Cannes

Pronounced "can", not "cans" or "con", is a lovely city in the French Riviera that is famous for hosting the Film Festival and the advertising week.  Adweek actual generates 80% of the city's annual revenue, above and beyond film fest because the latter normally attracts locals and tourists on a budget.  Adweek on the other hand, is a week where all the advertising channels, technology companies are there to impress partners and advertiser brands, wining and dining them to endless bottles of rosé and seafood, building massive areas on the beach for their events (FB is said to have spent $2 Million on the beach/pier), and every yacht is rented all week for parties.  Yes, it is a boondoggle and I got to join the small 25+ oracle data cloud folks this year.

My main reasons for going, other than the obvious ones is to be with my friend Yvette.  She and I known each other way before our current jobs, where our teams work together.  She runs global partnerships at Facebook and has folks that work on managing our partnership.  She had know my Datalogix CEO for years.  I run all audience and data products, and FB is an important partner.  So, last year, Yvette and David (my boss) as they were in Cannes said "you need to be here next year).  So David made it happen by putting me on the list.  Yvette got us a room, which is super hard to find for the week.

I actually flew in the opposite direction (SFO) to hop on the same flight as Yvette and David.  Yvette left Cannes to join her boyfriend Kevin in Amsterdam and headed to Africa for 2 weeks as she starts her 2 month sabbatical.  

Here are some pictures from our room at the Majestic, our ODC "tent" (3,000 sq ft 2 story), FB party and more.  Lovely week!  I can't say if I would go back next year, that party scene is not my scene.  Getting too old for this and don't need to have another rosé for a while.

Turks and Caicos

We just had a wonderful vacation at Beaches in Turks and Caicos.  We booked a while ago, during the Winter.  Planning a sunny vacation, gives us something to look forward to, when it is freezing in Colorado.   As we couldn't go anywhere during Spring Break since the kids had different weeks off, we planned it for right after they finished school.  In Colorado, that happens to be right before Memorial Day, since the kids start school quite early in August.

We had heard about Beaches and read good reviews.  We looked into going to both Caribbean and Hawaii, but Beaches had better deals on flights.  Bill's Mom Helne and Grandpa Jack also joined us.  Turks and Caicos is a short 2-hour flight from Atlanta.

Beaches is an all-inclusive resort.  Having been to all-inclusive resorts, we worried about the quality of the food, crowded pools and restaurants.  Reviews rated Beaches as number 1 all inclusive family resort, and now we know why.

21 restaurants, most serving very good a la carte menus, inclusive of wine and other alcoholic beverages; 7 pools, including water slide park that the kids went to everyday, lazy river and more; miles of beach with included water activities like kayak, little sailboats, standing surfboards, snorkling, and 2 tanks of scuba excursions per day; and another of kids favorite - pool, ping pong, and Xbox lounge!

Our room in the Caribbean village was standard (2 double beds and sleeper sofa) connected to Bill's Mom's king bedroom (we should have gotten that as it came with a trundle for the kids).  But it was very central to all the activities and in a quiet location.  The staff was all very friendly.  We met a number of families who have been to Beaches multiple times (Bill met one guy who has been there 10 times and gone on more than 50 dives with the resort).  

At first the kids didn't understand what it meant to be all-inclusive.  They were calling everything "free".  We told them nothing was "free", as we had paid a lot for the trip.  So they correctly started calling everything "pre-paid"!  

Two negatives from our trip: 1. Our first day was spent healing.  Audrey threw up the night before our morning flight and had a slight fever.  I had the same GI bug a few days before, so was familiar with the progression and was certain she was going to be better in 24 hours.  She slept most of our flights (connection in Atlanta) and slept when she got in until the next morning, and didn't eat much all day. But she was fine the next morning.  Bill had a fever the next day, and spent it mostly in bed, but thank goodness was also better by the next morning!  2. Mason's eczema flaired up again.  By the end of the week, his body and face were covered in little bumps from either the sunscreen, sun, chlorine pools or combination.  We had brought his usual vanicream sunscreen, but later read online they changed the formula.  We hadn't brought his eczema cream, so will put that on when we are back in Colorado and hope his skin will clear in a few days.  And we also got a few different sunscreens to try this season.

Kids enjoyed more independence, as we would sit on one side of the pool, and they could go do the slides or go to the restaurant near by on their own.  Everything felt very safe.

Bill went on 3 dives, I took an afternoon at the spa for a massage and facial (not included :D) with his mom, and enjoyed the pools and restaurants.  We tried about a dozen of their restaurants, which ranged from decent to very good.

We enjoyed it so much, we booked our next visit before we left, and got an extra 10% off.  We booked two rooms to return with our friends John and Julie and their daughter Lexi during spring break 2018!  Can't wait!!

What's been going on?

