Discover Vacation Rental homes versus hotels

Anyone who knows me knows that I am passionate about Anna Maria Island as well as my family and friends. Everyone is passionate about family and friends. Another new found passion is Vacation rental homes. After all that is a big piece of our business on Anna Maria Island so it would only make sense. Sure, I understand there is a time and place for hotels. They are typically well suited for business travel but vacationing with friends and family is just not a good value proposition for hotels. Vacation rentals are a far better choice. Before I get up on my soapbox let me stop there. Go Colts!

Today is Superbowl day and I am excited to see some new vacation rental videos by a large vacation rental company. They have grabbed the "Griswold's," America's vacationing family to portray the benefits of staying in a vacation rental home. Very smart move! Take a look at the "teaser" they have released prior to Superbowl Sunday. Go Saints!

Miscellaneous pictures of Grayson

As I mentioned in a past post I took all of our photos and scanned them in. It was a great process that I would suggest everyone to do. Our pictures which were only 15 years old were fading, getting crimped, you name it. Digital is just so much better. Anyways going through the thousands of scanned photos I found a couple that I thought were cool just to post them.

The photo below is Grayson's first show he ever saw in Orlando. It was the pirates of Caribbean show. He was such a trooper that you can see he was very nervous of the pirate but it made for a great picture.




The following two photos are from Rhode Island. Rhode Island had a great zoo. Take a look at the great photos below. You can see Grayson is not so sure about this big white animal under the water.

Grayson earns Red Belt in Karate Ceremony

Grayson continues to go to karate three days a week. While he did take the summer of 2009 off as soon as First Grade started he began a regiment of going to karate three times per week. Grayson was excited about the red belt but even more excited that he could now wear a special Gi. Instead of the white outfit the red belt allows him to wear a blue and black Gi. He was very excited about the change.

Every once in a while he shows us some karate moves. Just today Grayson and I were messing around and he round house kicked me pretty good. He then showed me a new move where he shoves my arm into my chest then punches me with the other hand. Just on Friday he had is sparring class and mentioned a girl in his class always tries to punch him in the head. Sounds like a liberated six year old!

Grayson, the Chatt Family, Santa and Christmas 2009

The holiday season was busy for the Chatt family. We had a great Christmas tree and set up the tree earlier than ever this year. For Christmas Eve we visited the Lazy Lobster in Sarasota, FL and had a great dinner as just the Chatt Family. After our trek to Sarasota we visited a phenomenal Christmas display to music just off Bee Ridge Road in Sarasota, Fl. The display has thousands of lights which are all timed to music. Each light string has four strings of color. Red, Green, Blue, and white. The light display and phenomenal spirit of the church was a perfect reminder of what Christmas is all about.




On Christmas day we went to the Spanglers and as usual the food was fantastic. Betty and Walt Spangler are kind and have a crew of more than 30 each year. They convert there wonderful house to a large eatery for family and friends and we are very thankful that we continue to be invited.




Lastly, we visited the Tampa Zoo for Christmas with Santa. I was able to video Grayson with Santa and it was clear he was focused and move in for a quick and productive attack. See the video below as he might be the quickest six year old to meet with Santa prior to Christmas.

So the Chatt's had a great Christmas for 2009 and we are so thankful to our family and friends. If we did not see you during the holiday season we are sad but hopeful you will come visit us in Florida so we can catch up with your great fortune and aspirations for 2010 and beyond!

Grayson loses his tonsils - DEC 2009

Yes,
To say I am running late on blogging about the Chatt family is a tremendous understatement. Grayson started to become very plugged up in his nose around July 2009. Jennifer took him to the doctor in July. "Here is some liquid, take some for a week or so and he will be all fixed up." Typically Jennifer and I got excited because 3/4 of the way through the medication we saw progress. Typically within a week after finishing medication Grayson was all plugged up again. So about every month from July to November we were taking Grayson to the doctor trying to get him fixed up. No to allergies, Sinus infection, soar throats, he was never really healthy for 5 months. Slowly Grayson was turning up the tv more and more and more. He was saying "what", "huh" all the time. (By the way, the above to the right is BEFORE SURGERY)

Finally my wonderful wife said forget all these different doctors, I am taking him to a specialist! She took him to a specialist in Bradenton, Florida and the first thing they did was check his hearing. The gal came back and said his right ear is 3X worse than average. She is amazed he can hear anything at all! He must be struggling in school. He then went into the specialist doctor who looked in his mouth... first thing out of his mouth, "I need to remove his tonsils." Then he looked in Grayson's ears, "He needs tubes."

The day Jennifer and I realized there is alot more to life than on the surface stuff was Friday, DEC 4th, 2009 when we handed our baby over to the anesthesiologists for his surgery. Since Grayson was the oldest that day we were the last to go in. We arrive at 7:30 AM and Grayson went in at about 1 PM. It was absolute torture. Jennifer was starving by the time he went in so I went out to get some lunch. The doctor said it would be about a 1.5 hr surgery. I checked my watch while driving out and getting lunch and I definitely had time to pick up some stuff at Office Max and multi-task while picking up lunch. Mental note, don't mult-task while picking up lunch and your wife is sitting at the doctors office worrying sick about your son in surgery. I wont make that mistake again.

Anyways when I arrived with a big bag a food there was NO JENNIFER in the lobby. Uh oh, I got in to the recovery room where Jennifer was blowing oxygen into Grayson's mouth and he was still breathing. Grayson would open his eyes, cough and start crying then go back asleep. The doctor would say a couple things to us then have the nurse give him some more medication. After a few times of him trying to wake up the nurse said, sit him up and that woke him up. We had our Grayson back, it was a pretty good moment for Jennifer and myself. He was ok.... ahhh.

So about an hour later Grayson was ready to leave. I got the car and in the meantime Grayson started puking up a bunch of gunk. Uh oh, something to worry about? We took him home and started shoving popsicles down his throat as fast as we could. That night I skipped his second 4 hour pain medication and there was no looking back. Grayson did great. The next morning Grayson had the TV really low and I asked him if he could hear it..."yah." I turned up the TV to his normal volume and Grayson immediately said "turn it down!!"

So, Grayson has been great since surgery. Jennifer took him to the doctor for a follow up visit and the doctor said everything is great! Great news for the Chatt Family.

On a less important business note I got some help to re-do my Anna Maria Island Real Estate website. If you are at all interested in Anna Maria Island Real Estate visit my website.

The Chatt's have a "Foster" dog

So, it is official. Jennifer and Grayson have been working on me for about six months to get a dog. I was away in Las Vegas and Jennifer pounced. She found a gal who fosters dogs and had more than 5 she was currently fostering so Jennifer said she would foster a dog. This is where Bella comes into play. Bella is a part German Shepard, part Pit Bull. Bella is about 40lbs but must think she is 5 lbs because she is always getting up on Jennifer and Grayson and trying to give them hugs. As for me, I am steering clear of Bella for alot of reasons, probably the most of which is I don't really like dogs. Anyways, the Chatt's have a temporary dog. Below is a picture of Bella and Grayson. Cross your fingers that Jennifer finds a permanent home for Bella. If you live in Bradenton, Florida and would like a sweet dog that is fully house trained then please comment on this post.

Grayson goes sledding in Bradenton, Florida

I have not done well in the last few months keeping up with all the happenings of the Chatt Family. I just downloaded our video camera which took about 20 minutes. Uh oh, lots of videos and pictures to blog. I will need to kick it in high gear and get a bunch done prior to February when mom and dad Chatt come to visit.

You can never eat an elephant all in one sitting so lets take this one step at a time. Christmas supplies lots of activities and fun for kids. Bradenton is no exception to the rule. Downtown Bradenton has a Christmas party every year and they bring in snow makers and allow kids to sled down an artificial hill of snow. Forget me trying to explain the snowy fun. I think the video below will say it all. Take a look.

