Ice skating, mountain climbing, wrestling, dancing, kayaking, gymnastics, rollerblading, skiing, rock climbing, playing soccer, volleyball, basketball and tennis are among the activities Nicolai has mastered. Today he added riding a bike to the list. He will probably graduate directly to driving a car but I am glad he had the courage to conquer the one skill that remained on the list of challenges he has not overcome. It took him all of about ten minutes to get the hang of it. In order to become fully proficient he will need either a clip in shoe or a toe clip.

Jeanine and Kyle have been on a college visit road tour all week and returned late last night. Their five state journey took them to Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

This evening we were treated to dinner by SideStix founder, Sarah Doherty (center). Her company makes a new generation of sport crutches which Beverly (left) and Nicolai helped to field test. It is not everyday that you see three people with a missing right leg. More rare is that two of them are the only people to ever climb Mount Kilimanjaro on crutches.

Nicolai using a heads up display navigates a PackBot equipped with a vision head. He also submitted a robot design (one of the activities during the day) which has serious potential as a product. The idea is so good I am not at liberty to disclose it.

Today was Bring Your Daughter or Son to Work Day at iRobot. Nico and Maya joined me for what was a very enjoyable morning. Maya operates a PackBot on a simulated ordinance disposal mission. Both got to meet the company’s founder and CEO who gave them a personal tour of our robot museum.

Maya and Nicolai collaborated on making additions to the tree house today. Their tree perch now features a split level hinged door with handles and curtains in the windows. I have yet to verify claims that my shop has not been restored to pre-project condition and that all tools have been returned undamaged. If true, I will be as pleased with their responsible behavior as with their construction efforts. The fact that all their digits appear in tact suggests they observed my ban on their use of the table saw but leaves me wondering how they cut the plywood to such close tolerances. I am looking forward to a closer inspection of their project in the morning.

Meet my colleagues at iRobot. We met offsite for a Quarterly Business Review which started at 7:30 in the morning and wrapped up with a very nice team dinner at l’Andana’s Grill in Burlington at about 9:30 making for a very long day. The President and General Manager of the Home Robots Division and my new boss is Jeff Beck, front row-third from the left.

Jeanine and Kyle departed this morning on an extended college visit road trip which will take them through Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. They elected to take my car because of the built in navigation system leaving me with the Smart Car, the smart child and her older brother. This not-so-smart parent allowed the pictured child to drive the pictured car around the neighborhood (twice) before usurping control and heading out to the ice cream store for a little treat. Only lack of sufficient height prevents Maya from driving without me.

We enjoy living across the street from a small horse farm. The stable is surrounded by several beautiful trees which are in peak bloom this weekend. My day started with a very disappointing soccer match played in a gentle rain. We lost 0-1 to an opponent which we dominated for 80% of the game. I had a couple of strong shots from distance but they just missed the frame and a diving header that was on the mark but not powerful enough to beat the keeper. This evening Jeanine and I enjoyed a lovely dinner at Nourish in Lexington while on a double date with friends she knows through her book group. Afterwards we saw the Swedish movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (highly recommended mystery, but not for the faint hearted).

Later in the game, while playing as a midfielder, Maya splits two considerably larger defenders and makes a full field run up the touch line beating an additional two defenders during her attack. What she lacks in size she makes up for with grit and intensity. Her team won with a late score by a margin of 3-2.

In this sequence Maya dispossesses an attacking opponent during her soccer match this morning.

Maya and her Girl Scout troop prepared a fund raising concession stand at the Emerson Umbrella this evening. Proceeds will be donated to charities which care for abandoned or abused animals. I was the first customer and added $4 worth of fat to my waistline. Kyle will be spending the weekend with Hannah and her family on the Cape while Nico and Jeanine are out with their respective friends this evening. I am enjoying a brief moment of solitude after another exhausting but extremely productive week on the new job.

Our gardens are bursting with color, the beneficiaries of all the recent rain and unusually warm weather we have experienced lately. Hard to imagine that snow is in the forecast for the coming weekend.

Although my new job continues to consume most of my time, I did complete my initial assessment work several days ahead of my own schedule and feel very optimistic about how quickly I will be able to work with the team to deliver improved results. With little time for photography, I opted today for a still life featuring a birthday present Jeanine received from her great friend Aliza.