Jeanine and I made the three hour drive to Plymouth, Vermont where Maya has been attending Farm & Wilderness Camp for the last three weeks. Our first stop was at the Coolidge State Park where we took advantage of day light to setup our tent before completing our journey. We could hardly wait to see Maya and the reunion was wonderful. She was full of exuberance and stories about her adventures and her new and old friends.

The day is structured around a fair which starts at noon and goes until dusk featuring many fun activities (water flume, hand build Ferris wheel, zip line, pie throwing, music, food, and arts and crafts. A camp tradition involves cracking a confetti filled egg over the head of your parents and friends. Jeanine gave as good as she got.

Campers will spend one last night together before they are gathered by parents tomorrow. Jeanine and I enjoyed an intimate dinner at a slow food restaurant in Woodstock followed by an outdoor concert and fire dancing.

There are few things I enjoy more at work than designing team building events. I have done close to a dozen over my career and today’s was one of the best for sure. The challenge involved building boats out of cardboard and duct tape and then racing them to determine a grand champion. The rules governing the competition were designed to focus the teams on designing for durability and robustness (characteristics we are seeking to improve in our products). The winning boat would have to complete, in the least time, a total a six 100 yard laps with six different paddlers in head to head rowing. The weather could not have been more perfect and the Abe Bashara Boathouse in Lowell proved the perfect venue. Construction of nine boats took the entire morning with racing and debriefing occupying the balance of the day. More than half the boats finished all six laps with at least one photo finish and a few highly entertaining capsizes.

Feedback from the team was extremely positive and I am confident that the lessons learned about robust design will not soon be forgotten.

I rarely get attached to a piece of technology but when I discovered that my HD camcorder was no longer working properly I must admit to a tinge of sadness. This is the unit I used to record Nicolai’s coming of age adventure on Kilimanjaro. It produced all of the original content for the documentary about our climb which we got to see projected on the big screen at several film festivals. It earned me my first film credits. Normally I am quite unhappy when such a device fails. In this case, however, I feel like it has left us with irreplaceable memories and performed admirably under extremely harsh conditions.For the time being I am not going to replace it since all of my still cameras are also capable of shooting HD video (although not as seamlessly). It will probably go up on eBay where it still has value as a replacement parts donor. The biggest problem is that I will need to re-shoot both Kyle and Nicolai’s most recent birthday videos which did not come out. Getting the original interviews was like extracting teeth. I can only imagine the resistance I will get on a second round “of the same dumb questions”.

Today I am missing Maya more than ever. It has been 24,480 minutes since she left and life around the house is just not the same without her. I think the boys are even starting to miss her. I can hardly wait until the weekend when Jeanine and I will leave for Vermont to retrieve her. Her letters indicate that she is having a fantastic time with not the slightest hint of homesickness. I wonder if there is such a thing as childmissingsickness? It is nice having both boys here but they are in and out with the wind so I hardly see them either. Perhaps I can coax Jeanine into making another baby (her current position is that we can have another child as long as it does not come out of her body).

I stepped out to enjoy the early morning light today and ran across this little fellow. He was quite content to let me photograph him and even waited while I returned with Jeanine who helped me by holding a sheet of white paper up as a reflector to create some additional fill lighting. On the back end of the day I took in the sunset while escorting Nala on a 3 mile walk.

Today it rained for the better part of the morning and most of the afternoon. I drove to Fort Devens where my soccer tournament was being held well in advance of the 9AM start to ensure a good warm up. It became immediately apparent, however, that my quad was not going to hold up. I played for 15 minutes before tweaking it again, thus ending my day on the field. It was painful watching my team lose that match 0-3 while I sat idled. We went on to win the final match for a final tournament record of 3-1. I spent the afternoon recuperating before enjoying a date night with Jeanine. We saw the new Harry Potter film which we both enjoyed.

Jeanine completed a 22 mile bike ride today using my GPS tracker allowing me to create this plot of her journey. Meanwhile I played in the opening two matches of a soccer tournament being held this weekend. We won our first game 2-0 and the second 3-0 in which I scored two goals. Unfortunately I re-injured my right quadracep and I am not sure if I will be able to play tomorrow. My mother turned 83 today and the boys and I called to wish her well. Naturally she has plans to go out dancing with friends later this evening.