Thanksgiving Cruise 2009 to Cozumel

The 2009 Chatt Thanksgiving was spent on the ocean on a cruise from Tampa, Fl to Cozumel, Mexico. Jennifer was not excited about making Thanksgiving dinner nor was I. So... we decided to try out the Carnival Inspiration which left out of Tampa on Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving day we made the 1 hour trek to the Port of Tampa. We arrived right on time and Grayson was fascinated with how large the ship was. We checked into our "stateroom" and later that evening headed off to our Thanksgiving dinner. I had to have turkey and Jennifer probably had fish or something. It was very good and we were seated at the late seating at 8:15 PM with a great group of folks. Mike, Heather and Ben were seated at our table and Ben and Grayson hit it off. By the way, the picture to the right was the person who prepared Grayson and Jennifers make to order eggs each morning. They were enamored by his ability to flip the eggs without a spatula each morning. I told them both..."That's easy, I do that every time I make eggs." This morning I showed Grayson my best egg flip without breaking the yolk, "yah, whatever dad," he said....Where's the love?

The second day on the cruise was a day at sea on our way to Cozumel. Grayson had a blast in the aft of the boat at the water slide area. They had a BIG water slide and two smaller one's. Grayson immediately hit the small water slides and soon there after became bored since there was a huge slide right next to the smaller one's. "Dad, will you go on the big slide with me." "No way, see the tubes, they are closed up and it takes about 10 seconds to get down the slide and I won't like the slide in the dark." "Mommy, will you go down the slide with me?" "Honey, not right now, you can do it alone. Go up and have some fun." Grayson sat there for a few minutes pondering the BIG slide or the small slide and soon began the three story trek up to the top of the slide. Once he went down there was no stopping him from going over and over again. Lucky for us Grayson met up with Ben on the Big slide and the water slide marathon began. Up and down, up and down...over to the small slide, up and down, etc.


The next day we woke to ourselves being in Cozumel. We proceeded off the boat and ran into Mike, Heather and Ben. We agreed to catch a taxi together into the shopping district of Cozumel. Ben and Grayson had a blast having fun together as we all shopped. It was all fun and games until Grayson dropped a piece to a stone chess set and broke the piece. I handed our credit card over the shopkeeper reluctantly and became one of few tourists that paid full price for anything in Cozumel. I was prepared to leave the chess set behind since the thought of lugging around a heavy stone chess set around Mexico for a good portion of the day was not my idea of fun. Our new found friend, Mike, came to the rescue and said "what are you crazy? We will help you." With Mike's help we were able to hold on to the chess set throughout the entire day. Anyone need a nice stone chess set from Mexico?

The last full day was a day at sea and we continued to have fun with Mike, Heather, and Ben. It was a great cruise and thanks to our new found friends from Georgia it will be one to remember. We hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving and hope your holiday season is productive and in good health!


Thanksgiving 2009 Late night Seating

Macho, Macho.....Man

Yesterday I went to go see my doctor for a hang-nail. Yup, that's right a hang nail. I have a few fingers that I typically need to pull some pretty serious hang nails out once per month. Lets first be sure we are on the same page regarding what I am calling a hang nail. For me very often I have a hard piece of nail form in between my fingernail and the side of my finger where the nail meets the skin. If I pull straight out I can pull that hard skin/nail out so it does not grow into something much larger. No one has really told me to do this, I just do it.

Anyways I cannot remember the last time I pulled one but my ring finger on my right hand three days ago started to hurt pretty bad. I waved it off as nothing big. The next day it was hurting more, touching it, putting pressure on my finger, yikes. I showed our resident medical expert - Jennifer and she pulled out a magnifying glass as there was some grayness around the area where my nail met the skin. "That doesn't look good," was her response. Ok, I will keep an eye on it.

Yesterday I woke up and my finger was throbbing and really killing me. I mean thinking about touching it would kill me. Typing on the keyboard was killing me. Yikes, it is getting worse! The gray area looked like it got a little bigger. So, I called our doctor's office and told the nurse I was calling because a hang nail I pulled was killing me. She was very nice, no laughs, "can you come in at 10:40 AM?"

Of course the nurse that admitted me, took my blood pressure, wanted to know, "So what brings you in today?" I went through the hang nail story all over again. By the way Mom, blood pressure was 102 over 62. Stop worrying! Doctor came in, told him about my hang nail. Took one look at it and said, oh yah....you have opitmsgidjalsdur blah blah blah. He went off and came back with a scalpel. He proceeded to delicately cut into my finger and explained to me that my hang nail got infected and there is a bunch of pus building up pressure in the tip of my finger and he was going to relieve it. Before I knew it he was pushing on the tip of my finger and a milky, snotty, yellow-green puss came out of my finger. About 1/2 a teaspoon. He put some ointment on, gave me a prescription, and a SPIDER MAN band aid! (Not really it was just a normal band aid) I was all fixed up and ready for another 100,000 miles.

The Macho Man was back...ha ha. This goes to show ya, a hang nail CAN hurt!

Chatt's Halloween 2009 - Dracula & Dragons

The Chatt's had a great Halloween this year. Grayson threw on his costume three to four times. He walked around and got candy three times. Is there anything better for a six year old than halloween. Absolutely, getting your parents into the fun and trying out several different costumes. Friday Grayson and Jennifer participated in the great AMI Chamber Halloween Trail of Treats. There he was a dragon and all the great businesses that participated gave the kids candy. After about 90 minutes of the high heat of a Florida, Grayson called the day quits. One milestone, Grayson was voted the scariest costume for ages 5-6. The dragon outfit was a big hit - Roooaaar!

The next morning, Halloween day, Grayson was very anxious to get his dragon costume back on. It is pretty hot even in Air Conditioning so we told him not to. Of course any six year old doesn't here stop asking after the first time. Grayson did not have very long to wait. Around 10 AM Jennifer started make up for the Anna Maria Elementary parade - PTO fall festival. Grayson and Jennifer had fun in the parade and played plenty of games. By One PM we were moving on to get back into the air conditioning. It must have been about 85-90 degrees today.

Based on the heat of the day Grayson decided he wanted to change outfits for the big night, Halloween. Jennifer applied yet another face of makeup where he changed outfits more than a Grammy night to become Dracula. With the face painting, fake teeth, and scariest face he played a good Dracula. We walked 75th street where the great neighbors of that street participate in handing out Halloween treats. We saw lots of friends taking in Halloween and Grayson was able to have a good official trick or treat. See our great family pics - We miss you all and hope you had a great Halloween as well.

Grayson playing golf and immitating Tiger

Too much going on. It seems I keep taking pictures and videos but I continue to add them to a folder structure that makes no sense. Anyone else have too many pictures and no way to find them? I would love to hear a better way to organize photos. Wait until you add a video camera to your arsenal. Holy cow, talk about lots of time to sort through videos. Tonight I was sifting through a few videos and found Grayson acting like a tiger at Sarasota Jungle. Jennifer egged him on a little bit. Check out the video below, the video is worth 100,000 words!



The next video is of Grayson playing miniature golf in Bradenton, Florida. This video was the summer of 2009 just after Grayson turned six. The first couple holes were a little rough but with time Grayson slowly became better and better. The video below starts with his first shot which is pretty close to the hole and putted it in after two tries. Next time we go I am sure Grayson will be even better.

DisneyLand February 2007, Grayson - Jennifer - Larry

Have you ever gone through pictures and felt overwhelmed? Tonight I had some spare time while Jennifer volunteered at Bay Fest and I went through one of our many photos of digital photos that I have not organized. After I probably found 1000 digital pictures I could have picked about 200 of them for this blog. Yikes, I need to get on the ball and start organizing the pics. We are adding at least 1000 now per year and in a few years I will have to take off a 1/2 year just to organize them all!

Anyways - the overwhelmed work-a-holic found pictures of Apollo beach where the Manatees swim. That was a fun field trip. I found a bunch of Grayson pictures from his 4th birthday in New York and Ohio. Uncle Tod and Aunt Christine, Gramma and Grampa's on both sides. St. Patrick's day parade on Anna Maria Island. Wow, just too much to pick from.

