Lots of news!

I have to go to bed soon since I'm getting up WAY too early to bring my mom and Kevin to the airport, but so much happened today that I need to do some updating.

Before I get to today though, let's revisit Lucas's Sunday lacrosse playoff game. They were the #2 teams at the end of the season so in the first round of the playoffs, they faced the #3 team. Although they beat that team quite handily during the season by the score of 6-2, they got off to an ugly start, trailing 0-3 after the first period.

Thankfully, they found their groove, shored up their defense, and ended up winning the game 4-3, thanks to 4 straight goals by our top scorer and smallest kid on the team, Cooper. Here are some photos from that game. Lucas (#67) is easy to find since he wears his blue compression pants (or what I call man leggings) to every game.

The long break between second and third period.

#64 was our pint-sized big goal scorer.

Congratulating his goalie after the win.

Okay, back to the present. Today was Lucas's 6th grade leaving ceremony. Apparently, "graduating" from 6th grade is a thing. I kind of roll my eyes about it, but when in Rome. Whatever the case, it was actually a nice ceremony, and I'm still trying to figure out how the heck Lucas is old enough to be going to junior high next year!

Entering the ceremony...

Receiving his certificate.

And leaving.

On top of all that, the lacrosse peewee championship game was tonight. They were up against the only team that beat them this year. That team was coming in strong, having won their first playoff game 14-1. So how did it go? Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so here you go...

The champs!

It was a crazy game with his team taking an early 2-0 lead, but the other team kept finding a way to stay in the game. Lucas's team never fell behind though, and they ended up winning 8-6. Even better news is that Lucas scored his second goal of the season in the game (his first was in the last regular season game). He played very well tonight, and we were super proud of him.

So quite the day. Graduate sixth grade, spend most of the afternoon in a swimming pool at a graduation reception, and cap it all off with a lacrosse championship! Why can't they all be like that?

12th Birthday Party

Earlier today, Lucas had his 12th birthday party. It was his first actual party in a while since he had a sleepover last year and 2 years ago, we cancelled his party due to his behavior in the weeks leading up to his party. So it was good to get back to the basics.

This time around, we had it at a place called GlowSport Nerf Gun Battle. Just like it sounds, it's a facility that hosts Nerf gun battles in a neon and blacklight arena. I wasn't sure what to make of it when Marilu first made the reservation, but I'm glad we did since Lucas and the boys (9 of his closest friends) had an absolute blast.

I've included some highlights below.

Everyone met up at our place first, and then we drove in two separate cars to the facility.

The way the battle worked is that Lucas's team (team orange) played against another team. It turned out to be a perfect matchup as it was another 12-year-old's birthday party.

Once they entered the arena, they were issued Nerf guns from the Gun Store. There were 3 different levels of guns, with the kids earning higher levels as the game progressed. It's a really neat idea.

As the birthday boy, Lucas got to use a gun tier higher than the other kids.

Some shots of the kids strategizing.

The blacklight does wonders for Marilu and her false tooth. :)

After 90 minutes of battling, the boys sat down to some well-deserved fruit, chips, pizza, and cake.

Finally, we returned home and Lucas opened his gifts. At this age, the majority of them are money, which will probably go toward getting a new computer and monitor, something he has been saving for since last year.

Lucas's actual birth day is tomorrow, which is also Father's Day. We will be having dinner at The Keg, a steakhouse here in Ottawa. I will try to get some of the videos I took today up by the end of the weekend. Until then!

Houston, Part 4

Lucas's lacrosse team got back to their winning ways this week with a 6-2 win. For the record, it appears they have a revolving team name. Last week, they were the white watermelons (they have white jerseys). This week, they were apparently the Oompah Loompahs. I'll be sure to update with new team names as they happen.

The next day, Jon served up a delicious brisket that he had smoked all night. He was a little critical of it, but from a layman's perspective, it was one of the tastiest meals I've had in a while.I think I had three servings for lunch, which wasn't a great idea since shortly thereafter, we went to the Kemah Boardwalk, a popular Houston tourist attraction.

