Kyle drives to the hoop in a match against Sudbury. The team won by a nice margin and Kyle finished with 6 points.

I have been so busy with work (and photography) since we moved to Massachusetts that I have had little time to work in my shop. Today, I was able to find a couple of hours to organize some of my tools. Once I get everything the way I like it, I find the shop much more inviting and am more inclined to jump into new projects.

Jeanine and I joined Maya, her classmates, and their parents at school this morning to hear the stories they have written this year. Maya captivated us with When the Water Splashes, the story of how she learned to dive. Her writing style is creative, humorous, and in a certain way sophisticated. I am going to credit her mother and grandfather for these particular gifts.

Walls for the new shed were poured today. We plan to store the tractor, snow blower and collection of bikes here during the seasons they are not in use. This will free up enough space in the third bay of the garage to add other junk that will make it impossible to walk through.

Work has begun on an addition to our house. We are adding an elevated three-season sun porch to the back of the house, replacing the old deck with a new one, and adding a storage shed underneath the deck. Demolition and excavation has been completed and concrete footings will be poured today.

Spotted this raptor on the way into work this morning. I will have to check with our resident naturalist for an identification. Head to tail I estimate to be 20-22 inches.  Jeanine has weighed in and the answer is a red-tailed hawk.

This ball, suspended in a powerful stream of air, never fails to engage the kids. Anyone care to guess how long Nicolai waited before deciding that the real purpose of this exhibit was to help children practice their soccer heading technique? Answer: Less than 10 seconds.

In the discovery section of the museum, children can pop their heads right into the middle of the animal displays for an up-close look. Here, Maya is searching for an elusive chipmunk. I can only wonder if the parents of the chipmunks will bring their children out to see this strange-looking human inside a plastic bubble

Jeanine observes an Australian Walking Stick (can you find it) while I photograph her from the other side of the terrarium.

Today was my choice for family night and I picked a day-time excursion to the Boston Museum of Science. The kids all groused about going. As soon as we arrived, however, they became totally engrossed in the exhibits. Kyle and I toured the Body Worlds 2 exhibit which Jeanine and Nico had already seen. This tour-de-force presentation of the plasticized human body is absolutely awe inspiring and should not be missed by anyone with a chance to see it.

Later in the morning, Maya, Jeanine and I watched Kyle in action. His team battled back from a huge early game deficit only to lose their one point lead in the last 3 seconds. They were able to inbound and get a shot off before the buzzer, but unfortunately it did not find the net.  Kyle pictured here, scoring on a breakaway.

This morning, Maya attended her very first basketball practice. In the background is “Coach Stefan” who was also Kyle’s coach last season. He is without a doubt one of the finest coaches any of our children have ever had and I am really excited for Maya. Here, she is taking what I believe is technically a jump shot. 

It is hard to argue with results, Kyle’s team (a subset pictured here) played three back-to-back games with no rest to win the championship by a single goal in the final game.

Kyle’s indoor soccer team competed for the season championship this evening. I explained to Kyle yesterday, that the hair dangling in front of his eyes reduced his reaction time hoping he might consider the merits of a haircut. Instead, he opted for gathering a small fountain of hair in a rubber band which proved an equally effective solution, if aesthetically ridiculous.