So you gotta start somewhere, right? Found a bunch of great shots of us on a quick 3 day vacation to Disney Land in Orlando, FL. The timing was February 2007 so Grayson was about 3 and a half years old. We visited Magic Kingdom and he had a blast. We decided to have the special breakfast with the Disney characters and it was well worth it. The characters walked around as you had breakfast and they stopped for plenty of pictures. They also ran around and sang. It was a perfect start to the day. See below for the Magic Kingdom Pictures only. The rest of the photos will come later...don't hold your breathe!


Above is a picture of the Chatt Family at the Character Breakfast.



Grayson was pretty happy at the start of his day.



At six I don't think we would get the princess shot again. This should be good blackmail for the future!


Where the Magic happens for Mickey Mouse

Jennifer family, friends...Oooolddd Photos

After moving five times in the last six years it can be tough to catch up with projects that you need to keep up on. The project I just took on was organizing all of our photos. This all began with finally hooking up a scanner that has been sitting in a closet. I began the tedious process of scanning our photos. About 20 photos in I quickly realized the process of scanning more than 1000 photos would take a 1/4 of my lifetime or quit my job.

Since neither of those were viable options I decided to send our photos to a scanning service. For $100 I filled up a box and sent them out to get scanned. A week later, miraculously the photos arrived back in a nice neat box and whala....a disc full of our photos all digitized.

Since the ChittChatt blog has plenty of older photos of Larry I figured this entry would focus a little more on Jennifer. Take a look at the great photos of Jennifer below...




















Jennifer used to love to color!



Sexy outfit for Jennifer when feeding the dogs.


Jennifer and Jenn having a blast.



Jennifer's high School graduation

Grayson turns 6 years of age 2009

So Grayson turned six years of age just recently. Of course he had to have all his friends involved with his birthday celebration. Jennifer decided to hold his birthday at Chuckie Cheeses. She did a little research and the party costs seemed reasonable. I was happy she arranged all the plans. As usual I just showed up with a video camera in hand and ready to have some fun with Grayson. Most of the day Grayson was smiling from ear to ear and he did a pretty good job of thanking everyone for making it out. Chuckie himself came out to celebrate the birthday with Grayson and he seemed to enjoy having a quick "Chatt" with the mouse. For those of you who missed his birthday 2009 celebration we are sorry you missed it and hopefully next year we will see you? I put together a TWO videos so you could see the highlights of the birthday BASH. I guess it is Fall already so be sure to make Fall a great season.

Grayson going to First Grade at AMI Elementary

Well it's official. Grayson started First grade just two weeks ago. Grayson has Ms. Waite as his First Grade teacher. Many of his friends are in class with him. Gabriel who is in the picture to the left as well as Arada have played and had fun together for a few years now. Dillon who makes the fabulous three, Gabriel, Dillon and Grayson was placed in another class.

As of late we have been working with Grayson on his reading. Math tends to come easier however it's amazing how fast he is learning words. Just this evening I helped him with some math problems. As he counted on his fingers I began to wonder if there was any way to slow down time. What a wonderful time in life.

A few weeks ago I watched Grayson getting on the school bus for the first time. He really wants to ride the bus and be with his friends. He gets on the school bus at 7:20 AM and arrives at school around 8:00 AM. School starts at 8:30 AM so he normally goes into the cafeteria to have his breakfast with friends. Now anyone who has been to the island knows that we live less than 5 minutes to the Elementary School. I explained to Grayson..."Now you understand that you can sleep in quite a bit more. We could leave our house at 8:15 AM and have you at school in plenty of time. Or, you can get up alot earlier and get driven 1/2 way to school to your bus stop at 7:20 AM and you can spend almost an hour on a bus riding around." Grayson's response, "yah, I think I want to take the bus." Ok.

Today we took Grayson to the dentist. His adult teeth are coming in but the baby teeth don't want to leave. Our dentist said it is getting pretty crowded in there and in three months they would take matters into their own hands if some teeth don't start coming out. Dentist warned us, "looks like braces." Nooooooooo, please don't use the six letter word!

Due to the dentist appointment Grayson missed lunch so we took him out today. I asked him, "What is your favorite class?" He replied, "Daddy, I like P.E the best then music then art." This is of course after I asked him a few times with absolutely no reply and Jennifer coached me that I had to say his name, get his attention, then ask the question. Now of course I am staring right at him across a small 2' table. How can he miss my questions? So I asked him, "What are you thinking about?" No answer again, "Grayson, what are you thinking about?" - nothin. Well Jennifer was quick to say "Like father, like son." Oh boy... Where can you go with that?

The picture to the left is Geanna and Grayson. The significance of this picture is they sit right next to each other in first grade.

Check out the video below of Grayson's second day of first grade. More importantly it was Grayson's first ever school bus ride. Take a look below and share a milestone with the Chatt family.....

What if ..... The "Green" movement

I get excited when folks talk about the "green" movement for a number of reasons. General Electric (GE) has aligned themselves very well to support "Green" and I own a bunch of their stock from my early GE corporate days. They have been working on industrial gas turbines (IGT), turbines for wind power, more efficient locomotives, lighting options, etc. On top of all that, PCC ticker symbol PCP supports the entire product series of wind power and IGT's. The Chatt family has a TON of stock for PCC. Yeeeaaaah, good stuff.....

Ha, ha, ha while this is true it's not quite my first reason I get excited. Ok, maybe my third or fourth reason but NOT the biggest reason. The biggest reason I think we all get excited... we all want our children to have a better life than ourselves and unless the environment does not play a factor in your world, we need to be concerned for our children! Sure, some politicians sargue nothing has changed, others say watch out. It seems as though 80+% of the "experts" agree that the polar ice cap as well as our planet seems to be getting warmer. Not good.

So what are you doing to help our environment? Recycling? Using your own coffee cup at work instead of a styrafoam cup? There are lots of little things we all can do. In the past year the Chatt's purchased an electric low speed vehicle. It goes about 25 mph and is perfect for the island. It most resembles a golf cart and for a family of three it provides a great transportation alternative. Just plug it in and it costs about $300 per year in electric power consumption.

On our vacation to Upstate NY and Ohio, Mike and Renee were nice enough to invite us over to their gorgeous home in Upstate NY. Mike has been working on some very interesting projects in the past few years. He has quite a bit of land and has set up his own solar panels as well as wind turbine. He has started the process of pulling his family off the "grid." Mike has even written his own computer program to tell him when his batteries are full. He flicks a switch and whala, he is running off nature. How cool is that? Sure, Mike is an electrical engineer and this stuff comes easy but prices for solar panels are getting lower and lower every year. Thank's Mike for doing more than your part to be sure our children's children can enjoy the outdoors.

So where does the title come in to this blog? What if....?

So what if we don't change our consumption patterns? Many say our ice cap will continue to melt and therefore raise the ocean's level. There is a wonderful website that shows what if scenarios based on a water rise.

So what does our paradise look like in Florida when the water rises 3 M? Take a look at the Anna Maria Island link. Looks normal however I am sure a 3M rise would mean several roads need to be elevated AND many homes will need to be ripped down making way for a non living ground level.

So what does AMI look like if our water table rises 5 M? Take a look at what could be, Anna Maria, FL flooded in water. It shows a dramatically different picture where our Electric vehicle will most likely not be operational in such an environment. A boat will be more practical.

I don't think we will ever see this day because New York City as well as areas that affect alot more people than our small paradise will be affected prior to AMI. But we should be concerned, we all have to do our part to conserve. What are you doing to conserve our natural resources?

I am very lucky to have a great team

Behind every great organization is a fantastic team. Island Real Estate is no exception to that rule. We are lucky to have a great team that cares about our customers. They all make my life easier and I am very lucky to have such a great team.

The photo below shows the Pine Avenue Restoration ribbon cutting in late 2008. The group is a phenomenal support team between Island Real Estate and the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce. The island is lucky to have such a wonderful support system.





The next photo shows our New Years 2009 celebration in the office. Grape Juice is the only thing we drink and when the rental team is involved we always have a ton of fun. Island Real Estate is lucky to have their help.





The below picture shows our Rental Summer 2009 celebration at the Tampa Bay Rays game. We all had a good time with all you could eat and plenty of tickets for the team and their family. Great fun!





