Nicolai at the Willard Ice Cream social with his friends.

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Nico scored with a header in the second half but his team was unable to pull out the win. We wonder each season whether Nico will be able to cope with the challenges of playing competitive soccer with one leg. Opening the season with such a pretty goal suggests he can still hold his own.

 
Nico’s soccer team opened their fall season today playing on the new turf fields at CCHS. I was only able to shoot for a few minutes before torrential rains began, the remnants of hurricane Hanna.

 
Nico greets Nala this morning before leaving for school. He is now in 8th grade at the Peabody Middle School. He has taken a keen interest in volleyball and continues with his passion for soccer. Nala is not attending school but seems to have learned not to eat all my stuff.

 
Kyle is now a sophmore at Concord Carlisle High School (CCHS). It is hard for me to find even the slightest trace of the little boy he once was but I am very proud of the young man he has become. He made good use of his summer, working and saving money, and seems poised to have a great academic school year.

 
When Maya returns to school later this week she will be entering the 4th grade. She decided she wanted to make her own backpack and is seen here sewing a pocket flap on.

 
Jeanine spent the bulk of the day working in the yard as did Kyle. When I couldn’t easily find a sheet of paper for my printer, I decided to organize the printer closet, which led me to organize my camera closet, which led me to organize the mudroom, which led me to organize the library. Eight hours later I returned with my damn piece of paper. I also spent about an hour coaching Kyle as he practiced driving. I am pleased to report he is taking his newly won responsibility very seriously. Nicolai invited a bunch of his friends over this evening and proceeded to cook mountains of pasta for dinner. I overheard significant debate over the correct definition of al dente. Sampling the meager left overs after their second batch I can testify to the correctness of their pasta cooking time.

 
Looking out the window from where we are seated we watch as a pilot fuels his aircraft. Apparently this is the self serve pump.

 
This morning Jeanine and I slipped away for an early breakfast at Nancy’s Air Field Cafe. This is one of our favorite breakfast spots and overlooks the airfield in Stow. The garden which greats patrons feature herbs that are used in the preparation of meals and a couple of these baby airplane wind vanes.

 
Kyle sporting a haircut that I gave him on Friday night. I think he is much more handsome when you can actually see his face.

 
The view from their front lawn looking north. We brought the kayaks with us and I did a nice five mile paddle to Thatcher Island. It is the one with two lighthouses in the distance. The weather was perfect if a bit hot but the wind coupled with the 2 foot swells made for a nerve wracking experience when I was in open water. For this reason I hugged the coast line and made one quick sprint across the half mile channel. Nico headed south with some of his friends and landed on Salt Island where he did a little cliff climbing.

 
This morning I played soccer for the first time since injuring my hamstring. Although my game was less than 100% the rest has allowed me to heal. My conditioning needs some real work and the season starts nest weekend. This afternoon the whole famile traveled to Rockport to attend a party at the summer home of one of our neighbors. They have a delightful place that overlooks the ocean.

Explanation of the prior photo (remember this blog is posted in reverse chronological order): Nico and Rory seated in the window of the lodge (the photo is rotated 90 degrees) looking out on the black bear pictured here. The light was low and he was moving quickly after Stephen threw a rock at the bear proof refuse bin he was raiding.

 
I am adding this rather funny photo taken last weekend. See if you can figure out what was going on.