I arrived in Edmonton, Canada today and had a chance to visit the West Edmonton Mall which I believe is the largest shopping mall in the world. Pictured here is the hockey rink (think Canada) which anchors the center of the mall. 

Starting tomorrow, I will be traveling for 3 weeks so entries will be hit or miss. First, I head to Edmonton, Canada for a day, Mountain View, CA for a day and Tustin, CA (near LA) for a day. Then I head to Munich for the weekend (should be crazy there with the World Cup finals). Next stop is Montreal for a day, Rochelle Park, NJ for a day and then a one day pit stop in Boston. The next day, I am off to Schenectady, NY for my 30th high school reunion. I fly from there to Chicago to meet up with Jeanine and the kids and then we drive to Lake Geneva, WI for our 6th year at Bayside Camp. After a week of decompression, I finish off with one day trips to Indianapolis, IN and Madison, WI. Twenty-two days on the road with one night at home. All I can say is that I am glad Jeanine and I postponed our trip to Fiji!

With Jeanine and the kids away, I am forced to find new subject matter for my journal. Passed this guy on the way into town. He seemed rather friendly so I walked right up to him and snapped this photo. As soon as the flash fired, I learned why it is a good idea to keep a safe distance from animals with horns.

Making hay while the sun shines. Twice a year we have our field mowed and the hay is sold to pay for the property taxes on the land.

With the family away I used the opportunity to repair our kitchen ventilator (at the touch of a button it rises up from the island and evacuates smoke from the cooktop). This defective switch (which probably costs half a buck) was the culprit rendering this top of the line, $800 appliance inoperative. The project took most of the day. I had to remove the gas cooktop, disconnect the ducting, remove the fan, remove the telescoping ventilator assembly, and take it completely apart to find the problem.

Rather than wait weeks for a replacement from Thermador which would be sure to fail in another 2 years, I replaced the switch with a much more durable substitute that I had on hand. Amazing what you can do with a soldering iron, grinder, and a little epoxy.

Today, Jeanine and the kids left for Oklahoma where they will spend several days visiting with the Earles (Kris is one of Jeanine’s childhood friends). When I checked my e-mail this evening, I was thrilled to get this photo sharing the news of Maya’s first lost tooth.

Nicolai models a birthday present he received from his sister this evening at a family-only birthday party. Nicolai is making out like a bandit this year. First he had a birthday party with his school chums before they left for summer camps. Tonight we celebrated as a family because Jeanine and the kids leave this weekend for Oklahoma making this their last day at home. I have no doubt he will have another party on July 8th (his actual birthday) and I suspect he will orchestrate yet another celebration when he visits with Jeanine’s family in Indianapolis later this month.

I have not posted any pictures of the house since we had it painted and thought I would use this excuse to test out a new camera that arrived today. Having lost one of my expensive SLR bodies and lenses to the Atlantic Ocean (fortunately covered by insurance) a couple of weeks ago I thought I would pick up a light weight travel camera for such situations. The new camera cost about as much as one of my cheap lenses and produces remarkably good photographs.

Maya has fashioned a kite out of an empty plastic bag. Please note the lack of footwear. This seems to be a common summer theme among the children of this house.

Today is “Safari Day” at Concord Academy Summer Camp. Maya has selected classes in dance, drama, and archery.

Kyle and his buddy Seth are attending Lacrosse camp this week. This is Kyle’s first formal training in the sport and he is picking it up very quickly. He seems to have a natural affinity to sports in which you get to hit people.

My brother sent us this photo of my neice Sophia. In our family it is essential that we have photos of our children eating pasta and holding a bocce ball. I will see this cutie pie for the first time this summer at my parents wedding anniversary.

Kyle drives for two of his eight points this evening, in a lop sided win. His team only had one sub so all of the boys got a great work out. By the end of the game Kyle looked a little tired. Probably worth mentioning he spent the entire day at lacrosse camp where they worked kids pretty hard.

The weekend weather (rain, rain, rain) prompted me to tackle two major archiving projects. The first involves scanning old photos provided by my parents so that I can assemble a slide show to be presented at their upcoming 50th wedding anniversary. This was one of my favorites. The second project is the transfer of all my videotape footage to DVD. It has been quite a trip down memory lane.