Candadian Regional Jet airplane to make the 2-hour flight to ATL. I was seated next to a co-worked from Cox Enterprises. We were chatting away after take-off and after a 10 minutes in the air, I started to get light-headed. I looked at Kristen and said, "I only had one beer, right?" She laughed because she was feeling the same way.

At that point, the pilot issued an in-flight emergency and announced we'd be returning to the Austin airport. One of the engines was dead so we were going to land without any rear thrusters and that's why we were having light-headedness (word?). The pilot wasn't able to pressurize the cabin without the cooperation of all the engines.

The pilot was able to land the plane although we were surrounded by seven fire trucks on the runway. The experience was a little un-nerving. And since the plane was not air-worthy, we spent the night in Austin at this great hotel. The hotel is the former headquarters of the Strategic Air Command and when the Air Base in Austin was shut in the 90s, the building was saved and rehabbed into the hotel. The six of us who ended up travelling together had dinner and a couple drinks before retiring for the night.

I called Jen on my way to the room and joked about remembering how we always wanted to stay at the Austin Airport Hotel because of it's uniqueness? Well, I finally got the chance.