The below shot is at the entrance to the Tampa Bay Rays game. It's about 1/4 of the team but it was a great shot to get. We somehow met up walking into the game and Kacey was smart enough to bring her camera. Great stuff!

Damn Poison Ivy, Summer of 2009

This story started many many years ago. No, it is not exactly what you think. Everyone was spared dealing with the dreaded poison ivy rash that itches and itches. No animals or humans were hurt in this story at least in the last 10 years. The story starts in the mid-1970's when Mr. and Mrs. Chatt Senior moved from a little bungalow in Rochester to a rural house with a few acres, lots of yard to mow and a small little woods. As Grampa Chatt tells the story, one day he was out in the woods grabbing wood probably preparing for the Coooold North East Snow Belt winters of Rochester, New York. He was cutting wood minding his own business, when he happened upon a poison ivy vine. That's right boys and girls, if you think poison ivy is only in leaf form you are sadly mistaken. I think I have this part close. Chatt Senior cut the vine and it snapped whipping in the air with sap flying right into his face. Immediately he washed, primped, and pampered his face in hopes he had minimized the damage.

As most of us know, the damage had been done. The next few days began the week plus long agonizing poison ivy rash that coincided with the high heat of summer. Yikes. No one likes poison ivy and Chatt Senior in his new country house had just formed a new enemy. Poison ivy. The next three-four weeks was just a blurr in the Chatt household. Chatt Senior went on a manhunt, nay, a crusade to kill every damn piece of poison ivy on the 10234 foot X 12567.25 foot land that was newly created as the Chatt palace. Very much like Santa Clause with his who's nice and naughty list, poison ivy was naughty and chatt senior checked areas more than twice to ensure the Chatt plot of land was extracted of all living poison ivy.

So why bring this story up now. Well I think it produces a little bit of an explanation of why I am a little crazy. It's not all me, there was some help along the way. Plus, after 30 years of sanitizing the Chatt lot of all poison ivy, this past summer on a walk with Chatt senior we stumbled across poison ivy on the Chatt plat. Of course this set in motion the famous poison Ivy story by Grampa Chatt.

So let me answer the obvious question coming to everyone's mind...Take note for all those that cannot forgive and forget. It appears that revenge can help. 30 years after the crusade of poison ivy sanitation on the Chatt complex, the resurrection of poison ivy for Chatt senior was of little consequence that mild summer day in 2009.

For the faint of heart don't look at the pictures below...they may hit too close to home for some of you.

Frank, Mark, and Larry Visit Key West for the Weekend 2008

Key West...we took the Key West Express from Fort Myers, Florida to Key West, Florida. It was a pretty quick trip until we started to hit some serious waves. I don't normally get sea sick however I must have lost my sea legs over the past 10 years because I was not feeling well. The Key West Express had drinks and food although towards the end of the trip when the waves got pretty big I don't think they sold much food. There were inside seats as well as seats outside on the deck. As I started to feel sick it helped to walk around on the inside and helped even more when I went up to the top deck to get some serious air.

We stayed in Key West for a few days and took in quite a few restaurants and shopping. We rented a GEM which is a Low Speed Electric Vehicle and was great transportation. I stood in the most Southern point of the United States. Our favorite restaurant was a place that was right out on the beach. It had an open floor plan so that garage door size areas were open to the beach. Great stuff!

At night we went down to the main drag where they have street performers, sidewalk shopping and great outdoor seating. It was a great spot where we had some good eats and watched sailboats as well as good sunsets. Nothing beats an Anna Maria Island Sunset but Key West shows a little promise.


Frank, Mark, and Larry at the top of the La Concha Hotel.


Key West Sunset with Sailboat passing by.


Main drag in Key West...where the action is.


Our rented GEM, Low Speed Electric Vehicle


Dining like you are outdoors on the beach.

The Chatt family enjoy a Tampa Bay Ray's game

The Chatt family enjoyed a company party in Tampa, Florida late Spring 2009. We went to a night game at the Tampa Bay Ray's. We all loved the hot dogs, chips, popcorn and soda. Grayson especially loved the batting cage and Tampa Ray touch tank. The Tampa Bay Ray's provide a ton of children activities before, during and after the baseball game. The rest of the Island Real Estate "family" participated in the celebration and I think we all had a great time. We saw several old friends that have moved away from the island and it reminded me we all don't celebrate life enough.

On a side note, this morning we sent Grayson off to First Grade for his second day of school. Jennifer and I took him out to the bus stop and we watched our young boy for the first time step up into the school bus. sniff, sniff :(

Look below for some great pictures of our Tampa Bay Ray's fun.

Pictures of Flowers by Jennifer

Jennifer has been practicing taking flower shots. I think many of them are quite good and figured I would share some of the shots with everyone. Of course the camera she has is not a normal point and shoot. It has some awesome features. Our original files are more than 3.5 Meg per piece and for every one's sanity I cut them down to 700 pixels wide. The below flower was taken at Big Bear Lake in California.




I believe the purple flowers below were taken at the Tampa, Florida Zoo.




The flower/weed below was taken at Robinson Preserve in Bradenton, Florida. If you are visiting Anna Maria Island and love nature walks, birds, or awesome water views then be sure to visit Robinson Preserve. There is a few paths throughout the park with a 3-4 story tower that looks over the Tampa Bay Skyway bridge as well as Tampa Bay. Simply fantastic. Bring your bicycle, Roller blades, or just walk the trail. A good portion of the trail is newly paved.




Another Big Bear Lake flower and a wider angle as compared to the flower above. The top picture came from the below flower cluster.





The flower below came from San Diego, California but don't know exactly from where. It could be from the hike where Grayson fell on a cactus and found 100's of needles stuck in his hand. They were all hair like and could not be pulled without tweezers. None the less Grayson was not happy and the hike was cut short, faaaast. More on that hike in a later post.



Hope you enjoyed Jennifer's handy work with the camera. Have lots of posts to catch everyone on and slowly but surely I will catch up from our 2009 Summer. Thanks for your patience!

Spring Extended 2009 Chatt Family & Tampa Zoo

I just reviewed pictures I just downloaded from Jennifer's camera and I am falling behind FASSST! Our summer trip up North has filled both camera's and there is no memory left....I downloaded over 1500 pictures that Jennifer has taken from Tampa Zoo, the trip to San Diego, Pennsylvania, and New York. Not to mention my trip to New York for David's wedding. So, I better get cracking and posting pictures.

Gram and Grampa came out in March and had some fun with Grayson. They went to the Tampa Zoo which is a fantastic zoo for children. Grayson has been to the zoo plenty of times but rarely participates in the rides. Jennifer picked up an unlimited ride pass and Grayson was the beneficiary. Grayson rode the boomer flyin bananas which represent giant bananas. The ride goes in a circle and has levers that allowed Grayson to go up and down although I am not sure he figured that out as the ride takes over without intervention. The jungle carousel is great for all ages. How can you not go on a carousel? The next ride? A camel, that is right. The Tampa zoo has a camel ride much like a pony ride except most camels can accommodate two riders. Finally, the last ride was Graysons favorite for now, the Treetop Skyfari ride. Grayson could not talk enough about the Skyfari ride. It is basically a ski lift that travels well above the zoo and lets travelers see most of the zoo from the tree tops. Grayson went on the ride seven times at least that is what he told me and Jennifer nodded her head, "yeah, it was alot of times."

Take a look below at the pictures and hopefully I kick the Chatt blogging into high gear as more posts on all our trips in the last few months as well as a bunch of great old pictures of the Chatt family. I am counting on Jennifer to scan some great pictures great Gram had. Jennifer, make it happen!

Chatt OLD Pictures part I - Pre- 1950's

Grampa Chatt has been scanning pictures. The next several blogs are for sure going to get me into trouble. Swimsuits, nude baby pictures, revealing photos, braces, unibrows, and really really bad hair. Sit back and enjoy the pictures below. I have at least 40 so tune in, I will have a few blogs to work through this.

