2006 Pictures

Valentine's Day:

Valentine's Day flowers:

California in February:

In February we visited Aunt Caroline and Grandpa Edmund:

	Joey wearing a sweater knit by Chantal.		On a walk through the hills of Portola Valley: the boys and Psyche the dog.
A picturesque little shack in the fields.		A view over the fields and hills.
	Stroking a miniature horse.		Joey with the little horse.
Cherry blossoms.		Benjamin picking lemons.
	All the kids with their lemons.		Rosemary in bloom.
Isabel and Psyche.		Chip propelling Sam.
	Benjamin with Ben in the stroller.		Sam working on the robot for Chip's birthday, with Ben looking on.
Joey packing water pistols.		Proud kids show off their robot with Chip.
	Kids of all species with party hats.		Decorative grass, attractively backlit.
Benjamin and Isabel doing some horse-riding:

Soccer in May:

	The Jade team lining up, with coach Leah.		Trevor in the goal.
Tim with the ball.		Benjamin goes for it.
	Trevor putting his all into a kick.		Benjamin, dogged in defense.
Half time.		A team picture.
	Another team picture, by Chantal the next weekend.

A hike around the Middlesex Fells in May:

	Geese and goslings on the pond.		Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule). Lady's Slippers in general (several species) are New England's only native orchids. Some are endangered, but these are quite common locally, though all are very picky about growing conditions.
Chantal and the kids (with friend Megan) taking a rest.		Megan and Isabel at the pond.
	Irises (probably Larger Blueflag, Iris versicolor).

Benjamin's Birthday in June, a trip to the Science Museum:

	Benjamin, Trevor, Benjamin, Nicholas, and Tim admiring the big map of the Boston area.		Launching the magnetized ring.
Playing in the mini-tornado.		Back at home, blowing out candles.
	Admiring the effect.	Below, opening presents:

Secret Garden tour in June:

Every year the Cambridge Public Library organizes a tour of gardens that their owners make available to the public. The gardens range from magnificent spreads in the most expensive parts of town to very typical and modest yards.

	Starting out, a view of our own roses and new house paint job. Chantal is getting her bike ready to go. Bicycling turns out to be the ideal way to get around: no parking hassles, and the distances make walking everywhere impractical.		Foxgloves (Digitalis) in a friend's yard.
Blueberries, not quite ripe.		A graceful arched entrance, draped with Wisteria.
	A pretty fence with flowers, not even on the tour!		Inside an amazing garden, big enough to get lost in!
A birch grove.		Pretty irises.
	Lilies, etc., dancing in the breeze.		Mountain Laurel, which look like little umbrellas, ribs and all.
A beautiful composition of roses (if I say so myself!). I always love the contrast of buds and open flowers, and these simple roses are very fresh and lovely.		More old-fashioned simple roses.
	Back home again, our own pink roses in the foreground.		Chantal gardening the "front 40".
I'm training these dark red roses up our front porch, and they seem to like that.		Roses climbing up to our second-story balcony.

Later in June, cousin Joey visits from California:

My sister Caroline came to town, with Uncle Chip and Grandma José.

	Joey on the see-saw at the Cambridge Common, scene of so many earlier kid pictures...		Joey playing with a toy car in the playground.
Chantal, Caroline, and Grandma José.		Kids playing in the living room, while adults relax in the background.
	Isabel giving Joey a bath, and spiking his hair.		Isabel reading to the boys, the Boston classic, "Make Way for Ducklings".
Isabel demonstrating the "whispering gallery" around the archway at Sever Hall at Harvard.		Taking the T downtown.
	The kids posing at one of the bronze ducklings in the Public Garden.		Chantal points out the sights, a swanboat going under the bridge.
Joey admires the ducks.		On the swanboat, enjoying the ride.
	At the aquarium, by Boston Harbor.		Back home at last, the afternoon sun glowing through the River Birches.

These pictures were taken with Canon G2 and EOS 10D digital cameras. Images were raw-converted, cropped, balanced, etc. with Adobe Photoshop Elements.