Maya won many carnival game prizes but was not able to dunk our CEO who was a great sport and seemed to enjoy the picnic as much as the kids. It was a great event with something for each member of the family. I received an iRobot jersey with my name on the back which will no doubt be featured in a future posting.
Kyle and Nico teamed up for a 2V2 match of volleyball and demonstrated great control and excellent passing. I really enjoyed watching them work as a team and the resulting elegance of play.
We traveled to Milton Academy this afternoon where we all enjoyed the iRobot family picnic. Jeanine and I both enjoyed meeting Madeline Chu, a friendly and adorable one-year-old. Maya connected with her sister Olivia, and the two were hard to separate. The boys made a beeline for the food before starting a game of volleyball.
The boys have acquired a taste for poker and routinely host games on the sun porch. Tonight’s pot is $75 and the trash talk was in high gear before the first hand was finished. I had planned to take advantage of iRobot’s half day Friday summer hours to get an early start on our up coming week long vacation. One thing led to another and by the time I returned home I had logged an actual half day (12 hours) which is not really how this benefit is supposed to work.
A farewell celebration for a departing employee did little to help my efforts to eat healthfully today. Between such events and my lack of exercise while my knees recover from the soccer season I am starting to feel rounder than desired.
As I looked through my pictures for the day, nothing came close to this portrait Kyle took during our Father’s Day photo outing. I love the concept, composition and execution, not to mention the subject. As we enter the summer months, Kyle is demonstrating a new level of maturity. He is taking his landscaping business very seriously, his hard work at the end of the school year paid off with an improved GPA, and he is making solid plans for college preparation over the break. Kyle needs to buy a truck for his business and he requested we make him an interest bearing loan for that purpose. Jeanine and I decided, to his utter surprise, to gift him our Honda Odyssey instead, our way of recognizing his hard work and supporting his entrepreneurial venture. He should be able to trade it in on a rather decent truck.
Complications at work prevented me from joining Jeanine and Maya for her end-of-the-year soccer party this evening. Each member of the team received a trophy for winning sectionals. The soccer ball on the trophy spins and has been a great hit with the family.
Maya celebrated her birthday with friends this afternoon after officially “graduating” from Willard School this morning. Jeanine and a few parents took the girls to Wingaersheek Beach for the party. Although I missed the festivities, I arrived home just in time to capture the group in pig pile formation.
Here are my favorites from each family member in the same order as the last post. Is it possible to inherit talent from your children and spouse?
My final treat was the best gift I have ever received for Father’s Day. I armed each member of the family with a camera and asked them to take a photograph of me (since I am almost always on the other side of the lens). Second, I requested an artistic photo from each one. We agreed on the Minute Man National Historic Park as our photo safari destination. Above are the results of their portraiture. Now just make a guess as to who took each photo? (Hint: The order is the same as in which their first initial appears in the prior question.)
Plan B: My first treat shall remain undisclosed. My second treat was breakfast prepared by the kids and served to me on the couch where we gathered to watch home videos of the children when they were very young. My third treat was a visit to the National Heritage Museum in Lexington with Jeanine where we enjoyed a photo exhibit by Quang–Tuan Luong composed of a single exquisite photograph of each of the 58 US National Parks. My fourth treat was watching the Brazil versus Ivory Coast World Cup Match in the home theater with Maya. My fifth treat was a delicious dinner that was half indulgent and half healthy.
This is the first birthday celebration I can remember where the parents had as much fun as the child. Maya enjoyed herself, having reached the age where she appreciated the full mix of activities we enjoyed today. I hope we can do this again.
After another fountain cool down we reached our Faneuil Hall our final destination for the day. Here we enjoyed various street artists, birthday gift shopping, visiting with the local horses, and Maya’s all time favorite dinner, Mac & Cheese.
Georges Island is dominated by historic Fort Warren, a Civil War-era fort known for its graceful granite archways and reputed ghost, the Lady in Black. Maya led us on a random walk tour and we eventually joined the end of a ranger led tour which took us through the very scary Dark Tunnel.
We arrive on Georges Island just in time to enjoy a wonderful performance of Brazilian music by graduating students of the Berkeley School of Music.
We boarded the Island Discovery ferry for the 30 minute voyage to Georges Island, part of Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
As the day was rather warm, Maya stopped to cool down at the leaping waters fountain on the green way. She was careful to study the timing pattern and was only partially drenched when it was time for us to leave for our scheduled ferry.
For her birthday Jeanine and I treat Maya to a day in Boston. Our first destination is the Long Wharf. When Maya realized this sculpture was alive she paused for a photo opportunity.
In preparation for an all-day adventure in Boston with her parents, Maya spends some time with Nala playing bubbles (worth enlarging the photo for a better view).
Maya is now 11 years old. Her day stated with French crepes filled with fruit, whipped cream, Nutela and topped with powdered sugar. Nico and Jeanine did the crepe making while Kyle and I assisted Maya with crepe consumption.