This blog focuses on Larry's Grandparents and in some cases my mom and dads grandparents. Hopefully the music sticks through You Tube. Its a nice song, Bruce Springsteen, "Sound Garden."

Sarasota Jungle Gardens April 18, 2009

Grayson and Jennifer went to a birthday party at Jungle Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. Unfortunately I could not go however it looks like it was great fun. Grayson had many of his friends around as they played and learned about the jungle. There were funny birds, big snakes, monkeys, fish, and lots of parrots.

I also see that Grayson's girl friend is in many of the shots. She is the blonde in the background of the video found below. As I understand it from Jennifer they are quite close and it was difficult saying good bye for summer recess. We start em young at the Chatt household. As I have been told, I will tell Grayson, "Don't get serious until you have your CPA take a look at the previous two years of tax returns." At five he looks at me funny and says, "oh daddy." Have a look at the pictures below of Sarasota Jungle Gardens.

Grayson and Dillon on the train. From the previous pictures it looks like a bonding moment as it was a struggle to get up there. At least that is what I am telling myself...ha ha

FAR project for best team on Leadership Academy! B2B

For those used to seeing Chatt family information I apologize. I have a project I am working on for the leadership academy and for some reason my remote server connection is down for the night. This is a quick and easy way to get this into the hands of my team. On a side note, I will be downloading some great Keuka Lake vidoes that I will post shortly. Thanks for your patience.

ABRM: Accredited Buyers Representative Manager:

Category: Management

Comments: ABRM is the only Buyer – representation designation specialized for managers, brokers, or owners affiliated with NAR. Earning the designation gives access to members-only resources as well as customizable marketing tools such as postcards, flyers, or brochures. This course is perfect for management seeking improved results for their office working with buyers.
Requirements: A) Successful completion of the one day ABRM designation course including an 80% or above grade on final exam. B) Successful completion of the two-day ABR® Designation Course, including an 80 percent passing grade on the exam OR a successful challenge of the exam. See website for more information. C) Documentation verifying that you have overseen a minimum of 25 real estate transactions that involved a buyer’s agent or have had more than two years of oversight experience with buyer’s representatives. D) Maintain active and good membership status in the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council and the National Association of REALTORS®. Exception: International members of REBAC do not have to be members of NAR.

Website for more information: http://rebac.net/abrm_designation.cfm

The Chatt's have "roots!"

The Chatt's have strong roots and they are persistent! It is really not that big of a deal but not many get to see the video below. Our house on White Avenue Anna Maria City, Anna Maria Island continues to see roots in the sewer pipes. So far we replaced about a 20' section for our new pool. We ripped out the old cast iron pipes under the master bathroom. The section that we did not replace for the pool was just replaced July 2009 due to roots from trees! The video below from Lapensee helped them find and estimate the spot. Unfortunately, under the guest bath we have the old cast iron pipes still and that will require an overhaul due to cracks and degradation. Not to worry for our upcoming guests, we still have at least another year before we need to replace but there is no chance we will wait. Shooting for a guest bathroom remodel September of this year to ensure it is done and over with! For anyone wondering what the inside of a sewer pipe looks like, look below. It is pretty tough to miss our root ball.

John, Laura, and family visit Anna Maria Island

We were excited to see John, Laura, Logan, Davis, and Jack a few weeks ago on Anna Maria Island. They stayed at Star Fish Cottages which are just a short stroll to the white sandy beaches of Anna Maria Island. We spent about a half an hour on the beach to watch the kids play some soccer on the beach and take in a fantastic Anna Maria Sunset.



After the spectacular sunset we retired to the Starfish pool which was perfect for kids after a long day of driving. Before I knew it I became the official judge of a competition between Logan, Davis, and Grayson. Jack sat off to the side as a spectator. The first contest, Biggest splash. Award for biggest splash went to Davis. Next up, smallest splash. The award went to Grayson. Next up, craziest jump, Logan took the award. Biggest belly flop went to Davis. Finally we moved on to fastest swimmer and Laura took over as the official judge.



At 10 PM we decided to move into the Starfish vacation rental cottage where we let the kids play in the bedroom while we all caught up with family news. It was a wonderful evening with great stories, laughter, and lots of catching up.



In the morning we met up at Cafe on the Beach and had some great all you can eat pancakes. With (7) hungry men/boys it is a great value with million dollar views of the beach. We did some more catching up while Logan to the boys to the fantastic beach playground at the Manatee Beach. Unfortunately all things must come to an end and John and family had to leave and head South to Naples, Florida to visit family. It was a great visit and we are so thankful for the chance to catch up and swap stories in paradise.

Grayson and the Winter of 2004

The winter of 2004 was spent in Rhode Island. Tough to even remember winter. I just found some hidden away photo albums that were deep in our hard drive. Below you will find some great videos of Grayson. The first below is Grayson's first hair cut. He did pretty well and you can see he was a little confused. Primarily what is this gal doing to the back of my head?

The next video was shot at the Rhode Island museum. Grayson is slowly and methodically walking down the ramp. The next video shows the progression Grayson made in about one year. From 2004 to 2005. What a difference! Same ramp, just one year later. Unbelievable how fast time goes by.

The last picture I had to insert. Grayson was 11 months old and Jennifer took this shot at the gorgeous Bristol, RI state park. It was a wonderful very large park that sat right on the ocean. Scroll down and take a look. Having a bad day? I dare you to fight back a smile after looking at the photo below. Be careful, you could injure yourself if you fight the smile!

I was "tested".....thank goodness it's over

It all started on May 17th, and ended on June 2nd, 2009. It was a journey with a clear destination. The destination is what got me through day after day after day. While the destination was under my control the only way to the destination was through a door that required entering the correct combination of A's, B's, C's, and D's.

Yup, I left paradise to go study for my Florida real estate broker exam. I traveled to Naples, Florida and met some great real estate professionals in class. Top notch. I grabbed an inexpensive vacation rental in Regatta that was located very close to Vanderbilt beach. The muli-condo complex had a fabulous large pool, at least at 10' waterfall, a hot tub, and a small wading pool above the waterfall.

On May 17th, I began the 2 hour trek to Naples, without the rest of my family. Five days of studying day and night, then a much needed break, Memorial Day weekend. Grayson and Jennifer came down to visit. We enjoyed relaxing out by the pool most of the weekend. It was a fantastic break from studying although I did break from the fun to continue my studies. The Chatt family walked the beach ONCE and never went back. Lets just say Naples beaches and Anna Maria Beaches are very dissimilar.

The weekend had to end, Grayson and Jennifer left and the following week was very tough, tiring days. Study, Study, Study. As I continued to take practice exams the results were not very encouraging. Taking two weeks from family, friends, and business is a huge sacrifice and to come up short just was a "non-negotiable." So I continued to study. Study eating dinner, study during lunch, playing study CD's in the car, you name it.

Then came the broker cram course over three days which was immediately after the class. I was not encouraged to see that half the class had already failed the Broker test once and the first time pass rate is around 30%. Time to study a little harder to make sure I get through the first time....

As always, you never get any sleep before a big test and I was no exception. I am not sure how exactly I got to the test center Tuesday morning but I got there. It was a bit of a blurr, in fact when I parked my car I said to myself, "man, they should not let anyone drive to one of these tests...that drive was a blurr, yikes."

Three and a half hours of A, B, C and D's, some light real estate law, light mathematics, and the computer shutting off to tell me no time was left. Walking out of the test exam I waited about 60 seconds which seemed more like ten minutes. I heard my name, "Mr. Chatt?" I looked over, and the proctor put her thumb up. A few seconds later, "Congratulations."

Sure, I could have hugged the proctor, screamed as I walked out the door, "Yea!" As most that know me, not my style...just walked out the door, reflected on all that I just learned about Real Estate, my family, myself and thought to myself, I passed....Thank goodness it's over.

David and Tereza visit Anna Maria Island, May 2009

It was a great visit. Unfortunately, I was away about 1/3 of the time but we had a great time visiting Starfish, the beaches, sandbar in the GEM and Tortilla Bay. No time right now but Tereza sending pictures before me putting up a post of the wonderful Parasailing in Bradenton Beach has forced my hand to get something up of the entertainment event. Thanks to Tereza and David for making our May of 2009. See you in June for the once in a life-time event!

