Jeanine’s sister Susan has joined us for the long weekend primarily so she can bid Kyle farewell as he prepares to depart for college. We decided to go into Boston for dinner in Chinatown and afterwards to the beach overlooking Old Harbor with a nice view of the JFK Presidential Library. I think Susan will miss Kyle as much as we will. She has cultivated a special relationship with all her nieces and nephews. She has always connected with our children at every stage of their lives and engages with them deeply. There are few people who truly know our children as well as Susan.

Nicolai will be playing soccer again this fall for the CCHS JV team and has been elected co-captain. I traveled to North Andover for his first preseason scrimmage. Nico had a nice assist on his team’s only and winning goal. In this photo he towers over his defender to win a header at midfield. While I am looking forward the soccer season, I was half hoping Nico would try volleyball this year. He has a natural gift for the sport the potential to be an exceptional player. Perhaps next spring.

I wonder if the inventor of the cell phone ever imagined it would be used to enable weeding while talking on the phone. This is how I discovered Jeanine when I wandered outside the house this morning to investigate a bicycle built for FOUR that was left here overnight by friends of Nicolai. Apparently several of his friends arrived via this unusual form of conveyance but wisely called parents for a ride home after darkness arrived.

I am trying to settle back into a routine of daily exercise and decided to take advantage of the brilliant weather for a lunch hour walk. Rather than taking my normal route into a nearby conservation area I decided to walk through the business park across the street from iRobot. The anchor business there is Mitre (a defense contractor, I believe). To my surprise I discovered a magnificent cooperative garden and then the jackpot. Each Wednesday and Friday about a dozen or so folks get together for a lunch hour soccer scrimmage on the massive front lawn of the facility. I approached one of the guys and was invited to join the group which I will definitely plan to do.

The Sudbury River has swollen significantly as it strains to accommodate the torrential rains from Hurricane Irene. It is looking more like a lake today than a river. When the water is this high it is impossible to kayak because the clearance under the various bridges in the area has become too small. If the weather permits I am hoping to get on the water this weekend with Maya and/or Jeanine.

Irene has come and gone leaving many areas flooded or damaged. Other than a few downed tree limbs and one dislodged and punctured window screen we were spared any real damage. It was nice to be back in the office again and I was pleased that there were no major problems during my absence. I have literally hundreds of e-mails to wade through and by the end of the day am still not fully caught up. Jeanine prepared this amazing peach and raspberry tart for dinner last night and I enjoyed what remained for dessert again this evening.

The family has spent the day largely indoors due to Hurricane Irene which is passing through Massachusetts today. The barometer on my watch registered the lowest pressure ever as the front moved through. We experienced very heavy rain and high winds but sustained no major damage and only a brief loss of electricity. It has been a good day to catch up on my blog and take care of some lingering tasks around the house

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky at morning, sailors take warning. This was the scene over our field this morning confirming that Hurricane Irene is on its way. I spent two hours playing soccer and felt great. Unfortunately, our season opener scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed due to the expected storm.

I recently received a 4 channel digital oscilloscope from my brother who picked it up as his wife’s company was winding down their medical device business. I have owned the 2 channel analog scope pictured here since I was in college and am now preparing to sell it. When I purchased it, with assistance from my parents, more that twenty years ago it cost in excess of $3000 dollars. Today, although it is in pristine condition, I will be lucky to get a tenth of that. I may elect to simply hold on to it until it becomes a collectible if there is a market for such things.

I spent last night at the Stonehedge Inn with my colleagues. We got an early start on our strategy planning which went very smoothly and produced a good outcome. At one point I captured this funny image of my boss which I will surely feature in a future company wide presentation. I am already thinking about possible witty captions.

My first day back in the office was actually spent offsite at the Stonehedge Inn at an executive strategy planning meeting. The event commenced with a team building event which involved preparing appetizers that would later be served during a wine tasting. Jeanine would have been very impressed with the results both from a taste and presentation point of view.

Today is largely spent traveling from Wyoming to Massachusetts. Our flights take us from Jackson to Denver (over some very pretty landscapes) to Cleveland and finally on to Boston where the kids are happy to sleep in their own beds again.

I used the rising sun this morning to backlight Old Faithful for an interesting series of photos. When the kids woke up we enjoyed a breakfast buffet at the Old Faithful Inn, the largest wood log structure in the world. We departed for the Mid Geyser Basin and hiked the Fairy Falls Trail and then bushwacked to the top of a hill for optimal views of the Grand Prismatic Spring. 99.9% of visitors to the spring see it from the ground level perspective of the boardwalk which simply does not offer the right vantage point for appreciating this feature, one of the most dramatic in the park. Our final destination within Yellowstone is the Fountain Paint Pot trail where we are entertained by the bubbling and spewing mud cauldrons.

By early afternoon we begin our return to Jackson Hole by way of the Grand Teton National Park. We make several stops along the way including Lake Jackson, Jenny Lake and a horse ranch which we use as a backdrop for another family portrait (and gymnastic apparatus for Nico.

Upon arrival in Jackson we indulged in a Mexican dinner at the Merry Piglets, a restaurant that Jeanine and I had discovered on our last visit. With full and happy bellies we relaxed around the pool, played cards, and the boys learned a camp drumming activity from Maya which proved to be highly entertaining for all involved.

This vacation has had something for everyone. Jeanine has long dreamed of going to a dude ranch and this was certainly the highlight of our adventure. I really wanted to do some family camping and introduce the children to the wonders of Yellowstone. The kids say that is has been one of our best family vacations and they all were fully engaged in the experience. My only hope is that we will be able to continue to vacation as a family after Kyle leaves for college this fall.

Our first order of business this morning is breaking down our camp. Many hands make quick work of the task and a nice fire helps to take the chill off the crisp morning air. Our next destination is the Upper Geyser Basin where we spend several hours surveying the enormously varied thermal features concentrated in this part of the park. My favorite, pictured above, is the Morning Glory Pool.

We were lucky to catch 5 eruptions of Old Faithful over the course of the day which included brief excursions to the Black Sand and Biscuit Geyser Basins. Even more fortunate, we were able to secure two cabins at the Old Faithful lodge for the evening. These are usually booked a year in advance but occasionally you can pick up a cancellation if you present yourself in person. No one was looking forward to a third sub-zero night in the tent so we were all happy to spend the evening at the lodge.