Here's Lucas posing with the gorgeous piece of meat.

We didn't get too photo crazy at the boardwalk so there isn't too much to see. Lucas and Marilu rode the ferris wheel while I wandered around. Their wait in line was around 45 minutes.

Picture of us out front. Ugh, I need to lose about 50 pounds.

This last pair of photos is kind of nifty. The first is from our most recent visit. The second is from when Marilu and I visited Houston for the first time back in 2004 (or maybe 2005?). We tried to stand in the same general area.Time has not been kind to yours truly!

This is a look at downtown Houston as we headed to the airport the next day.

And finally, this was the sight that welcomes us back to the frozen tundra of Ottawa, after a week of shorts and flip-flops.

Luckily, as I write this, it appears the cold weather is gone for until fall. But man, that was a crappy way to come back from vacation.

And thus, the Houston trip is over. I really need to organize my photos since they are a complete mess now, strewn across several folders and phones. Just the headache of figuring out where everything is has been the biggest obstacle to posting new stuff so bear with me as I try to make order of the chaos.

I think the next pictures I put up will be from our Easter trip down to Massachusetts since I think they are still on my phone so keep an eye out for those in the coming week. Until then, see ya!

Lacrosse Update

I'm going to talk a little lacrosse, and then update with more Houston picture in the next post, which should be this weekend. It's a long weekend so I really have no excuse. :)

To refresh your memory, last year was Lucas's first season of lacrosse. Although he had a great time, his team lost every single game. EVERY. ONE. So from a parent's standpoint, it was painful to watch (sometimes quite literally as it's a rough game), but he liked it enough that he wanted to play again this year.

Game 1, which was two weeks ago, started the season with a bang as they beat the other team 8-0. It was just a total domination offensively and defensively. Then the next week, they won big again, 8-3. So it was a complete turnaround from last year.

Last night was their third game of the season, and they were playing the #2 team. Both teams were 2-0, but Lucas's had a +13 goal differential, and I think the other one was +6. It turned out to be a good game with Lucas's team having an edge in shots on goal, but in the end they lost 8-4. Something about 8s this year, huh?

Now here is where I will put on my tinfoil hat and explain my conspiracy theory. Unlike hockey, in lacrosse they can rebalance the teams a few games into the season in order to keep it even. His team last year got a new kid, for all the good it did them so we know it could happen this year. In fact, during one of the breaks between periods in the first game, the coach told the kids (jokingly?) that they should stop scoring so much or the team would get broken up.

We have two kids on our team who are former competitive lacrosse players, and they provided a LOT of offense in our first two games. Last night, one of the boys couldn't make it--he plays competitive hockey as well--and the coach had the other boy play goalie. So neither of our top scorers were playing.

My theory is that Lucas's coach did this on purpose to make us look vulnerable with a big loss. To be fair, the team did pretty well even without them, but the other goalie and another former competitive player on the other team won it for them. I suspect if our team is untouched after any rebalancing, the next meeting between these teams will be a much different outcome.

Mind you, I don't mind if this is all part of the coach's plan. After losing every game last year, I would be all for them being undefeated. If a little gamesmanship at the beginning of the season is what we need, then so be it.

I'll keep you updated.

Houston, Part 3

It just occurred to me last week that I never finished chronicling our trip to Houston. So here we go!

Following our trip to the zoo, we spent the next day at Houston's Natural History Museum. I wasn't expecting much more than just another history museum, but I was amazed at just how incredible the dinosaur section was. It was easily the best display of dinosaurs I've ever seen. I eventually read that one of the curators of the museum was Robert Bakker, who was the inspiration for the main character in Jurassic Park, so I guess it makes sense it's going to be a good exhibit.

I won't bore you with too many "museum pictures" since they probably aren't that thrilling to look at.

I saw this notice on one of the entrances to the museum. Is it just me, or is it kind of sad that people need to be told not to bring a gun into a museum?

