My parents drove in from Schenectady to be with Maya for her birthday. My dad cops a feel while I snap a shot from a distance. I’m going to send these guys to bed early this evening.

 
Today is Maya’s actual birthday. After travelling for the better part of the day, I returned home to learn that Maya fell from her horse (not the little pony from her party) while jumping yesterday. X-rays confirm a hairline fracture of the clavicle. Although the doctor did not feel it was necessary, Maya has fashioned her own sling and says it helps with the pain. Maya was anxious to show me her dog puppet which she fashioned at school.

 
I am staying at a hotel that is a ten minute walk from the Sonos office. I worked for 15 hours today and was treated to this full moon, low on the horizon as I returned to the hotel to collapse.

 
Jeanine and Maya created this masterpiece for the birthday cake.

 
For her birthday party with her friends, Maya choose a horse riding party (little surprise). Although I was in Santa Barbara for the week, Jeanine took a nice set of photos so I could enjoy the celebration when I returned.

 
This week’s Concord Journal had a nice piece on Concord Men’s Soccer. This season the Over-30, O-40, and O-50 all reached the play offs and my team was undefeated. I also got a nice call out as the leading scorer for my team. Click on the article for a readable view.

 
It was a wonderful Father’s day which started with a soccer match. My right thigh remains very injured and I was very fortunate when our opponents elected to forfeit the match. The rain had rendered their home field in Needham almost unplayable. We decided to play a friendly match anyway and this allowed me almost 90 minutes of game time during which I only exerted myself at 50% capacity allowing me to get a cardio workout and to stay in shape for the play offs which begin next week. When I returned from the game, drenched to the bone, the family was waiting with a delicious pancake breakfast. Later in the day I added detailing stripes to the kayak in advance of the final varnish coat. It was a difficult Father’s Day for Jeanine, having just lost her dad, but she and Maya took some measure of comfort in unpacking some of the heirlooms that she had returned from Indiana with. Maya models the Easter helmet (bonnet) that Jeanine wore as a child.

 
Kyle enlists the help of his sister to insert his earring. Something seems very backwards about these roles.

 
Energy and eye brows restored.

 
Maya was rather exhuasted and relaxed while enjoying an eye brow massage by her father.

 
This evening we attended a surprise party for a friend of the family with Maya and Kyle. The trampoline is a natural magnet for the Calabria children and Kyle spent no time before trying to launch himself into low altitude orbit.

 
Nico extends to win this ball and turns to serve a nice pass up the touchline. The team played with no subs and often a man short while a player would sit out for water and rest. Nico played the entire game and was quite exhuasted when the game ended.

 
Next up was Nicolai, shown here executing a perfect chest trap. His team scored an impressive 5-1 win and also celebrated with an end of season party after the game.

 
This morning Jeanine and I both looked on as Maya completed her last game of the season. She has truly become a very talented defender and is every bit as good as either of her brothers at this age (quite possibly better). Here she runs through a defender to clear the ball. Maya’s team was clearly the stronger club but a fluke goal and some bad luck left the score 1-0 in favor of their opponents. After the game Maya joined the squad for a pool party and it was the perfect antidote for the blistering heat.