Nico finishes his third round match in style with a first-round head-and-arm throw pin.

Although he lost his second round match, Nico catches his opponent with another beautifully executed souple.

Jeanine arrived with her sister Susan, in time to see Nico’s final two matches, and took this picture of father and son discussing strategy. I love this photo.

Had the referee been in a better position, I am fairly sure he would have called this a pin.

Nicolai had another wrestling tournament this weekend and emerged with a second place finish. He won his opening match, pictured here, by a margin of 14-5. He has become fairly proficient with a belly-to-back souple in which he lifts his opponent from the mat and carries him in a spectacular arc as they return to the mat.

 
Kyle playing the Les Paul guitar that was a gift from his brother.

Jeanine’s sister Susan is visiting for the weekend. It occurred to me that there are no pictures of her with all three kids so I suggested we make one. You’d think I suggested walking bare foot to the North Pole for all the feet dragging that transpired. In the end we got one nice shot that I hope Susan will enjoy.

I have volunteered to be a mentor in the the Gordon Engineering Leadership program at MIT. This evening I attended a mixer during which I met my mentee, Nora. She was born in Bulgaria and moved to Japan when she was in the fourth grade. I am looking forward to learning from each other over the coming months. The MIT campus is a ten minute walk from my office and I paused for this photo as the sun was setting.

This evening, I spent some time continuing to scan and clean up old family photos. This handsome-looking gentleman is my great grandfather on my father’s side.

There is no doubt in my mind that Nicolai is much more attractive with short hair. Please register your preference (before or after) directly with Nicolai. It’s hardly been a week since I cut his hair, and I am already feeling the urge to get my scissors out again.

Before.

On Thursday, Maya will address her class with an aural report on Pocahontas. Here, she makes the final edits to her presentation, which she will give in character and costume. You can expect to see photos of Mayahontas later in the week.

Jeanine has discovered a local source of fresh eggs. When she went to collect the eggs, she was introduced to the chickens who laid them. I will encourage her to bring back photos in addition to the eggs on her next visit. Ever since we both read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, we have been trying to be better localvores. Eating locally produced foods reduces the energy waste and resulting pollution associated with shipping our food here from far away places.

 
The longer we live in Concord, the more I appreciate the simple gifts we enjoy here. This morning Jeanine and I awoke to the sounds of a hooting owl followed by a magnificent sunrise over our field.

 
While Nico was hosting a Super Bowl party using the basement home theater, Jeanine hosted a birthday party for her friend Irene. Only women choose seaweed salad and sushi as a birthday food. Apparently they also had a liberal dose of wine because they all came down to the basement and were dancing to the Bruce Springsteen half time show in front of all the teenagers.

Nico opens his second match with a very impressive 5-point move called a gator roll, which he initiates from a front headlock. Jeanine and Maya, now in attendance, get to witness his 5-2 victory.

Nicolai draws the five-time defending champion in his first match. Despite the 9-2 loss, Nico puts in a great performance as his teammates and spectators look on. Each wrestler’s left arm is labeled with their weight in case you noticed the marking on his bicep.

This morning, Nicolai and I left the house before 7 AM to make weigh-ins for the Big East Wrestling Tournament held at Nashoba Regional High School. Nico is wrestling in the 85# Elite Division (Novice, Select, Elite) which included some of the best wrestlers in the state.