The final master piece.

Nico has set up a croquet course in the backyard and is working on his accuracy for next year’s Ferry Beach competition. Kyle and Jeanine are off to a soccer tournament in Amherst for the weekend, leaving me with the two chipmunks. We are looking forward to two days of unsupervised behavior and questionable nutrition.

Maya and Nicolai working on their Willard Carnival cake walk entry. They have chosen an ocean theme and are seen here adding Graham cracker “sand” and jellybean “rocks” to the sea floor. A photo of the final result will no doubt appear soon.

Apparently Maya’s grandmother taught her to knit during her recent visit. Today, after soccer practice, Maya announced that she needed to “work on her knitting” and was not available to play with her father. It is hard for me to fathom, but it appears she knows what she is doing.

For someone who is not particularly interested in birds I find them fascinating photographic subjects and fun to shoot. You need to find them, sneak up on them, and time your shots perfectly.

A final farewell to Ferry Beach.

Maya scoured the beach each day and collected many treasures including sand dollars (only the dead ones), various sea shells and rocks.

On an early morning walk, I came upon this fellow who was bringing home breakfast for the family.

Kyle and Seth hangin’ with their dawgz.

Nicolai posing with the highly coveted “Elephant” trophy on which his name is now engraved for last year’s croquet tournament win.

Seth attempting to reach launch velocity on the swing set.

Nicolai demonstrating proper corn shucking technique or rather his significant displeasure with this very tedius task (they had to feed the entire camp).

Maya spent countless hours on the beach and playground connecting up with her friends from last summer.

Dad found adequate time to rest his eyes and allow his nose to recuperate.

We made sure that Seth was well nourished, although we did manage to sunburn him on the first day.

Carl got up early each morning and went in search of photo ops. This is the seaside village of Scarsborough.

Frank helped pass the time before dinner arrived by lending his nose to Maya who attempted to remove it from his face during some kind of game they had invented.

Angela and Maya snuggling at dinner on our first night out. We went to a local sea food restaurant which was only mediocre.

Jeanine was in fine form and made it all the way to the tournament finals with some unbelievable clutch shots. Nicolai unceremoniously dispatched his father’s team (which had survived two 90 minute come from behind wins) only to be defeated by his mother, who avenged her loss to him last year.

Kyle took little time to begin honing his croquet skills for the big tournament. Last year Kyle took a rather casual approach to the game. This year he was determined to defeat all opponents. His accuracy was greatly improved as was his power. He took particular joy from smashing his father’s ball into the next galaxy which he did on several occasions.

Nicolai quickly organized a volleyball match and proceeded to demonstrate a much-improved technique from last year. During day one, we were forced to play with a herniated ball, which added an interesting spin to the game.

Seth and Kyle also decided to test their speed against the ocean.

Maya made a bee line to the beach where she proceeded to race the waves, winning every heat.

Despite forecasts calling for rain and cold, we enjoyed two and half days of perfect weather at Ferry Beach with our friends at First Parish. Joining us this year were my parents and Kyle’s friend Seth.

A quote from my father: “I finally get it! The problem is I forget what it is or where I found it. I’ll let you know when I find it again.”

Maya getting the full beauty treatment from Nana this morning.

Kyle is spending a lot of time on the phone these days. I wonder who he is talking to?

My mother and father have come up for the weekend and will be joining us at Ferry Beach. Nana helps Maya with spelling as she composes a rap about a fat cat.

More goodies that I was not allowed to eat. It should be noted that I am frequently denied food in my own home because it is being saved for someone else. And then, should I be so fortunate as to stumble upon a hidden stash of cookies, for example, it comes as a great shock to the entire family that I feel compelled to eat a great quantity in anticipation of the long period of future deprivation that is sure to follow.

Preparation for a neighborhood coffee. Jeanine hosted an event for the Concord-Carlisle Parenting Initiative to encourage visitors to join. She is a member of the Board of this group which seeks to promote health and well-being and the prevention of risk-taking behaviors among the youth of our community. Nicolai offered interesting ideas on how to extricate this cake from the Pyrex.

Kyle is hard to get a picture of these days. I had to sneak up on him to get this one. Kyle is rapidly approaching his mother in height and his father in strength but because he lacks any wrestling training, we are still able to keep him in line. He continues to enjoy soccer and tennis and is especially devoted to improving his guitar playing skills. There is talk of his first on stage performance with the band at Ferry Beach.