Safari Ohio bus tour summer of 2007

In the summer of 2007 we visited mom and dad in Ohio and visited a safari ride. It was very special because Grampa and Gram made the safari ride with us.

We first toured through smaller animals like birds and goats and they offered small cups of food to feed the animals. Grayson had a ball and we all had fun watching Grayson learn how to feed the smaller animals.

Then we moved on to the safari ride which was a bus with open sides. We were able to purchase some buckets with feed and I think all of us went through 5-6 small buckets. Camels, bulls, lama, all types of safari like animals. Grayson had a blast feeding the animals. There were about 6 stops in all. Each time the driver stopped for about 10 minutes to allow the animals in the vicinity to get up to the bus for their personal feeding. The best part of all..... we got to see Grayson experience for the first time getting up and close with some pretty big animals. Grayson got up close and personal with a bull's very large tongue. "ouuuu, slimy," he said.

Click on any of the pictures to see a larger image.

Easter 2009 with the Chatt's

So, because the awesome Island Real Estate Vacation Rental team had everything under control at the office I was able to take Saturday and Sunday off on Easter Weekend. It was a great two days together as a family.

On Saturday we spent some time outside at the trampoline. Sat out on our swing and enjoyed the wonderful Florida Spring Day. We bowled on our Wii as well as all became rock stars and had our 15 minutes of fame. Yah, ok it was just on Rock Star on the Wii but it is great fun.

Easter day we got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to the Bradenton Yacht club for their Easter Egg hunt at 10 AM. It was a well organized event that was separated into two groups. Grayson was in the smaller children group and they smartly started the toddlers first then the bigger children. Below you will find the video I took of the Easter Egg hunt.

After the Easter Egg hunt Jennifer had made previous reservations for a 10:30 AM Easter Brunch at the yacht club. They had raw oysters, shrimp, make to order omelette's, plenty of other choices as well as lots of deserts. They also had $2 special cocktails.

After stuffing ourselves we headed over to Emerson Point to walk around a little. It is only a few minutes from the Bradenton Yacht club. We ran into a number of wonderful large family barbecue cookouts. The barbecue person of the family through a gas barbecue grill in their truck and brought it to the beach and by noon the entire family had arrived for what appeared to be a delicious barbecue even after we stuffed ourselves.

We watched a few kayakers head out from the point and enjoyed the views at Emerson point. We took our 25 minute drive to Anna Maria Island and we all crashed except for Grayson. Of course with his energy level he made it through the entire day without the normal "feast" nap.

We closed out the day with a three way bowling game on the Wii where Jennifer proceeded to beat the guys of the family. Grayson is just like his daddy, both of us don't like to lose. After our father and son tantrum, we calmed down and quickly turned off the game to be played another day. I knew I lost due to being well out of the "zone" and unsure Grayson's reason for losing but would guest that missing his nap could not have helped. I am sure we both will rethink a future bowling game in the future against Jennifer.

What a fantastic Easter. Wish you all could have been with us. Hope you had a wonderful Easter also!

Grayson in the local newspaper at Heritage Days

Grayson and Jennifer made Heritage days on Pine Avenue in early March, 2009. Grayson wearing his Harley Davidson shirt somehow peaked the photographers interest and they snapped a number of shots. Heritage Days had some great exhibits to help us all learn a little about Anna Maria history. Here is the link to the Herald Tribune where Grayson is shown in a photo. Click on the photo below to enlarge it and you can read most of the article. Thanks to Melissa, the principal of Steam Designs for sending the JPG article!



If you have never visited the Anna Maria Historical museum it is a must visit. Here is some information on Anna Maria history.

Grayson having fun on trampoline and Spring Break 2009

Grayson had a lot of fun on his Spring Break 2009. My schedule was a bit crazy this week so during the week I worked all week however Jennifer spent the entire week with Grayson. The weekend prior to Spring Break we pulled out the trampoline. The Trampoline has NOT been up since 2000 in Colorado. We have moved the trampoline several times and it is a pain with large pipes that become the stand for the trampoline...

So how many moves? (CORRECTION, This is what wives are for. I have just been reminded that the trampoline was purchased in Youngstown, Ohio back in 1997, so add one move to the series) Three locations in Boulder, Colorado where I recall putting the trampoline in storage, in the rafters of the garage which was about 14' up. I think that may have been the first back breaking initiation that pulled my back out and to this day still gives me problems. Then we moved to Newport, RI in a sea cost winter house, then on to our second location in RI where once again I stored most of the 5' long structure pipes to the rafters of the garage. On to Anna Maria Island Florida, where I moved it from side to side in the garage and finally to across the street to our second garage. Finally to Key Royale where last weekend we pulled it out and put it up in our back yard. Good as new even though it has seen some serious travel time and has not been opened in 9 years!...scary. Longer than Grayson is old.

The below videos are two fold. One of our back yard on Key Royale that features Grayson having fun on his new toy...the trampoline.

The second video is Grayson and Jennifer at the Tampa Zoo where he was waiting to go on a roller coaster named the Tiger...

Magical Birds found in Rochester, NY

In January 2000 Jennifer and I visited Chatt Seniors in Rochester, NY. It was late January and a pretty cold day. I don't recall why we made the trek to Rochester from Youngstown, Ohio but it was a magical afternoon for all of us that day. Mom or Dad said, lets to on a hike and see if we can feed the birds with seed. Jennifer probably coaxed me into going as I am sure I had plenty of other things to be doing and we made the trip to the "bird" trail with seed in hand.

We started out on the trail and began to put seed in our hands. With a little patience birds came to our hands and ate the seed. Consistently as soon as we put out seed, the birds came. We started putting seed on our shoulders,our hats and they ate seed wherever they could find seed. It was an amazing experience and those few hours went by in a flash. Take a look at the photos below and please look past the coke can size glasses. What a great memory!

You can see from the above picture that Chatt Senior has a bird on his cap. We all had birds on our head that day. Just an awesome experience on a cold wintry day in Rochester, NY.

Grayson at swimmming lessons in Bradenton Florida

Jennifer signed up Grayson for swimming lessons at the Bradenton, Fl YMCA. It was inexpensive and was a good idea for Grayson to get some "professional" training. Last summer, 2008, at our home on Anna Maria Island Grayson was jumping in the pool without floaties but I could tell was still uncomfortable with the whole idea of water and Grayson with no Dad in the water. I would rather he be scared than to be jumping in the pool without regard for his safety.

Anyways he would stand on the side of the pool and jump in. Then go figure, the training really took off when I started to challenge him to jump past a string float in the water. I took off his floaty's and he started to jump in and get himself to the top and struggle to the side of the pool. Then the cold came and the training stopped. Until now...

March 31st is the last day of his swim lessons and we will be getting his grade if he is ready to move on to the next class. He doggy paddles well but is not quite comfortable yet swimming under water. This summer he will get it at our home on the canal with a pool. He will get plenty of practice and we will no longer need to worry about Grayson falling into the pool.

Below is a video of Grayson I slapped together. Have fun watching it. Gramma and Grampa Bryant left yesterday and so far Grayson has been so busy I dont think he has gotten a breather to realize there are no more grandparents in town. I am sure he got used to it since between the Chatt and Bryant Grandparents he has been spoiled for two consecutive months.

The above picture was taken in the Summer of 2008 just as Grayson was learning how to jump from the edge of the pool into the pool at our Beach Vacation Rental on Anna Maria Island. It is not often you capture this amount of fear in a boys face. Awwwww....

Above Picture taken in Orlando at Water Park in 2008. This is the Wave pool which we all loved. Good stuff! (It has a swimming, so threw it in)

Grayson's first play - Anna Maria Elementary

Grayson was pretty excited to be in his elementary school play. He practiced for weeks, prepared, and constantly reminded us about his big night. Each child had a line to say and Grayson had it down cold. His elementary school puts on a play after the PTO dinner. The dinner in February was provided by Lee Roy Salmon's. They donated 100% of the food so all the proceeds from the $6 per person dinner went to the Anna Maria PTO. Thank you Lee Roy Selmon's, the ribs and chicken was fantastic. The PTO announced 2009 they will be using their raised funds to hire a computer lab person to aide all our children in computers. Sounds like a great plan.

