Saunders Farm with the Grandparents

Here are the rest of the pictures from my mom and Kevin's visit last week. On Saturday, they took advantage of this unseasonably good weather (please no snow this winter, ok, Canada?) and brought Lucas to Saunders Farm.

At the gas station on the way to Saunders Farm. Gotta love the crazy new 'do.

According to this, he is now two and a half gourds tall.

I don't think I've mentioned it before, but for quite a while now (4-5 months?), Lucas has had a strong interest in jewels, stones, and anything else that could be described as "treasure." He even has a box in his room where he stores any shiny objects that he finds or that someone gives him.

At Saunders Farm, they have a water trough that emulates panning for gold (or minerals, in this case). You can buy various-sized bags of sand and then use a sifter to discover what lies within. We've never done it in past visits, but I guess it was far and away Lucas's favorite thing during this latest trip. He didn't even bother doing the bouncy pillows, which is a must do when I go.

Showing off the results of his hard work.

One of the biggest draws at Saunders Farm is their mazes. Off the top of my head, I'd say they have between 10 and 15 different types of mazes. Apparently, there is a new one this year, a music maze. I haven't been through it yet since I only went to Saunders once this year, but based on the pictures my mom took, it looks interesting. The highlight, though, is a video of Lucas playing the xylophone and singing his ABCs. You can't help but laugh toward the end where he gets overexcited and accidentally whacks himself in the head with the mallet.



The obligatory cute picture of Lucas with pumpkins. It's hard to believe that's the same kid you see here.

Grammy and Grampy Kevin's Visit

Hello again! For those of you unaware, my mom and Kevin flew up from Massachusetts last week, and Marilu and I were able to take a mini-vacation in Montreal this weekend. It was a complete relaxathon since our room had a huge jacuzzi tub (which I used no less than 4 times in 2 days), and we both slept in until after 11 on Saturday. Of course, Marilu only slept that long since she was wildly hung over, but that is neither here nor there. Whatever the case, I'm back, and it's time to do some more updating.

I should point out that we didn't take any pictures in Montreal. Well, we might have taken a drunken one of ourselves at Dieu du Ciel, a fantastic bar/brewery, but that's about it. We weren't there for sightseeing. On the plus side, my mom took plenty of photos of Lucas. I know I said I would get to the Newfoundland trip soon, but since these are new and show off Lucas's new look, I thought our summer trip could wait a couple more days. I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. Of course, since virtually no one but my mom comments (and Tracey and Mary Jane), I don't think I'll hear a chorus of dissent. :P

As I've mentioned before (I think), Lucas is currently in Little Dragons, a martial arts for kids program done at a local studio. It's one of two after school programs we have him enrolled in, the other being swim lessons. Since he goes on Thursday night, my mom and Kevin were able to see one of his classes. We didn't take any of him at the class itself--I think that might be frowned upon--but we got some good shots of him when we got home.

Here he is showing off his white belt that has 7 stickers on it. Each session, they get a new sticker, and when they get 8 stickers, they move up to a new belt. That means he should get a new belt (yellow) this coming Thursday. You may also notice we've decorated for Halloween. And by "we," I almost entirely mean Marilu and Lucas.

Do you get the feeling he might be a class clown? Can't imagine where he is getting that from.

I prompted him to get into the fighting pose. Granted, they only spend about 5 minutes out of each class doing actual martial arts stuff, but I still thought this looked cool.

For some time now, Lucas has been saving money (from gifts and his new allowance) in order to purchase a Lego set that he really wanted. Its main attraction was the fact that one of the figures in it is a bear. Go figure. Since it's cheaper in the U.S., we had my mom buy it and bring it up with her. However, we were going to wait to give it to Lucas. However, in order to help keep him occupied while we were gone, we thought it might be a good idea to give it to him this weekend. Instead of just giving it to him from her suitcase, my mom "ordered" it with him early Friday, and it "arrived" later in the day. It sounds like he was proud to have used his own money to buy himself something. Here's the happy kid with his new Lego set.

File this under things you never thought you'd see: Kevin working on a Lego set.

Afterwards, Kevin and Lucas celebrate a job well done.

On Saturday, the three of them visited Saunders Farm. Since there are quite a few pictures from that trip, I'll give it its own entry tomorrow.

When we got back tonight, Lucas surprised Marilu with a present (from my mom and Kevin) and a cake that they had made for her birthday, which is coming up on Wednesday. Lucas asked if he could help blow out the candles, and honestly, how can you say no to that face?

I'm not sure why it looks like I am trying to blow the candles out as well. Hmm. Anyway, Saunders Farm tomorrow!