A whole month without blogging, it's been too busy.  As I try to recall what has been going on:

- 3 work trips: SF, NYC and SF again, and got to see my old friend Julia, who is expecting her first baby (girl due July);

- Bill got a new car for his big 5-0 this year!  Audi S4 was his favorite against the S6 and Tesla model S (plus the model S is much pricier)

- Got promoted at work (Sr director) and my team has grown from 6 to 12 (Seattle, DC area and Colorado), and I have a few more open positions.  I'm super excited and I have a very talented group!

- Mason competed in his first triathlon at school - he did great at swim, but wiped out during the bike.  Parking lot gravel took out a couple of kids. 

- He and Audrey had a swim meet the day after his wipeout.  He still did all his events (short 25 yards races - butterfly, free style and back stroke).  He finished the free in 19:04.

- Audrey was hesitant to dive in the pool, she didn't practice that yet, so ended up swimming the backstroke.  Her time was slow, but she did it!  Super proud of her.

- Chinese school has come to an end and resumes in August.  We are happy with the progress each kids has made.

- One more week until end of school year!  I can't believe it.  Mrs Kover has done wonders for Audrey!  She is confident and ahead in both English and math.  Mason is also doing great and her teacher Mrs Certain was good, but could have been more organized.

- Right after school ends, we leave for Turks and Caicos!  I can't wait!

- After being back from Turks and Caicos, I go to NYC for work, a week back in CO, then to Cannes for advertising week! 

My next post is likely to be at the end of June :)

Zombie killer

She picked up this game pretty quickly.  Scary!

Piggy Jr

Mason has had his piggy since he was less than 1 year old.  We got him from Cost plus world market.  He had a number of other stuffed animals, but this is the one he got attached to.  When I realized his attachment, cost plus had already discontinued it.  

Piggy had a number of surgeries to repair him, he has been handwashed carefully (even if it doesn't look like we wash him at all).  

I was telling Mason how piggy had stripes, and didn't believe me until I showed him an old picture.  So I searched again on eBay and found someone selling a new piggy!  Although it was 2-3 times the original price, we had to get it.

The kids were thrilled to see the new piggy!  Mason name him junior!  And although he plans to keep both, he will always love his original piggy.  Piggy has been there with him at hospitals, school show and tells, his sleepovers, his travels from close trips to China and Italy, and if he is in one piece, I won't be surprised if it goes to college with him!

Spring snow

We had another spring snow storm.  This one did quite a bit of damage to trees that had already started blooming.  Luckily, none of our trees were damaged and we had just had them trimmed last week.

My parents, on their way back from Shanghai, got stranded for a day in Chicago, as United cancelled all flights on Saturday.  They made back safely on Sunday.

The storm wasn't bad, although some foothills areas got 30 inches!  The snow melted quickly from roads and driveways, and by end of week, we should be back in the 80s!

From a Mite to a Squirt

Mason's season as a mite has ended, and next year he will move up to next hockey level for 2 years based on his age (squirts). This jamboree (last of this season) gave him a feel for what it would be like to play games on the full ice rink, positions, with penalties, offsides, etc.  

They did great.  After losing their first game and adjusting to pay attention to their positions, they won all their other 3 games.  Mason played defense in all of them.

Cooking party

We finally had Audrey's birthday party this weekend, since her actual birthday fell on Speing break.  We had a cooking class at our home, let by an instructor from Sticky Fingers.  We made cheese gnocchi, which was a hit with a couple of kids, but making it was fun for all!  

We hadn't had a birthday party at our home since Mason was 1!  We normally prefer to go somewhere, leaving us with no set up or clean up.  And specially cooking with 12 kids can be a little stressful for someone like me.  But it all turned out fine, and the kids had a blast.

Audrey is 7!

For Audrey's birthday, I took the day off and we had a mother&daughter pampering day.  She is on spring break this week, so we decided to do the actual birthday celebration with her friends 10 days after, to make sure her friends could attend.

We started with a shopping trip to Nordstroms for new dresses (she has really outgrown a lot of her old ones), new sandals, and a new light jacket (we lost her old favorite one).  Proceed to our hair appointment with Jessica (my hairdresser since I move to CO).  She got her hair curled for the first time!  She loved it!!  And then got pedicures.  We had dinner at BJ's (she likes their Kraft Mac'n'cheese!  LOL) followed by a delicious triple chocolate pizookie (pizza cookie) with ice cream.

I had so much fun on our pampering day that we may have to make that an annual tradition!  

On Friday, she went in for her well check.  She is 52 inches (92%ile) and 56 pounds (75%ile).  All well and healthy.  

3-6 inches predicted, but 22 inches later...

We got a Spring snow blizzard.  Only in Colorado you can go from 70 degrees on Tuesday to a snow blizzard on Wednesday.  Mason is on Spring break and Audrey is happy that she got 2 snow days!

