Good mornings

Dad sometimes works late, so there are nights that the kids don't see
him before they go to bed. Here is sleepyeyed Jack with dad first
thing in the morning. It's when they catch up with hugs and how
things are going. Who ever thought dad would be a morning person?

Boston Harbor Sunset

There are boring slogging business trips and then there are special
ones like summer solstice in the Russian White Nights. My current trip
to Boston at the Akamai Customer Conference is of the special kind. I
met Michael Afergan, Akamai's CTO today and talked about the future.
Now I am ok a ship cruising the Boston Harbor. It's good to be back at
an old home.

Cheers

Dad is out of town, in boston at a conference. Tonight over dinner
Matthew, Jack, and Jillian came up with a plan of what they wanted to
do after dinner. It started with the tea party that Jillian was
having in her room before dinner. She had invited the boys, and they
had made it more interesting by putting hot water into her tin toy tea
kettle.

So here's what we did after dinner. They set the coffee table with a
tablecloth, cut fresh hydrangeas from out back for a centerpiece, set
out candles (I lit them), made hot cocoa for everyone, and set a
tastycake on a plate for each person. They were so excited about
this, and they did all of the work. We even had music c/o apple tv,
and scrolling photos. The music was the kid music we used to listen
to over and over again when the boys were little. There was lots of
laughter and even some dancing. The only thing missing was dad.

Bedtime Stories

Every night over the past month Dad has been reading The Hobbit to the
kids. They love it. Dad left tonight for a conference in Boston
after reading to them. The kids miss Dad when he travels and surely
they miss hearing him read to them at the end of the day. So he set
me up with the apple tv version of The Hobbit audiobook. Mom doesn't
quite cut it as a hobbit narrator. Plus this way I have silence (!)
so I can get a few things done at the end of my day.

Some Things Never Change

But some things do. We still like tailgating at a dry hot Phillies
game on Saturday afternoon. But new for Tara and I was the concept of
PingPong adult beverage games. Looks like the popular thing is setting
up a platform table and using a PingPong ball in place of a quarter.
In the dry hot wind there was quite a rate of consumption taking place
around the lot at Citizens Bank Park. Bean Bag horseshoe seemed to
surpass PingPong on popularity.

We didn't have a plan for this afternoon and the 4pm Phillies game
against the Braves sounded good. Game was sold out so we traveled down
to city at noon to get standing room only tickets for $14. Gates open
at 1:45 and we hope to get on the field for pictures with the players.

Sand Castle Design Patterns

Before the heavy thunderstorms rolled through the Cape after lunch, it
was warm and sunny. On a previous day while out on the flats with
Matthew we found two perfect sand dollars - right next to each other.
Today we all set out at low tide and searched out a half mile onto the
flats. No sand dollars to be found. We found clam shells and many
scallop shells.

Jack issued me a design for a sand castle and we set to work. The
trick with sand castles is to start it down far enough on the beach to
develop a pool of water once you start digging. Two advantages with
this. First your castle gains a moat. Second the pool provides a
source for liquid sand that works like mortar.

Our castle lasted a couple of hours before the tide came in - and the
thunderstorms rolled in.

Arrived in Cape Cod as the Tide Was Going Out

The ride was uneventful and the only traffic we faced was on the Cross
Bronx Expressway and congestion at the Bourne Bridge. We stopped for
gas only and got to Brewster by four in the afternoon. The tide was
just starring to go out. We decided to take care of our traditional
picnic dinner at the Sesuit Harbor Cafe this evening. When we got back
to the house the tide all the way out. Quite obvious why its called
the Brewster Flats. The lightning was striking out on the horizon and
we could hear the thunder. Never saw a colorful sunset next to a
thunderstorm before.

Leaving Pennsylvania in the Morning

Tara has been packing all week. I could hardly drag my butt out of bed
by six to start packing the family truckster. I had never set the
Yakima Space Case on the black truck before and blew an hour doing
that. All done two hours later and we set off. Then we realized we
forgot the EZPass blew 15 minutes retrieving that. Brewster here we
come.

Comcast Center All to Ourselves

Friday the 13th was a logistical challenge. I drove Tara to work in Haverford and then took the back way into the city. I had more than a few things to bring home from work over the weekend because the CIM office move into the Comcast Center. Tara and I thought this may be the best opportunity for the whole family to go into town. Dani took Matthew, Jack and Jillian downtown on the R5 and Tara picked up the same train after in BrynMawr after work. I picked up my pile of stuff and lugged it from 2000 Market to 15th and Race where I had parked and then waited in Suburban Station for everyone. We grabbed dinner at Nodding Head Brewery and walked over the Comcast Center as the Sun was starting to go down.