New look for Lucas!

It was that time of year again: a haircut for Lucas. As you can see below, his hair had been getting out of control.

So much so that Marilu braided it last week.

Well, this certainly wouldn't do so we brought him in for a haircut Sunday morning. In the past, we've been disappointed with some of his short haircuts, but this time I think it was perfect. He looks like a little boy again!

He wanted us to shave his head and get a mohawk, but I couldn't deal with that much white trash so a faux hawk was the compromise.

Massachusetts 2012 - Part 6b (The Rest of the Pics)

Almost across the street from my mom's place is the home of my 6th grade girlfriend's parents. Her dad is an avid hunter, and this year, we took him up on his offer to show Lucas how to use a bow. He got a chance to try out a normal bow...

...as well as a compound bow. I'm particularly impressed that I was able to catch the arrow in flight on an iPhone camera.

As you see in the picture below, Lucas had pretty good aim with the bow (not counting the two antler arrows that he stuck in manually.

Lucas even got a chance to try out a BB gun. Suffice to say, he had a good time that afternoon.

Here's our little Robin Hood in action:




Yet one more picture by the fire. Like I said, we were out there a LOT.

One afternoon, while no doubt feeling bored, my dad, Jared, and Lucas came up with this game that I dub Driveway Ball. I'm not sure of the rules, but it had something to do with pitching a ball out of the bed of a pickup truck and hitting it with an empty 2 liter bottle. I guess I do have redneck blood in me.




On one of the last nights in Massachusetts, I took the opportunity to do a little pout fishing. I haven't done it since I was about 12, so it was quite a nostalgic feeling. They were biting really well that night as I caught about 5 or 6 of them in less than an hour.

Marilu and my dad posing in the brewery at Hyland Orchard. Tasty beer!

More from Hyland Orchard, outside this time.

Great photo of Lucas with his two Grampys.

After Hyland Orchard, we went to Kevin's barn, which is almost literally across the street. Lucas got to interact with his horses.

And we wrap up the Massachusetts vacation with this cute shot of Lucas with his Uncle Jared.

The next couple of posts will be more recent pictures since I haven't posted much "new" stuff lately. However, I'm planning to post the Newfoundland pictures soon so keep an eye out for that. Have a good weekend!

Massachusetts 2012 - Part 6a (The Rest of the Pics)

Thus far, there has been a theme to all of the posts for Massachusetts. For these last two posts, they are basically the best of the rest. Of the hundreds of photos taken, I selected the ones I liked the best--for one reason or another--and present them for your enjoyment. At some point, I'll post them all to the online photo albums (that is a headache/work in progress), and you'll be able to view the whole smorgasbord of New England goodness. So without any further adieu, let's see what's happening.

Before Marilu arrived, Lucas was missing her so I encouraged him to draw something in chalk with her in mind. I can't exactly recall what the point of it was, but it helped him get over his missing mom.

An example of Lucas goofing around.

Lucas looks like a deranged sales rep for Perry the Platypus juice drinks.

Admittedly, this is not the best photo of Lucas, but it was one of the few I had of him by the fire at night. It's surprising, considering how often we were out there during our vacation. I particularly miss it now as we are well-entrenched in October, and the temperature is sliding toward freezing.

I'm pretty sure I took this photo since I was amused at just how messy Lucas was at his most recent meal. It's one thing to cover your face with food but your elbow?

Just posing.

This is one of the best pictures I can recall with Lucas and his Uncle Jared.

As a belated birthday gift, my cousin Greg bought Lucas this telescope. It's actually quite advanced--Lucas won't be using it for a few years--but it's a great gift that I'm sure he will get a lot of use out when he is older.

Greg and I. We don't have nearly enough pictures together so I'm glad I got this one.

Family night at Eighty Ates!

This was taken at the beach at Indian Ranch where we saw Gretchen Wilson in concert. The scowl on my face is due to the fact that I'm carrying a Bud Light and a Michelob Ultra. The beer selection was piss poor so I had to slum it for a couple of hours. I don't know how people drink that swill regularly.

This is less due to his opinion of the music and more due to the fact that his ears are sensitive to loud noise.

This was taken on our way home from the concert. It was kind of nice having a concert venue within walking distance of home. Plus, we got to stop at The Lodge for steaks on the way.

More from the front lawn.

I can't recall why Jared was posing like this, but the picture amused me.

Here's an early preview of Lucas's Halloween costume. Han Solo, beware!

We visited my Uncle Randy down in Connecticut on one of the nights, and Lucas had a blast playing with his two dogs and their puppies.

I'll wrap up the Massachusetts trip tomorrow.