So, below there are several videos. The first is Grayson practicing his parts. If you know Grayson when he puts his mind to something he wants to do it right and he is pretty serious. I cut out a few parts but take a look at the below video.




The next video is of Grayson and the actual play. There were two parts to the play however the most active part is shown. About 1/4 of the way through Grayson says his line and is downright serious!



Grayson is a very lucky boy, Gramma and Grampa Chatt, Aunt Patty, Jo, Carol and Uncle Marty, mom and dad made his big play. Below Grayson is doing his rounds in the "after play party" in his classroom. Hugging everyone that was nice enough to take part in his big night on the town....



Thank you to all that made the play and are making Grayson's childhood so special. As a father, Grayson's videos are priceless. I hope you enjoyed his big day as much as I did.

Memory lane - Karate Kid - Orange Belt

I woke up a few mornings ago and took a trip down memory lane for myself. I visited with some old friends on Facebook and found some Elementary school pictures through several friends from Leary Elementary school. What was a amazing to me is several of my friends in high school were friends in elementary school. Alot of them! What a lucky group of children to grow up through the same school system and know each other all through childhood. Amazing.

Anyways I began to make the connection to my son and hope for the same childhood for him. Of course nothing is the same but my friends that were able to find old class pictures reminded me that a picture is worth a thousand words and I hope my immediate and extended family continue to enjoy this blog. I hope it will be like a fine wine, as we age, this blog will be even more valuable.

Anyways, Grayson has been in karate almost 8 months and figured it is high time to show some pictures as well as a new belt he earned...Orange. Thanks to Granpa Chatt for the pics and the video. He enjoys it and is going two to three times per week. Early in the week it is stretching and practice, Wednesday if he goes it is "weapons" class and finally on Friday's he spars. Take a look below....

Below - Grayson in full body gear for sparring. See his grin?

Below - Greyson and Grayson sparring, that's right, our Grayson is on the right. Who ever said girls can't punch. Ms. Greyson is one tough cookie! Plus she is a little bigger too. She would be a tough big sister....

Below - A proud Grayson admiring his hard work and dedication. Ahhh - finally the Orange belt...only another 22 to go. Can't eat an elephant in one bite.

Below - Grayson video receiving his Orange belt.

Chatt Senior Spring Break on Anna Maria Island

Well the Chatt Senior's came down for the month of February 2009. They just left today March 1st so it is the first time I have had a chance to post some of our pictures together. They stayed at Sandy Pointe which is just across the street from Publix. They enjoyed staying out of their car and walking to the supermarket or across East Bay Drive to the wonderful white sandy beaches of Anna Maria Island. We did lots together and enjoyed our time but as usually it went way too fast. Below are some miscellaneous photos of the family with some highlight act ivies listed later.

Grayson Fishing for the first time on Key Royale, Holmes Beach

Grayson and Larry together at our new home on our new to us couch.

Mark, Patti, Dad, and Grayson enjoying Daytona 500 at Vista Grande in Holmes Beach, Fl

Jennifer grinning from ear to ear - a cold Feb this year!

Grayson's First Birthday - Newport, R.I.

Grayson's first birthday brings smiles to anyone looking at the pictures. We lived in RI at the top of a hill with a great view of the bay. I miss the clam chowder but don't miss the COLD. We just saw a cold snap in the Eastern United States this week. Upstate New York saw -10 degrees. In Florida we dropped to the 50's....Brrrr. Take a look at the pictures below...

Seaworld - Orlando - JAN 11th, 2009

January 10th was a great day for the Chatt family. We made the 1.75 hr journey from Anna Maria Island to Orlando and stayed in a hotel just of International drive. The hotel appeared to be set up as a time share but they were definitely selling it as real estate and it appeared as though they were using the rental business to help slow sales. The resort was a great concept, 2 and 3 bedroom villa's with elevators and a small resort hub outfitted with bar and swimming pool. We called for Orlando resorts and they were all sold out for SAT evening. Not one room available under $350. Who says we are in a recession? Anyways for a two bedroom large suite it was $120. At least that is what Jennifer told me...?

After a nice sleep on SAT we braved Orlando and hit the Denny's just across the street from Sea World. The research on where we stayed was great. We could have walked to SeaWorld from our resort. It was very close. Good job goes to Jennifer.

Our first show was Shamu which was good. All the normal stuff you would expect. Lots of jumping, lots of splashing, Grayson had a grand time. The task master put us on a strict schedule to immediately go see the dolphin show which was spectacular. Dolphins flying everywhere with divers jumping into the water from 30' up!

Jennifer and Grayson went on the water ride at Journey to Atlantis. See the below video. I was unable to go due to bags we carried but they seemed to have a good time and did not get too wet. Then to the penguin encounter which seemed to be Grayson's favorite. We then hit the Sea Lion and Otter Stadium. On to a modified tea cup ride, on to the sea lion show which was good for small children and good comedy. On to the childrens area where Grayson ran like a crazy boy does in a HUGE net jungle gym the size of half a football field. Oops, go back a few rides, we had lunch which was more like a thanksgiving feast for $35. Barbecue Chicken, pizza, and Chicken Parmesan at a dining hall called, Voyagers. I think they dumped the vat of fries on our plates as we all had enough to eat! Last round was on the helicopter ride.

We fed Sharks, walked through a very large aquarium tunnel and lastly on to the Wild Artic where we took a helicopter simulation that was a hard roller coaster ride but was a lot of fun for everyone and after Grayson wanted to go on the helicopter ride a second time.

Lastly one of the last things of all. On the ride home while Grayson and Jennifer slept I was able to listen to the Pittsburgh Steelers kill San Diego on the radio. It took a little work as I had to re-find the football game a few times as I moved through cities but I heard most of the game on the way home. A great day for the Chatt's.

ONE down, ten more to go...Vacation rentals that is

Anyone who knows me (Larry) knows I get bored maybe too quickly. I constantly analyze alot of different things to determine what is the next big opportunity to work on. Well recently it has been to renovate and rent out our duplex on Anna Maria Island. This is our second renovation into a weekly rental on Anna Maria and our first is right across the street. So, lately the Chatt family has not made long distance geographical moves however lots of moves we have. God bless Jennifer...Anyways, officially the West side of our duplex is ready. Through alot of sweat of our own, Mark, and Patti, 131 West White Avenue is open for BUSINESS.

We spent a great deal of time planning the WEST side as it is a 3 bedroom 2.5 bath. A spectacular pool was put in with a 1 ton rock that forms the top of the 5' tropical waterfall as well as a HUGE sun deck that is 3" under water with 4 jets that pop up out of the pool surface to create hours of toddler fun. Lastly, we have seating for more than 30 outside in 20X40' screened in enclosures so that the outdoor living is maximized. XBOX, Tv's with DVD's, Plasma, Granite, Stainless Steel, I think we have it all. We have made the rental prices very aggressive which has helped to already book out most of the season. Not to worry, late January and earl February are still available.

Of course 131 West and once 131 East which is scheduled to be complete FEB1st will be on the fabulous Island Real Estate Vacation Rental website. Click the direct link to more information about 131 W White avenue, Anna Maria, FL vacation rental. Take a look at some of the pictures - lots of work, not for the faint of heart but once complete it helps make it all worth while.

So there you have it, getting 131 W White avenue renovated has taken about 50% of my spare time. The other 50%? New office on Pine avenue, gutted everything but the kitchen of a 3 bedroom canal home, and getting 131 E White Avenue ready, oh yah...we are moving in 1.5 weeks.