The massive High Definition LED Display in the Lobby is absolutely stunning at night - the contrast is awesome. Jillian, Jack and Matthew all got their picture taken and received vistor badges. It was like we had the whole skyscraper to ourselves. The views away from the sun to the river were spectacular. They got to see "Ralph's Cafe". Jillian asked "who is Ralph". I explained: "he is the man Jillian, he is simply THE man". We ended up on the wrong elevator and ended up on a floor where we found some major bean bag chairs. The kids said, "who ever works on this floor is really lucky!"

Family Video

A video for Dad

Watching the Wake

When I was a kid, we spent most of each summer out on our boat. Wake watching was always fun. Now, thanks to grandparents that still love the water, my kids have the chance to do the same...and they love it. In this case, Jack was sitting at the helm, side by side with Captain "Bubba" feeling like a co-captain...while the rest of us sat back to enjoy the ride. The boys especially like the random gutsy jet-skiier that comes along to jump the wake. Thanks, Ganna and Bubba, for a great summer kickoff weekend!

Driveway Chalk Plus Rain Equals Fingerpaint

The kids figured out that they can take their driveway art to a second
stage instead of watching the rain wash it all away. I had the kids
all day as Tara was on her semi-annual outlet excursion with Claudia.
Yard work was impossible with the weather so I concentrated on
vacuuming the vehicles. Before the rain really came down heavy, I kept
the kids from being underfoot with driveway chalk. Once they got the
fingerpaint going during the rain sprinkles they had a lot of fun.

Science of Spilling Apple Juice

I tried to snap a picture for Drew since Matthew put on his Tshirt
this morning. Jillian turned for the picture and tipped her juice cup
over. The boys are looking at juice audibly pouring over the side of
the table.

Reverend Frank Allen Sings National Anthem at Phillies Game

Tara's colleage Amy Allen's husband sang the Anthem tonight at
Phillies game. Frank's fans from Kids First Haverford cheered from
section 237.

Speed Racer IMAX

The treat on some evenings the last couple of weeks has been watching
the HD Speed Racer trailer on the Apple TV.

Jillian and of course Tara have zero interest. Searching Comcast video
on demand last weekend we found Speed Racer the Movie available for
free. As crummy as the original cartoon is, far worse than I remember
from childhood, it is as sticky today as it was years ago. Jack and
Matthew were glued to cartoon movie.

While commuting with Tara yesterday I tried to get tickets through
Fandango's iPhone web site for opening night. Sold out for IMAX. So I
got some tickets for me and the boys on Saturday morning.

Lights dimming...

Boys are skirming in their seats...

Thousand Kites Above the Mall

We are down in DC at the Cherry Blossom Festival. We thought we would
see thousands of trees, and we have, but unlike past years there were
kites flying as far as the eye could see.

Your Toothless Wonder

Matthew lost a tooth tonight. He had been complaining about this very loose tooth all day. Finally, at bedtime, it fell out. Instead of just putting it under his pillow, he decided to write the tooth fairy a note. I love this. It is so Matthew. Lets see if he finds money under his pillow in the morning. Do you get money if you don't give up the tooth? With a thoughtful letter like this one, I think so.

TV Chill Time

Its 6:45 PM, dinner is finished, kitchen is clean, homework is done, and so its veg time. The kids seem to need this time as much as us parents do. Whether its Transformers (that was tonights choice), The Little Mermaid (Jillian's choice last night, which the boys quickly ditched and ran for their Legos), or a documentary on Animal Planet.... the after dinner/before bedtime hour is about vegging with the TV on. Right or wrong, it works for us and everyone goes to bed relaxed and happy.

Revenge of the Knight

I did this school work sometime back after October but before December - I think it was November 5th. I don't really remember when.

My dad asked why I and how I did this and I explained. Because in school I had finished my regular work so I started writing a story and it came out. I had a lot more time so I published it and did the cover. Yesterday I read the story out loud to my second grade class. I think they thought I did a good job.

If you want to hear my story read by me you can listen to it hear.

Revenge of the Knight

Loans that Change Lives

Thanks Drew and Christina for introducing us to Kiva and how we can help people improve their lives investing in their businesses and communities around the world. Jillian, Jack and Matthew are learning about the world and hard work by participating in the efforts of small businesses around the world.