The joy of being an uncle is that you can enjoy a relationship with your nieces and nephews that is unencumbered by years of established patterns that exist between parent and child. My niece Rachel is a smart and beautiful young woman who is already an accomplished ballroom dancer at the age of 15. Like her mother, she is something of a fashionista and her idea of fun leans more towards an afternoon at the shopping mall than a walk through the woods. I decided, with very little input from her (an uncle’s prerogative) that she needed to join me on a kayak outing. The fact that she liked the color of the paddling shirt I provided (hint to her mother that she would like a rain coat in this hue) and that I could offer her a selection of sun hats to choose from worked in my favor. Before she could say “boo” we were in my car headed for a nearby put in. After a brief review of basic paddling strokes, she was on the water where we spent a few minutes practicing before setting off downstream for the Old North Bridge. Rachel’s dainty little stabs at the water soon gave way to powerful strokes that propelled her with great speed. By the end of our three mile round trip she had mastered forward and reverse sweep strokes, could easily perform a 360 degree turn and was able to steer with great accuracy. We encountered several Blue Herons and a couple of turtles which we glided right up to for close viewing. Rachel was undaunted by my reports of trolls which lived under the bridges or alligators that infested the river. She did, however, seem genuinely terrified when a tiny fish jumped out of the water near her kayak. Apparently her next uncle-niece outing will need to include a fishing pole, an adventure I will leave to my brother Mark, the master angler of the family.

Cool night air made for perfect camping weather. Maya and I were quite cozy in our down sleeping bags and two person tent. We enjoyed a hearty breakfast in the nearby town of Jaffrey before embarking on a kayaking tour of the Contoocook Lake and River. Maya can be seen above just barely able to paddle underneath the Monadnock Branch Rail Trail. I had to resort to a Limbo style maneuver and had an even tighter clearance.

This is without a doubt my favorite time of year in New England. Everywhere you turn the colors of autumn cover the landscape and in our case the waterscape as well. I never take for granted the beauty which surrounds us and sharing the experience with Maya is all that a father could ask for. We covered about 4 miles on the water but a very serious headwind on our return translated to about 6 miles of paddling. Maya put ashore on what could easily be the state’s tiniest island and relaxed after a full morning on the water. From this vantage point she took a photo of me which I thought she did a very nice job of framing. We returned to Concord by mid afternoon as the perfect weather gave way to overcast skies and the threat of rain.

Twenty two years ago, on a similarly spectacular fall day, I married Jeanine at our home in Fishers, Indiana. Our ceremony was held outdoors among massive beech trees with nature as our cathedral. We celebrated our anniversary this evening in the company of Maya and my sister Alissa and her two children, Rachel and Johnnie, at the Petit Robert Bistro in Needham. An exquisite finish to an exceptional day. My only wish now is for another 22 years with the woman I love.

With kayaks atop the car and camping equipment in the back, Maya and I left on an impromptu father-and-daughter weekend adventure. When we left the house at around 6pm we turned right on Williams Road with the intent of heading north. As Maya ran down a checklist of critical gear, I realized I had forgotten my GPS unit and PLB (personal locator beacon – last resort distress signal). We turned back having traveled less than a mile. With the missing items retrieved, we struck out again and this time turned left on Williams Road heading to the west.

There is something very exciting about setting out on an adventure without a predetermined destination. When we stopped for dinner about an hour later we found ourselves in the vicinity of Ringe, Hew Hampshire at Lilly’s on the Pond, a fine restaurant familiar to us from a past outing. When we returned to the car we programmed our navigator to locate the nearest campground and were please to discover that we were minutes from the Woodmore Campground which happily had a few tent sites remaining (exquisite fall foliage brings many campers to NH at this time of year). Maya and I quickly pitched our tent and built a rather massive fire by which she did homework while I enjoyed photographing her.

Chocolate syrup, honey, and milk. Which is the most dense? Which is the least? This evening Maya conducted a science experiment to determine the answers to these questions. Her initial hypothesis was correct as confirmed by her testing and documented in this photograph that she took. Apparently, Maya is unfamiliar with the tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and concluded her experiment by sampling her concoction which she reported to be VERY sweet.

Nicolai’s penchant for destroying tires has extended to rims. During his very short driving career, he has managed to destroy (not talking flat tires here) four tires. Today’s incident was his first foray into rim damage. According to his account, he drove across a construction trench at the high school at a reasonable speed. The photographic evidence suggests that either he was going very fast or he had very little air in the tire. Regardless of whether it was due to excess speed or poor maintenance the bill to Nicolai for this lapse of judgment will be $550. On a positive note, reaction to his recent news coverage has led to a speaking engagement request in Pennsylvania which may help him offset the damage to his bank balance. Today he also gave an interview to a commercial website called Proving People Wrong and donated the $1000 fee he earned to the CCHS Soccer Team.

Nicolai, with engineering consultation from Maya, constructed this PVC xylophone for a school project. As part of the assignment, he had to explore the mathematical relationship between the length and diameter of the pipes to the frequency of the tone produced by each, and the relationship to the speed of sound. Apart from the questionable paint job, the construction turned out quite well and the “instrument” produces an array of tones. I appreciate the fact that this assignment has helped further Nico’s interest in building things in the shop and with each new project he is gaining new skills and mastering new tools. I particularly enjoy watching the way Maya offers her assistance. She anticipates problems but lets Nico make his own discoveries and then offers helpful suggestions and ideas.