We could barely get one car out on Wednesday and Bill turned around after trying to get to the store. He gave up and went later in the day after the snow stopped.  

Snow kept getting stuck in the snowblower because it was so dense and wet.  I was exhausted from clearing a path to our front door.  Luckily I can easily work from home, and oracle supports telecommuting.

Shawn and Lena's wedding

We arrived late Friday night, and events were planned throughout the weekend.   

Saturday started with rehearsal (kids were part of their bubble brigade, Bill was holding the ring), followed by the rehearsal dinner Chinese banquet that Lena's parents hosted.

Sunday was the actual wedding.  Jack married Lena and Shawn in a great ceremony with laughs and tears.  Friends and family from near and far celebrated their love.

On Monday, old friends of Helen, Bitsy Boozer, Pat Lander and Lynne Holly hosted a catered brunch for both Mary and Luis (who married in January) and Lena and Shawn.  

It was great to be with all Bill's parents  (Brantley/Sandra, Helen/Jack), Lena's family (parents, Yvonne/Chris and their kids), siblings (Shawn/Lena, Holly, Heather/Jamie, Heidi/Greg, Mary/Luis, and Shef who came in from New Zealand), Sandra's son Andy/Angie and their kids, nephews (Ed/Johana, Ben and Tommy and their girlfriends), aunts and uncles, and more friends and family.  

Trip to Atlanta

We went to Atlanta to celebrate Shawn and Lena's wedding.  

It started with rushing through the airport to make our flight.  As my parents left on a couple of days prior to be in Asia (Taiwan, HK and Shanghai) for a month, we are "normal" parents balancing jobs and kids schedules.  We picked up the kids early, but we're running late as Mason forgot something at school, requiring a trip back.  As we drove to the airport in our usual route, and we frequently tracks, the usual highway entrance had a lot of traffic.  We diverted to try a different entrance, which was even more congested, so we tried a third one with no luck.  It took us about 30 minutes to get on the highway, a part that should take no more than 5 minutes!  Later we found out that there was a suicidal man and police had closed 3 highway entrances and the highway below for two hours.  I hope he gets the help he needs.

Once we arrived at the parking lot, we decided to valet for speed.  Well WallyPark took a long time to check us in and the shuttle didn't seem to be in a hurry at all.  I'm sure it didn't take as long as it felt to me.

As we got dropped at the airport, we make a beeline to the security area with our TSA pre-check boarding passes, finding a long 45-minute normal line, and that the TSA line was closed on that side of the terminal.  We walk quickly to the other side of the airport for the other security line.  Where we finally can relax, until Mason says...  

"Where is Audrey?"  Well, in our hurry, we didn't notice that Audrey kept walking as we lined up for the security line.  We desperately look around and I find her  on the other side around 75 yards away.  Another 30 seconds and she would have been out of eyesight!

We get to our gate, we line up and board!  All is good!

First swim meet

Oh my!  My swim meet for Mason and as parents!!  It was quite an experience and it can be pretty intense.

A) it was an early start - 7:15 am practice both Saturday and Sunday.  And hockey just ended (one more jamboree to go).  This weekend daylight savings change didn't help either.

B) Getting to this facility at 7:15 am was not sufficiently early.  All good sitting spots were taken, and bring your own chairs (which we had to go back to get on Saturday)

C) So many more girls than boys!  For every boy heat, there was at least 2 to 3 times the girls.  Audrey didn't participate, but hope to get her started in a few meets this Summer.  

D) Super competitive - although this was just a more "relaxed" meet (that is what the coach told us), the parents and kids were super competitive.

Overall, Mason did great!  I signed him up for 4 events total (2 on each day):

100 back, 50 breast, 100 free and 50 free

He DQ'ed on the backstroke because he turned too soon on his 3rd turn, but placed 12 overall in breast.  We are still awaiting results of the 100 and 50 free.  

He can definitely save time from better entry and turns.  I look forward to many more meets!

Art show

Mason's painting got selected with 4 others from his class for an art exhibition.  

Mini Avs

After a couple of days in Virginia, I took an early flight to come back home for Mason's game.  He got to skate in the middle of the Avalanche game.  

Bill installed the GoPro camera on his helmet. Here is the link until I get a chance to embed the video.  

http://youtu.be/R-wrlbWBh1k

My Valentine

Our Valentine's dinner at Euclid Hall.

London

We have a small team in London that was 3 ppl when I started working with them and is now 8.  I had been long overdue to visit them in person and meet with some of our partners.  I used the opportunity to tag along with Sherene and her new team member Tiffany.  

We work too long of hours, but had very productive days.  I got to see Alan and Christi and had a great dinner at Hakkasan.  We stayed at a great hotel by Kings Cross, very central and easy tube ride to the office.  Great week and committed I would be back to visit them every 6 months.