Massachusetts 2012 - Part 1A

As promised the videos of us frolicking in the water.  The first one is blurry at first, but it clears up about halfway through. Check out who is driving the boat.



In this next one, I do my best to make the water around the dock kiver free.



Finally, some snorkeling fun with Lucas and me.

Massachusetts 2012 - Part 1 (Water, Water Everywhere!)

I'll come clean with you. I've been putting off posting about the Massachusetts vacation. When I first organized all the photos--from our camera, my mom's camera, and my iPhone--into one folder, there were a whopping 538 photos. Trying to comb through that and summarize the trip through 10-20 photos seemed a bit overwhelming. Earlier tonight, I went through and was able to delete just over 100 of those, the vast majority being ones Lucas took while manning the camera during a zoo visit. While he did take some decent photos, most were not so good.

So, we're down to 432 photos. Still a daunting task, but not quite as bad, and short of deleting all of them, I'd eventually have to get around to this. I expect there will be several entries devoted to Massachusetts, and I'm going to try to base each one around specific events and then maybe put the random ones in a final catch-all post. Whatever the case, expect to see lots of photos from the New England region over the next week or two. After this, I'll tackle the Newfoundland trip, which only has a paltry 280 photos to sift through.

Since one of the highlights of our trips to Massachusetts is staying at my mom's place on Webster Lake (or Lake Chargoggagoggmanchaugagoggchaubunagungamaug to the locals), this first entry is devoted to our time in and around the water. The ability to spontaneously decide to jump in the water is one of the things I've missed most from that trip. There were at least a couple of days where I went down to the dock, intending to spend 15-20 minutes in the water, and then 3 hours later, I was finally toweling off. Good times.

For the first time since I started visiting, the boat my mom and Kevin own actually worked while I was there. We took it out a few times but didn't think to take many photos. Although the one below is a bit blurry, I kind of liked the look of it as we came back into the dock. For what it's worth, that thing was so much fun to drive. It's by Seadoo, and it's a cross between an actual boat and a jetski. Someone out there might know the name for this type of vehicle, but all I know is that I had a blast.

Our little Jacques Coustaeu prepares for his aquatic adventure.

Although all the photos you'll see here show Lucas wearing floaties, he did brave the water without them from time to time. He's made remarkable progress over the last few months, between swim lessons and this trip, and I expect he'll ditch the floaties long before next summer.

I love the fact that it looks as if I am trying to catch Lucas in this photo. In reality, I was hunting kivers (bluegill/sunfish). They are a very stupid fish, and I managed to catch 30-40 of them by net alone during the trip.

Kevin and Lucas having water wars. Lucas is winning.

Great shot of Lucas with his Grampy Kevin.

While selecting photos to use for this entry, I noticed several good videos from our time playing in the water. Since videos take forever and a day to upload, I'll post those in a follow-up to this entry, probably tomorrow. Hope you've enjoyed. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

In Memoriam

Before I get back to the business of posting photos, I want to take a moment to summarize what happened back in May that led to the hiatus. I think most of the people who read this blog know the whole story, but in case there are a couple of people still in the dark, I'm going to give you the Cliffs Notes version.

Basically, we found out from early tests that there was something wrong with our baby. When we came in for a follow-up ultrasound, the doctor confirmed that things were bad, and it was very unlikely our baby would survive until the pregnancy, let alone afterwards. As such, we made the choice--not that there was much of one, given that news--to terminate the pregnancy.

Unfortunately, because of how far along Marilu was, we had to go through what was essentially a full birth. I'm not going to go into it, but suffice to say, May 28 was the worst day and night of my life. I think Marilu would agree.

For what it's worth, we had a boy. Although there is no official documentation, we named him Rory Gerard Deal. Gerard was a nod to Marilu's dad, and we came up with Rory in much the same we settled on Lucas. It was a boy's name that neither of us hated!

So that's the story in a nutshell. It's a lot easier to talk about it now, almost 3 months later, but there will always be a special place in my heart for our little boy who was taken from us far too soon.

Rest in Peace, Rory. Your daddy, mommy, and big brother Lucas will never forget you.

New Beginning

We're back from Massachusetts and Newfoundland and all points in between. As you can see, I've finally renamed and restyled the blog. I think the new name is appropriate.

I have to transfer the Massachusetts pictures from the camera, but once I get that done, I'll start updating with new photos. Talk to you again soon!

Oh Captain, My Captain!

Lucas and I are in Massachusetts this week, with Marilu flying down next Thursday. Earlier tonight, he took a ride in the boat my mom and Kevin own. And by "take a ride," I mean he was actually driving it. You'll have to look closely in the following video, but that's him at the wheel.



I know I've been gone a while, in light of everything that happened back in May, but I'm going to try and get back on track while on vacation here in Massachusetts. Please bear with me!