This evening we had a small family celebration for Kyle’s 19th birthday. Hannah took Maya’s place and Nico drove back from Vermont to be here for the occasion. Kyle enjoyed fresh corn on the cob and steamed lobster and then two different types of birthday cake, a key lime cheesecake (out of this world) and a peanut butter chocolate pie (divine but a little too sweet for me). Earlier in the day we completed a birthday video interview, something I have done for each child from the time they could talk. One day I will compile the footage into a single time capsule of their childhood. Today I also sold the kayak that Jeanine has been using for the past few years now that we have a pair of home built boats. I purchased it used for $300 and sold it for $525, not too shabby.

My brother has always been concerned with safety. As a pilot he conducts the most thorough aircraft pre-flight inspections of anyone in the business. He simply will not compromise safety which on occasion has put him at odds with other pilots and his employer when he refuses to fly an aircraft that has an unresolved issue. His concerns with safety extend to his family and earlier this week he convinced/coerced/bribed me to invest in a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) given my frequent solo excursions into the back country and on the seas. This device, the size of a cell phone, once activated anywhere on the planet will send a distress signal to a network of satellites which will relay exact GPS coordinates to the appropriate search and rescue organization within minutes. It is a device I hope I never have to use but if that day comes I will have my brother to thank for saving my life. The antenna is shown deployed in the photo and normally warps neatly around the exterior of the case. Battery life is 5 years and the device is waterproof although it does not float. I plan to tether it to my kayaking PFD (life jacket) when on the water and throw it in my backpack when trekking.

Jeanine spent the evening sailing in Boston Harbor with members of her book group on the Edward’s boat while I had a soccer scrimmage, our last tune up before the big tournament this weekend.

In recognition of another record quarter my division celebrated at the Border Cafe. Our new products have been well received and the systematic improvements we have been making to quality are beginning to pay dividends. I am very proud of my team for the work they have done to contribute to our success. iRobot still face challenges with the price of raw materials and labor on the rise but our prospects remain bright as we continue to expand our channels into Latin America and China.

I have always wanted a light weight pair of soccer cleats. Before my recent weight loss, however, I could not bring myself to spend the money just to save a couple of ounces on each foot when I had dozens of pounds spread out everywhere else. Now that I am at a good fighting weight I treated myself to these boots made of a synthetic leather. They are practically weightless. It remains to be seen whether I play any better in them. Jeanine joined me on the shopping excursion and we did a little house hunting for an investment property afterwards.

We received our first letter from Maya today and learned that she is having a wonderful time at camp. She apologizes for not missing us yet, explaining that it is still too early. We sent her to camp with Nicolai’s camera, and I am hoping that she will return with many photos to share.

Kyle drove his cousins to the airport very early this morning (4:30AM). We had a wonderful time with them and are already looking forward to their next visit. When I returned from an 8AM soccer scrimmage, Jeanine and Nico were ready to depart for Vermont where Nico will be doing community service by volunteering as a summer camp counselor. The plan is for Jeanine to return with friends either Monday or Tuesday. I did a little photography combined with some house hunting (for an investment property) and returned to prepare dinner. I topped fresh tomatoes, Ciabatta bread, and mozzerrela cheese with basil from Jeanine’s garden for an appetizer followed by a main course of Rigatoni with a marinara sauce. This is the full extent of my cooking ability. Kyle seemed to find it acceptable and I managed to put back a few of the pounds I have been working so hard to shed. My kayak is still in the shop receiving a several new coats of varnish and I hope to have it back on the water by mid week. I also posted an add on Craig’s List for Jeanine’s kayak as we now have more kayaks than placed to store them.

Mario and Rory return to Minnesota tomorrow making this our last evening together. The five of us headed down to Harvard Square to enjoy the street performers and a fine burrito dinner. Kyle decided to take on one of the local chess champions and put up a respectable battle considering how long it has been since he last played. Entertainers were out in force and we enjoyed sampling the music and taking in all that sounds and smells of Harvard Square on a Saturday night. We took two cars so that I could pick Jeanine up at the airport on her return from Chicago.