In this event, teams of student seek to suspend a bucket of balls using only their feet for as long as possible.
I was able to join the afternoon Fun Day activities courtesy of iRobot summer hours which allow for half day Fridays. In this event, one student is wrapped about the middle in double sided tape as their partner guides them, wheelbarrow style, over a course strewn with plastic balls. The goal is to pick up a many balls as possible using the tape. Still photos cannot convey the hilarity of this event.
It seems like only yesterday that Maya was in Kindergarten, and today, she is celebrating her last day of elementary school. During the morning, Jeanine was on hand to watch as Maya delivered a graduation speech to parents and students, the text of which is included here.
Hi, my name is Maya Calabria and I’ve been a student at Willard School since I was five.
I’ve enjoyed 6 years, 6 last days, 6 teachers, 6 carnivals, and unfortunately only 4 ice cream socials.
This year has been the hardest transition I have ever had to make. I’ve really had to step up and take responsibility for my learning by being organized and managing my time well. I learned how to be independent and to persevere.
In past years my work ethic has been to ask my parents for help. Now I can be patient and problem solve on my own.
I have learned more than in any other year and I had my first “ah ha” moment when one detail helped me link two pieces of history together. I will miss Willard but I am looking forward to the new challenges of Middle School and to making new friends.
I’d like to thank all of my teachers for being so understanding, for helping me to prepare for the future, and for choosing to devote their time to educating students. I’d also like to thank my parents for encouraging me and teaching me to value my education.There aren’t enough ways to say thank you.
Nothing like a “thermal event” in one of my test labs at work to spice up the day. A shorted motor in a test fixture induced a failure in the circuit board that was controlling it producing enough heat to melt everything in the vicinity resulting in a plume of acrid smoke. Before releasing a product we conduct a battery of stress tests to ensure the quality of our designs. These tests run 24/7 in unoccupied labs. In this case we were testing a wheel assembly and after 2000 hours of operation the brushes in the motor wore out and the springs which support them shorted together. Far better that we discover this failure mode in our labs rather than in a customer’s home and the incident will result in design improvements and a new smoke detection/power interruption system for all our test labs.
Everyday I drive past this field of yellow flowers. Today I paused for a moment to capture the image. During the early morning or evening hours it is not uncommon to see deer grazing here. Although the boys are busy studying for final exams it is unclear to me how watching World Cup soccer is helping them do this. I must confess to taking in the first half of the 7AM game between Chile and Honduras myself.
Jeanine and I attended Maya’s Portfolio Celebration this morning where we had an opportunity to view her best work from the past school year. Each child in the class prepares a very official looking portfolio of their best work in each subject area to which they add a statement explaining why they selected each piece. It is a great opportunity for parents to share in the scholastic accomplishments of their child and in our case there was much to admire and be proud of. Maya poses with the welcome poster she helped create for the special occasion.
Kyle models a tie-dye shirt of his crafting. The consensus in the family is that this is the best any of us have ever created. Fortunately for me, Kyle’s muscular physique now requires the same large size that is necessary to drape my fat body, giving me yet another piece of clothing I can borrow from him.
Yesterday during my soccer match I had my feet taken out from under me while I was up for a header. I fell flat on my back from a height of about 6 feet, had the wind knocked out of me, and heard enough snap, crackle and pops to make a Rice Krispies commercial. Today my back, neck and shoulders feel better than they have in years. I feel taller, my flexibility has improved dramatically, and the low back pain that has been nagging me for months is totally gone. Although I cannot recommend this form of treatment to others, I am convinced it is the single most effective chiropractic adjustment I have ever received and was well worth the initial 5 minutes of utter agony.
Hours of watching World Cup soccer this weekend did little to improve our game as my team wrapped up the spring season with a 0-1 loss. We had several opportunities to score but the back of the net was not to be found. My knee held up well although the missed practices needed to rest it were apparent in my sub standard conditioning. Missing from the photo and game due to injury is Jamie one of our strongest players and John one of our most reliable.
Today I have been something of a couch potato watching three World Cup soccer matches culminating with the US tie of England (almost as good as a win against this theoretically superior team). In an effort to make some productive use of the remainder of an otherwise dreary and rainy day, I decided to sell a lens which has not seen much use lately, my beloved 150mm f/2.8 macro. Preparing a good sales listing requires taking a number of glamor shots which I enjoy doing because of the lighting challenge.
Nicolai fights for a header inside the 6-yard box during his match against Newton. Nico played very well with some great defensive saves as well as his usual offensive play-making. Newton, however, was the larger and more skilled team, earning them the 4-1 win.
MRI results for my knee confirm nothing more serious than patellar tendinitis. A final match for me this weekend and then I will give the knee a long rest combined with prescribed PT.
Maya and members of her Girl Scout troop traveled to the Eye of the Storm horse rescue farm in Stow, MA, today. They raised enough money to purchase over a ton of horse feed, 400 pounds of which they delivered (two girls to a 50-pound bag), completing this community service project which they have worked on for months.