The teenagers in the group created a huge canvas mural. Pictured here is a small portion of the overall design.

Jeanine loves camp. No cooking for a week … YIPEE!

When I work, I go all out. When I relax, the same is true. I spent most of the first day sleeping making up for weeks of travel and time zone shifting.  Photo courtesy of Maya (if memory serves).

I used to have this much hair. Fortunately, Kyle will keep his thanks to his grandfather on his mother’s side.

Here we have the famous “girl power” pyramid featuring all of Maya’s friends.

Maya experiments with a new volleyball stance.

Another portrait. This time Ellie shows me her belly.

Kyle has become quite a handsome young man. He is joined at camp this year by several kids his age and he is having a great time hanging out with his peers.

I am not sure exactly what this game is, but Nicolai seems to have a distinct advantage.

Each year I take portraits of all the Bayside campers and present a slide show on the last evening. Pictured here is Mia.

At Bayside I spend most of my time photographing people. This morning I grabbed this “art” shot for a change of pace.

At Bayside, tradition demands that you kiss every fish that you catch before releasing it. Lan demonstrates the technique.

Fishing starts bright and early at 6:30AM. Maya catches two fish before her father can drag himself out of bed to record the event.

Prior to leaving for camp, I gave Nicolai a haircut. I think he looks very handsome but according to his mother, I took off too much hair. 

Maya and friend Megan look on. Later in the day, I gave them lessons and they are now playing right along with the big dogs.

It takes Nicolai all of about ten minutes to organize the first volleyball game. The new venue features a much nicer court and he is very pleased with this aspect of the new camp.

Jeanine gives me “the look”. It means she is happy to be on vacation and … well, let’s just say that I know what the look means.

Nicolai hangs out with me during a moment of rest.

Little suprise that Maya is the first to hit the water. Temperatures here are through the roof.

It doesn’t take long for the kids to connect with their old buddies. Kyle finds Michael; both have shot up several inches since last year.

This morning, I flew from Albany to Chicago where I met up with the family enroute to Lake Geneva, WI for our eighth Bayside family retreat. This year the camp has a new venue about a quarter mile down the shore. Upon arrival the family checks out the new location.

Kyle and Bethany out for a drive.

While I was travelling on business, Jeanine and the kids were visiting life long friends in Oklahoma. Jeanine and Kris grew up together and now our children are doing the same. 

Old Montreal is very charming and had Jeanine been with me, I am sure we would have been riding in this carriage as we made a tour of the area.

Because of the 6 hour time difference, I arrived in Montreal with a little time left in the day to go for a walk. Last weekend was the Montreal Jazz festival.

As beautiful as the architecture in Munich was, I wanted to find some nature so I jumped the S-bahn for one of the many parks in the city.

Today is a travel day (12 hours all in to Montreal). Before I left for the airport I was able to squeeze in a little more sight seeing.

At night everything takes on a different character.

Today was a long day in the office but I did find a few hours in the late evening to wander about the city center.

Here the French contingent goes wild when Zidane makes his penalty kick. For me this evening was a rare opportunity to experience something truly European. Leisurely dining outdoors, meeting new people from all over the world, and celebrating the victory of “my” country in the world cup. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the Italian erruptions because I was too busy celebrating with my compadres to take pictures. When the game was over, the French and Germans were all truly happy for us. It was a fantastic evening and the drinking, singing and celebration continued for hours.

I had dinner in this outdoor beergarten which was setup with a huge screen for the World Cup finals. I arrived early and got a great spot among the thousand or so people who gathered at this venue to watch the game. About 10% of the crowd was for Italy, 30% for France, and the rest were Germans who did not really pick sides. Seated at my table were two Swiss guys and 3 couples from Germany. One woman earned her living using the equipment my company produces. What a small world.