Jeanine and I attended Nicolai’s end of the season wrestling banquet at the Nashawtuc Country Club this evening. Although he missed the tail end of the season with a shoulder injury the team finished the season placing first in the D2C MIAA Sectionals and with head coach Eric Rivera winning Coach of the Year honors.

We have really enjoyed the company of Jeanine’s sister, Susan, who has been visiting us since Sunday. I learn something new about my own kids every time she comes because she asks them questions designed to elicit more than the typical “fine”, “OK, and “good” responses I often receive. She departs today for her home in Burlington, VT.

Today we received an e-mail from the co-founder of SideStix, the manufacturer of Nico’s favorite crutches. She attached this photo of a poster being used by the Mountainfilm organization to promote their Moving Mountain’s Symposium. One of her customers noticed the crutches and thought she would be interested in seeing the photo. I love the tag line: Celebrating the Indomitable Spirit. Because of Nico my photography has been featured on the cover of two magazines, numerous newspapers and blogs, and now on a poster. Nico had to perform this one arm hand stand several times for me to capture him in a perfectly vertical posture. I am really glad we both put in the effort to get this very special image.

This evening Jeanine prepared a grand Sunday dinner for a number of guests including her sister, Susan, who drove down from Vermont earlier this morning, Hannah, and Maya’s friend Annabel. Afterwards we had a family debate over the relative virtues of the Apple versus PC (basically, kids versus adults). Little do they know that I was one of the earliest adopters of the Macintosh and owned several generations before switching to the PC. I captured this cute sequence of Kyle and Hannah as he reacts to comments on Nico’s Facebook page in response to something that he has nefariously posted under his brothers name.

Maya and her friend Annabelle worked together to create a lemon poppyseed pound cake. Their work of art was devoured in minutes during Sunday dinner.

Meet AVA (on the right), a concept robot created by our Advanced Development group. This mobility platform for a pad based head has a full suite of sensors and can autonomously navigate between arbitrary locations at speeds of 2m per second. The holonomic drive used allows it to move in any direction without having to turn its body and it is able to extend its torso to match the height of a short adult. A major departure from our usual floor care products this is a very exciting project for the team.

My attempts to photograph Maya this morning were met with the Hand. Although her beauty is increasing with each passing day her desire to be photographed is moving in the opposite direction.

My visit to the dentist early this morning took me past some serene waterscapes. My sense of calm and well being was quickly erased when I learned I would need to return to have work done on 4 teeth. Apparently I grind my teeth together while sleeping with such force that I am literally breaking them apart. I have a night guard but hate to use it and now it is clear that the alternative is far worse. On a positive note, I produced three goals and an assist during my indoor soccer game this evening.

I caught these two trucks mating in the parking lot at work today.

One of the activities Maya enjoyed while on vacation was painting this ceramic fish which now adorns our kitchen bay window. Jeanine purchased a plate which she will add to her collection on the sun porch and Nico came back with a t-shirt.

Our return to Boston begins at 5:45am this morning and ends at 9pm. As if to punctuate the end of our vacation we arrived home to discover 6 inches of snow covering our driveway. I opted to put off the removal task until the morning to extend the week of vacation just a little further.

At the request of the children and Jeanine, this vacation was designed to favor relaxation over adventure (a key component of most Calabria travel). Even so, with minor arm twisting, I was able to convince everyone to try cenote snorkling. The Gran Cenote features crystal clear water, underground extensions, and an abyss. It is regarded as the premiere snorkling cenote in the world and because of its great distance from Cancun we had it almost to ourselves. The cool water and Eden like setting was the perfect antidote for the mornings sun drenched excursion.

After the tour we took a break to enjoy cool drinks and performances by modern Mayans recreating the ceremonies of their ancestors.

Despite grumblings from the children, we got an early start this morning for the two hour trip to the ruins of Tulum. Unique as the only Mayan city to be built overlooking the ocean, it is protected by a coral reef and cliffs. We were fortunate to get another very knowledgeable and charismatic private guide who helped us understand the history and context of the Mayan civilization. Today iguanas rule the temples that were once occupied by a people who developed a more accurate calendar than the Europeans and developed a hurricane warning siren that still operates today.

Jeanine was thrilled to have all her babies together again and we celebrated with a fancy dinner which was out of this world.

It did not take long for Kyle and Nico to find a game of beach volleyball and only slightly longer for me to join them. With my torn rotator cuff I cannot spike or serve over hand but I can still bump and set fairly well. Few things bring more joy to a father than sharing a game he loves with sons who have become his equal.

We forgot to pack pool toys for the boys but they found an adequate substitute.

The most important priority for the day was picking up Kyle from the airport after he survived 3 nights alone, arranging to obtain an expedited passport renewal, and rebooking his flight to Cancun. Despite a 4AM departure for the airport he nearly missed his flight due to construction delays. Fortunately his flight arrived ahead of schedule and he cleared customs quickly. I collected him as he exited the terminal and had him on the beach before noon.

