Adding photos of the dedication of Hakim’s tree taken by Ruth Glidden.

This is a Swamp Milkweed beetle with its heart set on a meal in our garden. For the time being I have taken a live and let live attitude but if this guy invites any of his friends over I may change my tune. I played in my final soccer match of the season this morning and we lost a well played game to the first place team in the division. I was finally able to shoot again with my right foot, my knee having now fully recovered. After the game the team gathered at the CCHS field where we remembered Hakim, the son of one of my teammates. We all chipped in to have a beautiful mature oak tree planted at the entrance to the soccer complex in his memory. It was an emotional celebration and I hope to obtain a photo of the event for future inclusion here.

Sadly, my brother’s family leaves to return to Minnesota today. It has been one of the best visits ever. After days of tournament style croquet with matches lasting well past darkness and finished under the illumination of car headlights the score between teams is dead even with all players having reached rover status. Rory and Nicolai in particular have made some truly unbelieveable long distance snipes to keep their respective teams in the hunt. As time runs out we convince the boys to settle for a tie and to resume the competition on their next visit. We have all enjoyed Sophia and Rose but none more than Maya who was both big sister and mother to them for much of the week. We all missed Mark and hope to see him on our next gathering.

Maya’s soccer team wrapped up their season this morning (except for one makeup game). They needed a win or tie to finish first in their division. The match was very exciting and the girls fought back from a 1-0 deficit to tie the match. Maya made a long run from her defensive position and served a perfect cross for the goal. Despite a rather average start to the season, Maya showed some real improvment by the end and despite her small stature has learned to use her foot skills and speed to advantage.

After dinner, we made an ice cream run. The four amigos made short work of the massive portions that are the hallmark of Kimball Farm.

As we arrived at home, the girls were decorating cupcakes, and in less than 10 seconds, everyone was working on their own canine masterpiece.

This morning I dropped Nicolai, Mario, and Rory off at the Science Museum on my way into work. Here Nicolai attempts to bring the ends of two L shaped sticks together while looking through a prism which swaps right eye view for left. Quite an amusing challenge for one and all. I picked them up after work and each had to cite 15 science facts they had learned during the day before I would take them home. Fortuantely they were up to the challenge.

My nieces are being as cute as can be. I miss having toddlers underfoot and am soaking up as much of them as I can.

My parents, both in their eighties now, remain passionate about dancing and each other. They have been since the evening they first met. This photo was taken a few weeks ago in what used to be my bedroom which they have since converted into a dance studio and media library. Are these the same people that try to tell me I am getting too old for soccer?

This evening, we celebrated near birthdays (Maya, Mario, Rory, Nico)on the sun porch. Joining us for the last few days have been my parents, who drove in from Schenectady, where they were recently featured on the front page of the local paper for fifty years of dancing together (and still going strong). The story and link to a video can be found here.

My sister-in-law Marie heads off to UMass to review clinical trials of the stent her startup medical company is seeking to bring to market. Little doubt where her children acquired their good looks and brains. My brother Mark may have had something to do with it as well.

While Kyle and Nico were in school and I was at work, everyone else went to the beach where Maya and Mario found this decapitated head, which bore a strong resemblance to Rory.

Maya is delighted to take on the role of big sister/mother in training. She has been extraordinarily helpful and seems to be enjoying every moment with her younger cousins.

Both girls are drawn to Nala who has been very accommodating of their attention.

This is older sister, Sophia. She has the most beautiful eyes and a bright personality to match. We engage in long conversations on topics of great importance such as the correct color of a banana. The more softly I speak to her the more exaggerated her facial expressions become. A future in acting will be one of many options she has in front of her.

Yesterday I focused on the boys. Today we turn our attention to the girls. This is the youngest cousin, Rose. She is an adorable little force to be reckoned with. Her parents describe her as willful. Her teachers describe her as smart but lacking a single ladylike bone in her body. She has decided I am similar enough to my brother in appearance and sound to warrant calling me papa. I am obliged to follow all orders I receive from her.

Rory, Mario, and I watched as Nicolai’s soccer team closed their season with a 1-1 tie. We had many opportunities to secure the win, but each slipped away. After the game, the team posed for photos.

If you can imagine a cross between Sumo wrestling and platform diving, then you will immediately recognize the game of King of the Dock. Kyle was dominant but not invincible as each boy in turn was dispatched into the cool water only to come back for another attempt on the King.

 
Nico arguably has the best volleyball technique of the bunch and made many nice spikes, digs, and blocks throughout the match. He and cousin Rory worked together for several nice bump, set, spike combinations.

 
Air Mario leaps into the sky for a spike during a competitive game of sand volleyball. The party was held at a local pond which has been the subject of many photos I have taken over the years. One of my teammates has a house here with exclusive rights to use the beach area for parties.

This muscle flexing among the cousins is not a new phenomenon. Here is a photo taken a decade ago featuring the same group plus my sister’s son John. It scares me to think what this group will be up to in another decade. Some may even have little muscle men of their own.

The boys did not require much encouragement to flex for the camera and fortunately for followers of this blog, I was not drawn into this particular activity. A closer inspection of the six packs will require you to enlarge the photo by clicking on it.,

My brother’s family is visiting for the next week although he, unfortunately, is unable to join them. Pictured here are my two sons on the left and my two nephews on the right (nieces and their mother are spending the day with Maya and Jeanine at the Willard Carnival). We are attending an end of the season soccer party for my team. This morning we had our last home game and finished in style with a 4-2 victory. My knee is still not 100% but I was able to provide two nice assists.

The guilty party was this coyote who was hunting in our newly mowed field. Nala’s electric containment fence is the only thing that spared this fellow a skirt with death. What Nala’s breed lacks in social skills it makes up for with raw speed and agility.

Nala alerted us to the presence of an intruder on our property as dusk arrived.

The perspective is highly distorted and it has been marred by careless footprints but it is easy to still appreciate the work of the skilled artist who probably worked for days on hands and knees to create this image.

After spending 14 hours in the office I raced over to the Santa Barbara Mission before the sun had set. I was surprised to find the courtyard transformed into a canvas for 100s of chaulk masterpieces. The quality of some of the paintings rivaled works I have seen in fine museums. Without a higher vantage point, none of my photos did justice to the art.

The Sonos Santa Barbara facility bathed in pre dawn light. The building is more expansive than it appears and does not lend itself to a wider angle photo.

 
I leave for Santa Barbara this afternoon but not without a photo of my favorite daughter. I have been asked to pick up responsibility for our Information Technology Services group in addition to Product Development and am travelling on short notice to meet all the new members of our team.

My cousin Heather and her husband Burton celebrate the gradation of their daughter Toni from Wesleyan University. Toni is now off to dance for 6 weeks at the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC. She plans to dance and choreograph as much as she can during the next few years and then go on to graduate studies.

Maya has become quite proficient and fearless about extracting her own teeth when the time comes. We spent some time examining her molar and it appears that she clenches her teeth at night (like her father) so a night guard is probably in her future.