Our neighbor Kathy grew a crop of pumpkins this year and was kind enough to offer the girls (Maya with her friend Julie) the pick of the patch.

Maya did not lack for spectators. My mom and dad laugh it up with Jeanine over the antics on the field.

Still a little gun shy after sustaining a bloody nose earlier in the season, Maya was back in action earlier this morning. Her team won decisively.

When I returned home I was treated to another cake made by Jeanine and Maya as well as rice pudding (my favorite desert) delivered from Schenectady by my parents who are visiting for the weekend. Can you guess how old I am?

The cake was extremely welcome, as I had been so busy all day that I had missed lunch entirely.

Today is my birthday and my colleagues surprised me with a soccer themed party. As I walked unsuspectingly into the board room, I was pelted by a variety of miniature soccer balls.

No matter what kind of beating I take at work, I can survive anything knowing I have this to come home to.

I made a day trip to NYC to visit with ABC executives. On August 14th, a glitch in our equipment caused Good Morning America to go black for 8 seconds. As the head of engineering, I have been summoned to answer for this. Not a meeting I would wish on my worst enemy. Suffice it to say that a repeat of this issue will result in a call for my bloody head on a silver platter.

Taken from my car window as Jeanine was putting Maya on the bus.

My weekly photo assignment entry. The theme is Minimalism. 

Kyle’s team won their match today by a score of 2-0. Here, he unleashes a very strong shot on goal which went slightly wide. Earlier in the game he scored the opening goal in a one-on-one with the goalie. My team cruised to a 3-0 win against a very tough opponent. Unfortunately, I tweaked my right hamstring and may miss a game or two while it heals.

Yesterday, Maya asked if I would build her a canopy bed for her American Girl doll, Elizabeth. Maya helped me with the construction and did most of the painting herself. This morning we tried it on for size.  All that remains is to fabricare the canopy.

Nicolai played goalie for his team today. It rained on and off during the game so I decided to leave my camera gear in the car. I did, however, during warm-ups, catch this shot of him deflecting the ball over the bar. After the game we stopped at Helen’s for lunch and had a nice time discussing possibilities for his coming of age father-son adventure. Antartica is off the table and New Zealand is back on. We have decided that white water rafting or kayaking will be the main activity.

Jeanine and Maya attended a Women’s Circle at the church during which she decorated this Yin-Yang symbol. She added words (using her own spelling) that were significant to her; Compassion, Movement, Energy, Deep Love, Relax, and Comfort. Meanwhile, Kyle and I had a boys night out after his practice. We went to the Mainstreet Cafe where we enjoyed a couple of burgers while listening to live guitar music.