Shortly after lunch my brother Mark and I set out for a little kayaking. We put in at the South boat house and paddled up to the Sudbury bridge. Mark used the kayak that Maya built and found it to be to his liking, both roomy and stable.

Maya looked elegant in a new dress, hand tailored by her Aunt Marie, as she readied herself to attend a bar mitzva for a school mate.

Rose may be the smallest of the cousins but she commands more than her fair share of attention. She can switch from being coy to pouting to unbridled exuberance in the course of a minute.

The morning meal was prepared by Nicolai who cooked eggs to order for our expanded household of eleven. For dinner, Mark expertly sauteed scallops to complement a magnificent salad prepared by Jeanine and Marie.

Bringing to five the number of visiting cousins, John William Quinn, my sister Alissa’s son, joined us for dinner and spent the night. We like the fact that he is attending Babson which is a relatively short distance from our home. Kyle was very much missed from our gathering which did not seem quite the same without him. A recent ankle injury does not appear to be healing very well making his life more difficult than need be and we are all wishing him a speedy recovery.