We have fenced off the new deck and Nala is free to roam there at will. When she gets bored she eats the house – literally. The day she gnaws on any of my photo gear is the day we will be back to two guinea pigs. 

Maya returned from a visit with my parents during which my mother taught her to sew (they worked together on the outfit she is wearing) and my dad was enthralled by her stories. She had a great time and was bubbling over with enthusiasm over her solo adventure. 

Kyle, Alex, and Dave checking out their friend’s Facebooks. 

Maya is in Schenectady with my parents this weekend (armed with her camera – so we are hoping she will return with some photos). My mother has offered to teach her to sew. With Nicolai at camp we had a rare evening alone with Kyle. After a nice Mexican dinner out we stopped at Erikson’s for ice cream. I saw an orthopedic surgeon today and my knee has a grade 2 MCL sprain. I go in for an MRI on Monday to verify that nothing is torn. 

Boy and his dog. 

This has not been a great week for photography. On Tuesday, I had to layoff about 70 people from my organization of nearly 500. These events are never easy but in this case it was the right thing for the company. On Wednesday, I sustained a rather serious knee injury while playing soccer. I am seeing a specialist tomorrow. Today while convalesing, I finally had a chance to grab my camera and favorite subject. 

Here is another photo by Maya of her mother lest you think the one of me was a fluke. 

I am not often featured on this blog because I am usually behind the camera. Today I was treated to this photo taken by Maya. I can not begin to express my pleasure in her budding talent. 

Mike treated us to Gelato after we enjoyed a nice dinner at Mama Maria’s providing a sweet end for a perfect day. 

The day started by bidding Nicolai farewell as he left for three weeks at music camp. After that Jeanine, Mike, Kyle, Tucker, Maya and her friend Allison went bowling (not duck pin) at Tucker’s request. I slipped away for a little camera shopping. We then proceeded to the North End where we went to our favorite bocce park and took in the sights, sounds and smells. Italians really know how to live. Mike and I lost a close match to Kyle and Tucker who came from behind to win. I am sorry to say that I will likely be reminded of this loss for some time to come. 

This is the first time Kyle has joined us on a hike and I think he had a really good time. we brought along the spotting scope and enjoyed some great views from the top. In total, we did about a thousand feet up and a thousand feet down.  

Mike checks in with wife Rene after dispelling all notions of an aversion to hiking. 

Nico and Greg pausing at the top. They climbed together all day and made quick work of the relatively short hike from the parking area. 

Jeanine shows off her guns at the summit. 

Today the family, minus Maya, and guests Mike and Tucker Snively plus Gregoire, Nico’s friend, climbed Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire. 

Tucker, Ben, Kyle, Nico and Greg play a little cards before the older kids head down to Cambridge Square to see all the antics surrounding the release of the latest Harry Potter book at midnight. 

Also visiting us this evening are Chloe and her mother. It is not apparent to me what the girls are up to but they seem to be having fun. 

A photo of Kyle and Tucker just before we moved from Indianapolis to Boston. 

Visiting Kyle this week is his childhood friend Tucker who had grown to man-size proportions (size 14 shoe). There is some question as to the adequacy of our food supply to satisfy the hunger of these three amigos. 

No idea what type of bugs these are but have a pretty good idea of what they are up to. Frequent visitors to this site will note a significant number of photographs of this ilk. It turns out that when animals are in the throws of passion they are quite oblivious to an approaching photographer. 

Today butterflies seemed to be everywhere. 

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There is a nice hill adjacent to work and if I have no meetings scheduled over the lunch hour (rare) I try and get out for a quick hike. It is amazing how many critters I encounter on these walks. 

Today we drove up to York, Maine to join friends of Kyle for a little surfing. I was tied up with Nala and did not get a chance to get any shots of the action. 

I took Nicolai and his friend George to Kimbal Farms after they helped me install an invisible fence to contain Nala. the boys spent about an hour practicing their driving before indulging in some ice cream. 

Nicolai surveys Kyle’s 2-week old beard. Perhaps beard is too strong a word. Click the image for a better assessment. 

Kyle returned from his 400+ mile bike odyessy sporting a smile, great tan, and a distinctinely larger set of quads. His 2 week journey took him from the coast of Maine to Quebec City with stops for white water rafting and a community service project. In addition to carrying their own gear, each of the dozen kids on the expedition were also responisble for carrying some portion of the communal camping equipment. Kyle said he was looking forward to a hot shower and sleeping in his own bed. 

Nice subject for an exercise in selective focus. 

Got this souvenir at Emerson hospital tonight along with a couple of stitches in my head. My summer soccer league is an open division which means I routinely play against kids less than half my age. One such opponent with more testosterone than brains tried to win a header for which I had established perfect position. As I headed the ball, he headed the back of my head. The amount of blood was quite impressive given how small the laceration was. The staff at Emerson hospital were not impressed by my use of a dirty sock to staunch the bleeding.  

Maya, Nala, and I spent part of the evening out in the new screened in porch. The evening light was nice and I could not resist a closeup of my favorite daughter. 

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I dropped Mark and the boys off at the airport this morning at 5am. Although it was a brief visit, I am sure Nicolai will remember it for a long time to come. He said it was his best birthday ever. 

On the way home we stopped to see the Old North Bridge and everyone enjoyed using the spotting scope to observe the local water fowl.