Nico’s interview with Jim Axelrod of the CBS Evening News aired this evening. Jeanine and I sat with him on the couch, our anticipation growing with each promo. It is fair to say that he was more nervous waiting for the segment than he was during the interview. We were thrilled with the piece and pleased to see so many of his teammates included in the opening scene (they have had to put up with a lot of media attention for Nico and each is a star in his own right). Phone calls and e-mails started pouring in from all over the country and we are so happy that this story has allowed us to reconnect with so many people.

As promised, here is the Boston Globe article about Nico. If you click on the image and then click again on the larger one it should be possible to read. This is one of the more comprehensive articles to date and we liked the photographs that they took.

I celebrate my 54th birthday today blessed with more gifts than I deserve. I have shared half my life with a woman I continue to love dearly. Our three children have made us very proud, each in their own way. I have enjoyed good fortune in my career and I am still, plus or minus a pulled calf muscle, playing soccer. Some people do not know how lucky they are. I DO.

Jeanine and I started the day at Maya’s soccer game. It was an exciting match despite the 0-0 tie and Maya was in fine form. She made a very impressive run up the center of the field beating several defenders before laying off a perfect pass to a forward who almost scored. During halftime another parent shared his copy of the Boston Globe with me. There was a picture of Nicolai on the front page and an in depth article about his recent soccer exploits (I will post the entire article tomorrow). Most importantly, it included details of today’s Kicks for Cancer fundraiser which is taking place at the high school. The Kicks for Cancer event is held annually in memory of Concord resident Lois Wells, who passed away in 2007 after a courageous battle with cancer. Last year the team raised more than $28,000 for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute to support women’s cancer research. This year I was asked to photograph the event and was happy to volunteer.

Each player on the six participating teams wore a special jersey carrying the name of a loved one who had battled with cancer. Normally, when shooting a soccer match I try to capture images which include the athlete’s face. For this event, I prefer to shoot ones which capture the names on the back of jerseys.

Nicolai’s middle name is Laurent, so named for his grandfather, who he chose to honor on this occasion.

When he participated in Kicks for Cancer as a junior, Kyle, our first soccer star, dedicated his play to the memory of his grandmother, Eunice. That match produced one of my favorite photos of Kyle playing soccer.

I caught iRobot’s Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer acting suspiciously as he exited the office of one of our financial Directors who was on vacation today. This Director who will not be named is so cheap that he uses a couple of reams of printer paper to elevate his computer monitor to the correct height. Our CLO, who I can now see is something of a prankster, has been adding a ream of paper each day this week. Once I discovered what he was up to, I suggested that he start another pile underneath the telephone.

Let’s see. Improper use of company resources, an OSHA safety violation, and unauthorized access to a secured office. All this from the head of the legal department. I love working at iRobot.

Jeanine hosted a neighborhood association board meeting at our home this evening. As a result, Maya picked up a babysitting assignment for one of the parents who had a toddler in tow. It didn’t take long before Maya and the little boy returned from the basement with the wooden excavator shown above. I made this toy for Kyle when he was a small child and have not seen it for many years. I was pleased to see that it was still intact and that all of the articulated joints and functional tank treads were still working. I hope Kyle will pass it on to his children one day.

Maya was beside herself with laughter as the videographer for CBS News applied makeup to my head because it was creating a reflection on the screen. She needed no encouragement whatsoever to pick up my camera and capture the scene. I have routinely urged her not to wear makeup because her inner beauty needs no enhancement. Observing me on the receiving end of a powder puff was more than she could handle. Not enough that my lack of hair requires cosmetic attention to be properly filmed, I must endure this humiliation in front of Maya who sees this as great entertainment.

If my children wanted to learn from the mistakes of their father, the most important lesson I would offer, would be to take better care of their teeth. Better oral hygiene discipline would have saved me countless procedures and a great deal of discomfort. Today I visited the dentist for my 6 month cleaning. My hygienist is extremely skilled and our common interests makes for good conversation, even if my side is only mumbled. Not so enjoyable was the second phase of the visit with my dentist who addressed issues with two teeth. As has become my standard practice, I opted to forego Novocaine. The procedure is over much more quickly and my mouth and face don’t wind up half paralyzed for hours. Perhaps the pain is also a good reminder to brush after every meal and to wear my night guard to prevent gnashing my teeth while I sleep.

Maya, who sounds like she is coming down with a cold, opted to watch Nico play soccer rather than attending her own practice. She still had plenty of energy to engage in a little gymnastics and to help photograph and videotape the match.

CBS News National Correspondent Jim Axelrod and Producer Keith Sharman flew up from New York City this morning to interview Nicolai for a piece that is tentatively scheduled to air next Monday night (CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley) and again on Tuesday morning (CBS This Morning). They were joined by a videographer and sound man from Rhode Island. Their immediate interest is in a short (2-3 minute) segment but they gathered enough footage for a long format piece (Nico’s interview lasted an hour and a half). They also attended Nico’s game where I met them as they collected additonal footage of Nico playing and interviews with coach Pavlik and some of his teammates. Later in the evening the crew came to our home for an interview with Jeanine and I. Regrettably, neither of us were nearly as poised or articulate as Nicolai and we are hoping the bulk of the coverage will be focused on him. His soccer team rolled over Wayland and remains undefeated. Nicolai got significant playing time during which he made several nice passes, unleashed a powerful shot on goal and was poised to score off this header if not for a nice punching clear by the goalie.