I cannot believe the holiday season has already come and gone. I had a fantastic time with my family and friends, and I definitely did my fair share of feasting. We had ham, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce and rolls. Dessert was just as delectable with pecan pies, apple pies and carrot cake. I must have eaten my entire weight in food three times over! Oh, but it was so worth it. Unfortunately, the holidays are a heavy-eating season, and many people find themselves eating too much and exercising too little during the holiday months. Well, I am determined to enjoy all of the holiday treats this year but also avoid the excess weight gain, which is why I plan to start walking a mile a day. I hope to build up to 3 miles by spring.

Heron Bay has a number of places to walk from the communities wide sidewalks to a variety of trails. In fact the trail system at Heron Bay Golf & Country Club is the perfect place to take a power walk yet decompress at the same time. How can you be stressed out while surrounded by nature?

For all of my neighbors at Heron Bay, I hope you consider walking with me! After all birds of a feather walk together! It may be a bit cold outside, but it is the perfect time to walk off  holiday weight and work on New Year’s Resolutions – just after the holidays. I’ll see you on the trails!

The Christmas tree is twinkling inside brightly  outside the Heron Bay Lodge is all decorated for the holiday season. The Lodge is just one of many amenities offered to residents of this Atlanta golf community.

The 5,000 square foot facility is a perfect gathering place for community events like a Holiday Party as well as community meetings. Complete with a magnificent two-story great room, caterers kitchen and library with comfortable over-sized chairs, homeowners are able to utilize the Lodge for private parties, meetings, and receptions.

While the Lodge offers a great indoor setting, homeowners can also rent the 5 acre Lakefront Park & Pavilion for outdoor functions. Offering breath taking views of the 1,100 acre Cole Reservoir, the Lakefront park is an ideal spot for birthday parties, graduation events or anniversary parties. With spectacular views and abundance of space, the possibilities for outdoor events at the Cole Reservoir are endless. (more…)

On Saturday, December 5, 200 Heron Bay residents donned their sweaters, grabbed their scarfs and joined friends and neighbors at the Lodge for the annual Heron Bay Golf & County Club Holiday Party.

Children who went to bed dreaming of meeting Santa had their chance to meet Old Saint Nick at this fun filled family event. Santa was on hand throughout the party to take pictures with the children and listen to their holiday wish lists.  He also sat down and read The Night Before Christmas to the children. (more…)

The new consumer website HouseLogic.com is a valuable resource for any homeowner or potential homebuyer. Developed by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), HouseLogic.com offers everything a homeowner needs to increase, maintain and protect the value of their home and community. This website is filled with tips and tricks to protect the value of your home. Well maintained homes protect the value of their communities by creating environments new home buyers want to live in.

The Heron Bay Golf & Country Club community is one that epitomizes value. The golf and lake community features a strong, fully funded Home Owners Association (HOA) and financially stable developer. Both stay involved with the neighborhood on a daily basis, which helps maintain a higher level of value on our homes.  (more…)

Need a break from “office” air?  We now have approximately 3 miles of beautiful trails at Heron Bay Golf & Country Club.  At completion, there will be around 8 miles for all Heron Bay residents to enjoy!

These beautiful trails were designed for walking, hiking or just strolling through wooded areas or along the winding streams and are continually being developed throughout this golf and lake community.  The trails are also designed to run across open space and connect many of the neighborhoods of Heron Bay.  What an easy way to go visit a neighbor!

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It’s Thanksgiving – where has this year gone? At Thanksgiving time, I enjoy the tradition of reflecting on the past year and recognizing all that I am thankful for. I also love to hear what others are thankful for. Since we all have different values and priorities, it’s nice to hear what is important to others. By sharing our values with each other, we can appreciate things in life that we may have taken for granted before. So, I am here today to share with you all the things in my life that I cherish and feel incredibly lucky to have, and I hope you’ll share yours with me as well.

First and foremost, I am thankful for my amazing family. Helen, Spalding and Haley are everything to me. They are my pillars of support and their unconditional love is something I feel truly blessed to have.

Something else that I am thankful for is my health. I am no chick anymore, but my body is quite strong – I am able to fly, walk, swim and do all the things (more…)

Hello Neighbors!

This weekend, Haley and I dug around for some more fun ways to help improve our environment. Haley, my budding environmentalist, has decided that she wants to become a “climate ambassador” for her school. Haley found a page on the Environmental Protection Agency website that allows students to calculate how much of an impact their school’s everyday actions are having on the environment.

Haley found that you can calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of a school and even the climate change caused by the school. She is very interested in this subject and thinks she can find ways to reduce the school’s impact just like she has done at home. (more…)

Many herons dread a visit from their in-laws, but I lucked out. My wife Helen’s parents are truly a joy to spend time with. They finally came to visit us in our beautiful home in the Heron Bay Golf & Country Club community this year for Grandparent’s Day. We had such a blast together. Spalding, my sweet boy, proposed that since Grandma and Grandpa Hampton are so great, we should have Grandparent’s Weekend instead of just Grandparent’s Day!

On Friday, we took advantage of the end-of-summer heat at the aquatic center. We splashed around the pool and the kids had fun showing their grandparents the colorful, mushroom fountains. Grandpa Hampton even (more…)

Hello friends! My, my, I have had one busy week! This old bird is ready to bed down for the weekend and get in some good quality sleep! Whew!

I love summer. It is such a relaxing and rejuvenating season. Haley and I usually work in the flower garden, identifying trees, flowers and bug species. Spalding loves summer because he gets to see all of his friends everyday and play all day long. Helen has a “green toe” and I will often see her out in our veggie patch, plucking weeds or planting treats.

Another habit Haley and I have gotten into (besides identifying bugs, flowers and trees) is searching for new ways to improve the environmental impact our home has on the area around us. Haley and I have found many ways so far to reduce our impact and I am proud of all of the hard work that she puts into making our world a better place.

The most recent activity that Haley and I have discovered is eCycling. This is the process where individuals take their old computers, DVD players and all sorts of other electronics to an electronics recycling center. It is really (more…)

Hello neighbors! I had a lovely Sunday afternoon full of excitement and fun. Three boisterous boys and I flew from one end of Heron Bay Golf and Country Club to the other playing games and enjoying the weather in our neighborhood. I am continually surprised by the fun and trouble my fine feathered son can get into!

Spalding had his four best friends over to play yesterday, and they certainly had a blast. First, they had a rowing contest at Spalding’s favorite hole in the beautiful Cole Reservoir. They rowed and rowed all around the lake, enjoying the breeze and the sunshine! All of the boys had a blast!

Next, the boys went swimming at the neighborhood Aquatic Center. They wanted to spend time in each of the pools, soaking up the rays. First, the boys visited the shallow beach-entry pool to get used to the water temperature. Then, they progressed to the nine brightly colored, mushroom- shaped waterfalls where they splashed around and chased one another through the maze of mushrooms. Next, the boys climbed all the way to the top of the two spiraling waterslides and raced one another down the slides to the plunge pool below. After 8 or 9 trips up the slides, the boys (more…)