Every year or so its good to clean out the pipes in the mind and take on 4X the amount that you "think" you can take on. It redefine's your "busy" periods. But, this is the last time I do all this at once! Of course a few close pessimistic people at Island Real Estate and close friends say, this wont be the last....you have about 10 more left in you....Nope, its my NEW YEAR's resolution to relax more with friends and family. A very noble and necessary cause and since it's my New Year's resolution it's a done deal to happen...right? RIGHT?

If you are looking for a pet friendly property then check out our vacation rental just across the street at 120 White Avenue. Anna Maria Pet Friendly Vacation Rentals Homes

Bristol Rhode Island, Rico, Sunrise, and 4th of July

Well, it appears the day has arrived. They have announced that the plant in Bristol, RI will be closing in February. It is a sad day for many in Bristol. While I cannot say that my time in Bristol, RI were the best years of my life I created some friendships that will last a lifetime. Sharing blood, sweat, and at times, tears of fear and tears of joy will do that to a person. I will never forget what the people of Bristol sacrificed for PCC and my short two years finally became unbearable. Many have endured 10-20-30 and more years at Rico. WOW. Plenty of bad changes and not many good ones. The history of Rico is a case study of how not to run a business. I remember my first month all too well. Arrived to zero formal manufacturing leadership at the plant. Several folks stepped up to help and make sure the plant continued to run. Let go the scheduler almost immediately and promoted several good people that were passionate about keeping the plant open. Did I mention a surprise OSHA inspection with 100's of infractions? Alot of great people that I miss and feel for. Terrible but it is the future of American Manufacturing.

Our first three months we spent in a Winter Rental in Newport, RI which had fabulous views of the ocean. The below video shows the view from our second floor rental. If you listen carefully you can hear Grayson crying in the background.

Did I mention that Bristol, RI has the oldest 4th of July parade on record. So believe me Bristol knows how to throw a parade. The streets are even lined with red, white, and blue stripes on the parade route. The city has received special approval for the colors. The small town feel was wonderful with plenty of little restaurants to eat and a fabulous playground that Grayson loved to play in. The clam chowder was to die for and Blount knows how to make great soup! One day we will visit Bristol again on vacation and see all the changes and maybe even shed a tear or two after seeing the Rico plant closed up. I shared alot of laughs with the great people of Rico Bristol. I wish the best for everyone and I hope that the door closed creates bigger and better opportunities for everyone. I know the last 10 years at Rico have not been easy. God Bless...

More Marching Bands than you could shake a stick at!

Ever seen a Blue Fire Truck? Now you have!

New Year's at Chatt Senior, New York

Another New Year and unfortunately we did not make the family meeting at Chatt seniors in New York. Although we did not make it we were able to talk with Mary Jo regarding the festivities. Here are some pictures from MChatt. Although we did not see the snow ourselves there are plenty of pictures. The big news - MChatt (Dad) did not fall asleep after dinner, seems as though Molly has taken over that tradition.

Dads new shed, covered in snow.

Jackson and Sydney...everyone is growing up!

Jackson and Julia....

HAPPY NEW YEAR - BEST WISHES FOR 2009!

Flashback - 2004 Christmas in NY and Ohio

The year was 2004. The holiday was Christmas and the focal point was Grayson. The Chatt family visited Ohio family and NY family and am sure it resulted in someone becoming very ill. It could very well be the year I went to the Rochester, NY emergency room at Strong Memorial for Bronchitis but I think that was 2005. Anyways, see photos below for some flashback pictures of how small Grayson was. At the time we lived in Bristol, RI so the sled did come in handy. We did get to try it out on our hill in Bristol.

Scary but the radio flyer from John and Laura has made it through three moves. We still have it and Grayson just wheeled around on it last night! DEC 27th, 2008!

Grayson's sled that we got to try out in Rhode Island. No more sledding on snow on Anna Maria Island, Florida. Maybe if we kept it we could have used it on sand!

Christmas at the Bryant's. Plenty of presents for all. Laura, Logan, and Davis in the picture.

Jennifer playing with Grayson with Santa walk-e-talkie

Here is the front of our home in Bristol, RI. It sat up on a hill and had fabulous water views. The hill also made for a great sledding hill and also made a few winter treks up the driveway interesting!

May be difficult to see with the lighting but great water views. Winter...Brrrrr.

Chatt Christmas 2008

Please see the video below for an update on the Chatt 2008 Christmas. A quick recap - Grayson singing at Roser church in Anna Maria City. Christmas Eve dinner at Al's and Lynn's in Key Royale. Grayson had a blast using nut crackers all night and Larry had his first Chocolate Martini. Christmas morning it was clear Santa delivered the goods for Grayson. Christmast dinner at Jeff and Linda's. We saw the quarter behind the ear trick, sang the twelve days of Christmas, and had a fabulous dinner. After we traveled to see 350,000 Christmas lights synched up with music at a Sarasota church. The night peaked when a robotic boy came out of the Christmas drum at the church and beat with "the little drummer boy." Fantastic 2008 Christmas with lots of Anna Maria Island and Sarasota Friends!

Halloween - Grayson 2004 in Rhode Island

Time to get back to our pride and joy...Grayson. Here are some photos for Grayson for Halloween 2004. See below for a video of some of his first footsteps on Halloween. Grayson dressed up as a commando and a Lion...ROAR!!

Here is Grayson at the block Halloween parade where he got to sit in the front seat of the fire engine. He had a blast!

Hungary 2003 - Larry's Europe adventure continued

This video would get you in BIG trouble if you tried this in United States. I was in Hungary during Easter and a tradition in Hungary on Easter was for men to dump a bucket of water on women. Over the years Hungarians became more refined and now use perfume to spray on the heads of women. Fascinating stuff...This actually occurred in the manufacturing plant I was helping.

The below picture is me eating home made Hungarian sausage on bread in the Hungarian plant. It was very good.

The below series is a great story. One town over from Retsag there was a restaurant that several locals told me I must eat at. They told me the restaurant was in the middle of the square and they kept using the word special to describe the location. Well anyways one night I drove out to go to the new restaurant alone and I drove around the statue below and clearly there is not building in the middle and no restaurant. I went back the next day to the manufacturing plant and said ha ha you got me, I went on your little scavenger hunt but did not see the restaurant. Well they all clearly became very worried and made it a point to tell me to go back a second night but really look. You are in the wrong square, there is a special restaurant in the middle of the square. They were really passionate about it and I could tell they were quite concerned I did not find it. So I drove back out, I looked around for another square but the picture above was the only square. I drove around it another time and clear as day I could see grass, I could see the statue, and some bushes but there is definitely no restaurant in the middle of the square. Am I going crazy? I went back the next day and spoke with a new person that had a better grasp on English and said you are all crazy. There is NO restaurant in the middle of the square. I am not going to fall for your scavenger hunt again. The girl told me, Larry, get out of your car and walk to the center of the square. It is a special in the dirt location. Please, try it, trust me, there is a restaurant there. So for the third night in a row I drove 20 minutes, reluctantly parked and got out of my car to go look for the phantom restaurant in the dirt. Low and behold the restaurant was underground in a CAVE! It was underground and the food was fabulous! Well I made sure to go back the next day and taught all my close Hungarian friends the word "underground."

Larry spends six months in Europe

Going backwards a little in time Larry spends most of Jennifer's pregnancy with Grayson in Eastern Europe. I traveled to see alot of great places. Austria was fabulous, Prague was amazing, but the most unspoiled spot I visited was Croatia. I stayed in a little resort town called Opatija. I arrived at about 10 PM after a 5 hour drive from Hungary and stopped at a local bar in the middle of town. I asked him where is the best hotel in town? He forwarded me to a hotel where I picked up a corner room with 180 degree views of the Adriatic sea for $90 per night! See the photos below...

There is a peach building in the distance. I stayed in the corner room on the top floor. Click the picture for a larger image.

Below image was a small deli like restaurant where you could eat right on the edge of the Adriatic sea.

The below shot is the view from one of the windows. Unbelievable - see the statue way below...

Here it is up close... Still takes your breath away, gorgeous!

Visit to Paul's with plenty to celebrate - if you are happy and you know it

These videos are from a trip Larry took in the summer. They were taken at Paul's house...

If you are happy and you know it....