AFTER – The surgery was successful and the right foot is now done. It will take 3 months before Jeanine can have the left foot done. She looked great after the procedure and was out of the hospital in just under four hours.

BEFORE – Jeanine immediately prior to her bunion surgery. We originally arranged for our neice Erica to stay with us so Jeanine and I could take a vacation in Fiji. Jeanine opted instead to have bunion surgery while Erica was available to help her recouperate.

Maya has learned needle point and is busy with a project for her grandmother.

Jeanine and the family are returning from Indianapolis this evening. Rather than returning home, I went into Boston while waiting for their flight to arrive. While strolling through the Boston Common, I came across this free performance of Taming of the Shrew.

On the final leg of their vacation, Jeanine and Maya traveled with Lauren to Chicago where they spent time with Aunt Karen. The highlight of the trip was a visit to American Girl Place (1 of three in the country) where Maya adopted Elizabeth pictured here. The group enjoyed a tea party as part of the “experience.” Maya insisted on introducing me to Elizabeth herself and wanted the entire affair kept secret until they returned.

While visiting with Jeanine’s dad, the kids did a little fishing off the dock. 

Although the date is out of sequence I am adding this photo from earlier in the month picturing the kids with Jeanine’s Aunt Barbara and Uncle Walter. 

The fast shutter speed fails to convey the speed at which these cars were moving. Here we have a rare moment when all three are vying for position in one of the hairpin corners.

On the way to the airport (I am returning to Boston while Jeanine remains in Indy with the kids for another week) we stopped by to see Kyle racing with his childhood buddy, Tucker(yellow car), who is also visiting Indy from south Carolina. Little suprise that Kyle’s smile was biggest when his car was in direct contact with others contrary to rules of the track.

Bradley was celebrating his second birthday and correctly identifies the letters of the alphabet on his toy computer for Nicolai.

Yesterday was consumed with business, but today I returned to Indianapolis for a Board of Director’s meeting for a small company called Cinetal. After the meeting, I got a chance to visit with Bradley, Gabriel’s son, for only the second time.

Regretably, my vacation has come to an end and this evening I flew to Madison, WI to resume my business travels. My flight was delayed on the tarmac in Chicago causing me to miss my connection and I did not arrive in Madison till well after midnight. On the way to my hotel, I passed by the downtown area and had to stop for this photo of the state house rotunda.

Jeanine is always happy when she gets to spend time with her sisters. Today’s outing was a real treat for everyone.

As we were leaving I got a really good close up of a very big bumble bee.