Tony demonstrated how to carve a watermelon and I fear that I will not get to eat the next few watermelons that make it into our house.

Maya was our little bubble queen.

Nicolai discovered several toads during our bocce match.

Jeanine didn’t take long to latch onto Drew, Christine’s newly adopted baby.

We spent yesterday in Old Lyme, CT with Anita, Tony, and extended family attending a Fourth of July/family reunion. Naturally the food was exquisite and featured this little porker.

Play continued throughout the day and was only interrupted for air traffic (we were set up just off the runway of a small airfield).

Nicolai takes a break between matches and offers the canine mascots food for tricks.

I have seen the future and it is disconcerting. On the positive side, Maya seems to be in control of the situation.

Maya was the youngest participant in the competition and did well against older opponents.

Today, the family (minus Kyle, who is away at camp) spent the day at a croquet tournament. Here, Nicolai is taking practice strokes on one of the five regulation-size courts. The perspective in this photo is misleading as the first and fifth courts were separated by more than 100 yards.

The rule in the Calabria family is that you must study the piano for 4 years before you can pick your own instrument. Nicolai celebrated his liberation from the piano with the purchase of an electronic drum set. He contributed $400 of his own money (80% of his net worth) toward the purchase so it is clear to us that he is very committed to drumming. He has not stopped playing since we completed the setup (several hours ago) and I am pleased to report that he can practice with headphones on without disturbing the rest of the family.