Some News and Catching Up

In case you're wondering, I've waited a week to post again on purpose. Since some people only look at the top update on the page, I wanted to make sure a reasonable number of people got to see the last entry before it dropped down the page a little. That, and I'm lazy sometimes.

Not too much news in the Deal family for the past week. Lucas started up skiing last weekend, and last Tuesday, he also began a 6-week skating program. The latter is geared toward fairly new skaters so Lucas is actually one of the best skaters in the class, given all his hockey practice. It's a world of difference from last September when he could barely stay on his feet. He's probably not going to get a whole lot out of the class, but we're hoping he strengthens his fundamentals. Those two activities, plus his hockey, are probably all we'll have him do for the next couple of months. Come the spring, he's expressed interest in playing soccer and baseball so we'll probably sign him up for both of those sports as well. Anything to keep him active!

Oh, lest I forget. Lucas's latest obsession is the Nickelodeon TV show iCarly, which is on Netflix. He started watching it over the holidays, and I think he's watched almost 2 seasons of it so far. I'm not sure why he's so interested in a show about two teenage girls who have their own Web show, but who am I to judge. That said, Marilu and I noticed he really seemed to like a female guest star who was on one of the episodes. His first crush! :)

That's enough talk since I know you like to see pictures. Today's theme is Saunders Farm, a local farm that we brought Lucas to several times over the summer. I've posted pictures from there before so I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about. There are lots of fun things to do, including mazes, a splash pad, and my favorite, the jumping pillows. I've organized the best pictures from our 2013 visits below.

Lucas's favorite activity at Saunders Farm is panning for gold, or minerals, as the case may be. It's also the most expensive since it costs around $10 for a big bag of sand filled with said minerals, but he has a blast doing it, and he keeps all the minerals he finds (or as he calls them, gems), so it's hard to say no to that cute face. I should point out that I wore a bigger version of this shirt that day. It was hard to miss us.

Fun times at the splash pad.

Showing off a "gem" from a different visit. Same hat though.

Lucas and I on the jumping pillows. If you're wondering about the awkward stance, I think I had just landed a jump. You can tell since he's been launched in the air. There might be a video of this. I'll check, and if so, I'll post it in a separate entry.

Flying down the giant corrugated slide.

And finally, some photos from around the Farm with his Grampy George and Uncle Jared.

The videos I referenced earlier uploaded quicker than I expected so here they are for your viewing pleasure.