Our next stop was Valladolid where we enjoyed a wonderful meal and visit to the Zaci Cenote. This sinkhole is 150 feet in diameter and 260 feet deep. Afternoon light did not favor photography and these images do not do justice to the beauty of this natural wonder. Our return drive to Cancun was by way of the slower, non-toll road which passed through numerous villages (which we categorized by the number of speed bumps – ranging from 2 to 14). The views into typical Mexican communities and life was more than worth the additional travel time. As we entered Cancun I was pulled over by the Policia for speeding (which I was not). My research prior to the trip proved invaluable as I was armed with a Xeroxed copy of my license and the necessary strategy to deal with cops who solicit bribes from tourists to supplement their income. After 20 minutes we were on our way with no ticket and having paid no bribe.

We were rewarded for our early start this morning on our 2.5 hour drive to Chichen Itsa by beating the bus loads of tourists that arrived later in the day. Worth every Peso was the private guide we hired who brought the ancient Mayan ruins to life with his stories and knowledge of the history. Since Jeanine and I last visited, some 15 years ago, park patrons are no longer permitted to climb on the structures. Recent excavations revealed an entirely new layer to the main temple captured in the first photo. For me the observatory, pictured last, was the most fascinating structure, built with such precision and understanding of the celestial calendar it is hard to comprehend. Maya and Nico both enjoyed the ruins far more than I would have predicted (our guide Louis was a major factor, no doubt) and received lessons in price haggling as each purchased souveniers from the local artisans as we departed.

It didn’t take Nico long to find a game of beach volleyball about a 1/4 of a mile down the beach at a resort that caters to college students. I could watch him for hours as he amazed everyone with his raw skill and determination. He was the youngest person on the court and probably the best player.

Today was spent poolside and at the beach. Jeanine participated in a water aerobics class while I took advantage of the pool to do some rehab on my shoulder. Kyle made arrangements to get his passport tomorrow and will fly down to join us on Thursday morning. We got a preview of life when he leaves for college and it must be said that we all miss him.

After dinner, we set out to stock up on breakfast food supplies. Maya was in charge of bread and pastries which are gathered with tongs and placed on a tray before a clerk wraps them up. For under $40 we should be set for the entire week.

Our flights were uneventful and we arrived in Cancun about 3PM where we rented a car and proceeded to the Royal Sands. Our desire to explore the resort was overwhelmed by the need to eat so we headed out for downtown Cancun where we found a local seafood restaurant. The menu was in Spanish and the wait staff only spoke Spanish. Without Kyle, our only Spanish speaker, we were dependent on my limited command of the language to place our order. Jeanine enjoyed a seafood payaya. Nico and I were unsure if we had ordered shrimp or crab until our meals arrived (crab for me, shrimp for Nico).

As if to validate our choice of Cancun as a winter break vacation destination it began to snow this morning as we set out for the airport. When we checked in for our flight we discovered that Kyle’s passport had expired which left us with some difficult decisions to make. We decided to leave Kyle behind with the keys to my car. With any luck he should be able to renew his passport in Boston tomorrow (it is closed for President’s Day today) and catch a flight later in the day. Worst case we are hoping he can join us by Wednesday.

This evening we were joined for dinner by Rob and Cindy Shurtleff and their son Kyle and daughter Katie. Cindy and I met when I was at Stanford and we have remained friends since. They live in Seattle and are here looking at schools for Katie and visiting Kyle who is a freshman at Tufts. Jeanine prepared a wonderful Mexican meal and we enjoyed catching up and getting to know the kids better.

Everyone is packed and ready for our Cancun vacation which begins tomorrow. We are all looking forward to the warm weather and I will post again when we return next week.

Maya was in fine form this evening as she helped her team to victory with a powerfully struck shot for a goal. She remains the smallest player on the pitch (easily a full head height smaller) but is both fearless and tenacious. Her skills are developing nicely and she may well be on a path to follow in her brother’s footsteps.

I took this photograph at 11:30 PM. In Nico’s mind, this is a perfectly acceptable time to prepare a pasta dinner for himself and his friend Oliver. And I was worried I might not get an interesting photo for the day.

Kyle alerted me to a spectacular sunrise this morning and I wasted no time capturing the moment. Peak color lasts for little more than a minute so I have learned to run for my camera when the opportunity presents itself. My father, by example, taught me to dwell and appreciate two simple things in life; a beautiful sunrise/sunset and a waning fire. He did not simply observe these events, he experienced them fully. My thoughts were of him as I soaked in the beauty.

This piece of ceramic artwork has adorned each of my work offices over the last decade. In addition to its intrinsic beauty, the piece has served me as a convenient tie holder for those rare times when I am expected to wear one. Today was such an occasion as I stood before the iRobot Board of Directors responding to questions about how we might improve development speed. In the lower right corner is a framing nail I drove through my hand while building our home theater. It is there to remind me how painful self inflicted wounds can be. Fortunately my performance in the board room was very strong and no such wounds were sustained. Before leaving the office I returned the tie to its resting place, ready for the next adventure.