Given my arachnophobia, I gave this display a big thumbs down. That's a big NO!

This charismatic guy welcomed us to the dinosaur exhibit.

I can't recall if this was a stegoasaurus or one of its cousins, but I had to take a picture since it's my favorite dinosaur. I even recall being a (young) kid, wanting to be a stegosaurus when I grew up.

This must be a distant relative of mine.

This was just a fraction of the dinosaur room, to give you an idea of how big the exhibition area was.

I can't recall where this was taken at the museum, but it's the only picture I have of Lucas there.

And the only picture I have of Marilu, reveling in chemistry.

After the museum, we headed over to a nearby craft brewery, the oldest one in Houston.

Lucas enjoyed what I believe is a reuben sandwich.

Jon and I enjoyed a couple of beers before embarking on the brewery tour. You can see the brewery in the background.

Jon and Marilu check out the equipment inside the brewery.

Earlier in the day, I took a picture of a sign for a closed-down restaurant that we kept passing on the highway. Given Lucas's longer hair and his penchant for wearing a Bass Pro Shop hat, this was his nickname for much of the trip.

And that wraps up that day. There aren't too many more pictures so I will try and get the rest of them uploaded in the next post, which should be up this week.

Finals Results

The finals for Lucas's hockey were at 11 this morning, and I had to pick Marilu up at the airport at 9:30 since she was coming back from a math conference in San Diego. We had him sleep over at a teammate's house last night, and they brought him just in case we were running late. As it turned out, we had plenty of time since the flight was almost a half hour early.

Despite the fact that Lucas has been feeling fine since mid-week, we followed the doctor's orders and held him out of the game. That said, he was still part of the team, going into the locker room and he even joined them on the bench. I took this picture of him during the pre-game warmups. He's a little hard to see, but that's him on the right, next to the blue thing.

Unfortunately, the magic of last year's finals win was not replicated in 2019. The Skull Troopers put up a good fight but ended up losing 4-2. It was a bit frustrating since 3 of the goals were scored by one of Lucas's teammates from last year, a kid who at the very least should have been sorted into House A, if not competitive. No one else on that team was much of a threat and without him it would have been a wildly different game. But it's all over and time to move on. Besides, Lucas did get a silver medal to pair with his gold medal from last year, and it's all about the hardware, right? :)

As far as sports go, next week is the year-end tournament for basketball and then after that, lacrosse should be starting very soon. So no rest for the wicked.

Finals Bound

Last night was the semifinals for the Skull Troopers, and once again, they kept on winning. During the regular season, their record against last night's opponent was 0-0-3. That's right, 3 ties. Last night kept their streak going as it was 0-0 at the end of regulation. This being the playoffs, however, someone had to win and so it was the Skull Troopers as they scored at 3:25 of overtime.

Lucas was in the locker room before the game, helping pump up his teammates and then he watched the game intently with me from the stands. After the win, he ran over to congratulate his team as they came off the ice and went into the locker room again to celebrate.

He's been feeling fine for the past couple of days so I'm flirting with the idea of seeing the doctor on Saturday morning to try and get him signed off to play, but it's probably not going to happen. Whatever the case, we will once again be at the game rooting the team on and hoping for the best. The game will be at 11 AM on Sunday so stay tuned as I will announce the results as soon as possible after the game.

Semfinals bound

So the good news is that even with a 1-0 loss in their last round robin game, the Skull Troopers made it to the semifinals. The bad news is that Lucas had a helmet-to-helmet hit on his first shift that hurt his head enough that he sat out the rest of the game. It's been bothering him off and on for the past couple of days so Marilu brought him to the doctor earlier tonight. While she didn't specifically say he had a concussion, he's to sit out tomorrow's game plus stay home from school. If he is pain-free on Thursday and Friday, he might be able to play in the finals, should they make it that far.

Whatever the case, he will be at the game tomorrow night, cheering his team on, and I'll keep you updated on scores and his health.