Yesterday, Maya asked if I would build her a canopy bed for her American Girl doll, Elizabeth. Maya helped me with the construction and did most of the painting herself. This morning we tried it on for size.  All that remains is to fabricare the canopy.

Nicolai played goalie for his team today. It rained on and off during the game so I decided to leave my camera gear in the car. I did, however, during warm-ups, catch this shot of him deflecting the ball over the bar. After the game we stopped at Helen’s for lunch and had a nice time discussing possibilities for his coming of age father-son adventure. Antartica is off the table and New Zealand is back on. We have decided that white water rafting or kayaking will be the main activity.

Jeanine and Maya attended a Women’s Circle at the church during which she decorated this Yin-Yang symbol. She added words (using her own spelling) that were significant to her; Compassion, Movement, Energy, Deep Love, Relax, and Comfort. Meanwhile, Kyle and I had a boys night out after his practice. We went to the Mainstreet Cafe where we enjoyed a couple of burgers while listening to live guitar music.

Last night, I extracted Maya’s second front tooth using a method perfected on her two brothers. She did not know the tooth was out until I showed it to her. She wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy inquiring if she could keep the tooth in addition to her remuneration ($1 is the going rate).

A lot going on for a Tuesday. This morning I found this bat in the living room hanging from the curtain rod. I captured him using Jeanine’s tupperware technique and Maya did the honors of liberating him on the outdoor marble table. Before he flew off, I grabed my camera for this closeup. Children; do not try this at home. I believe there will be a significantly fewer doors left wide open all day after the kids take a close look at this photo.

Kyle had a school assignment to construct a mask which revealed something about himself. Most of the symbols need no explanation. The name of his soccer team is the Stars. The bug going into his mouth is a termite which he and I ate on our coming of age adventure to Belize.

This week’s theme for the photo contest I occassionally enter is “Mechanical Marvels”. This is the inside of a hard disk drive and is my entry for the week. I will update the post if I make it to the finals.

Nicolai is all packed up for 3 days at a leadership training camp in the Ossipee Mountains of New Hampshire. He will be attending with his middle school classmates and teachers under the guidance of the staff at Camp Merrowvista. After reviewing the itinerary and activities I was ready to pack my bag. Regretably they do not take parents.

The final product was delicious.

For family night this evening we all cooked dinner together. Pictured here is phase one of a bowtie pasta, bacon, and green pea salad. I was in charge of the bacon bits. Maya and friend Julie prepared a salad, Nicolai handled the pasta, Kyle provided help with several components, and Jeanine focused on the apple crisp desert.

I took portraits of all the kids present. This was my favorite and the rest can be seen here.

Before the party ended, most of the adults joined the children in the pool, either intentionally or by coercion. Our sweeper was able to avoid immersion by tactical use of a lawn chair. I wound up in the water in my clothes but did have the foresight to set my camera equipment and valuables aside beforehand.

After my match this morning, (we won 2-1) the team and their families got together for a cookout and pool party. I picked up Maya and Nicolai from church and they joined me while Jeanine took Kyle to an away match (his team defeated Puma, a long time nemesis, by a 1-0 margin).

Short haired Maya showing the boys how soccer is played. Actually, Maya was a little off her game today. During practice this week she took a ball to the face and got a bloody nose. She definitely played more cautiously than normal today.