After a BBQ dinner and the world famous Kimball’s ice cream bar we worked off any remaining energy in the bumper boat pond.

 
The competition went on for almost an hour and was dead even after 95 darts had been fired by twelve contestants. With exactly one dart left before both teams had agreed to settle for a draw, victory was secured for the engineering team and we will proudly retain the trophy pictured in the foreground until next year’s rematch.

 
Earlier in the week I threw down the gauntlet and challenged the customer support department to a nerf dart shootout on behalf of the engineering department. The cocky tone of my email provoked the intended call to arms and chest thumping on both sides.

 
…and old alike.

 
The evening featured golf (driving, pitch & putt, and miniature) for young…

 
This evening we attended the Sonos Summer Celebration held at Kimball Farms. Nicolai left for Encore Coda music camp earlier in the day so he was not able to join the family appreciation outing. Despite some brief periods of intense rain the event was a great success. This being the first Cambridge based company gathering since my arrival, I was very keen to take full advantage of the event to build an even closer knit team. For an ice breaker, Maya assisted by sticking labels with the names of taco ingredients on them to each attendees back. Each person was asked to circulate in the crowd and ask yes/no questions to determine what their label said. Having done this, I informed the participants that the first team to form a complete taco (shell, chicken, lettuce, tomatos, salsa, cheese) and sit at a table with their hands up would win the prize.

 
The fact that she was eager to sign up for next year’s camp on the spot suggested that Maya had a wonderful experience in this camp run by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. She enjoyed many activities including kayaking, mountain climbing, swimming, archery, soccer, singing around the campfire, a talent show and a Ropes course. Most importantly, she made some very good friends and returned with a much greater appreciation for nature, wildlife and the great outdoors, a theme of the camp which is woven into every activity.

 
Maya was very proud of the latrine that her cabin shared. She demonstrated the sink and explained how each girl could dip their toothbrush into an individual stream of water.

 
After the closing ceremony, Maya showed me her campground.

 
In addition to to making two friends her own age, Maya had befriended many of the older girls as well.

 
Parents assembled in the amphitheater as the campers, age group by age group, performed a song or skit before reuniting.

 
This morning I retrieved Maya from her week long stay at Camp Wildwood located in southern New Hampshire.

 
This evening Nicolai was interviewed by Steve Audette for a story he is doing for Frontline. Nicolai was a real trooper and handled the two hour session with grace. Steve is a skilled interviewer and really explored the emotional side of the story. You could tell he was angling for the most dramatic telling of Nico’s Kilimanjaro adventure (what all good story tellers do) but Nicolai held firmly to the slightly less glamorous truth of his experience. I was very proud of him for his unwavering honesty. We will know in a couple of weeks if Frontline picks up the 10 minute story. Stay tuned. I tried working from home today and with Maya at camp, Kyle at work, Nico at a friends, and Jeanine at yoga and then her nutrition training it worked out extremely well. Even though I was considerably more efficient, I must say I missed the office setting. I finished my last meeting at 7PM just as the team arrived to set up. It took about an hour to create a studio in our living room and setup the lighting and sound. We wrapped shortly after 10PM.

 
I got tied up at work until 8:30 but was rewarded with a beautiful sunset over the Charles.