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.

Playoffs Update

Lucas's team tied 2-2 today, which is enough to put them through to the semifinals, which should happen on Wednesday of this week. The whole team played well, and they almost won, giving up the tying goal with less than a minute left, after the other team pulled their goalie. Lucas had what I would say is one of his best performances on defense since he started playing. I can't think of a single negative, and I even had one of the other fathers come up to me and ask me to tell Lucas that he was very impressed with his play. Woohoo!

They have one more game in the round robin tomorrow, but due to that team having lost 3 times already, the game is meaningless, other than more ice time before the semifinal game. I'll keep you updated!

March Break in Houston, Part 2

Quick hockey news before I get to the pictures: Lucas's team won their playoff game on Saturday so they are now 1-1 in the round robin with 2 more games this weekend. There are 7 teams in House B so they split the teams into two divisions, one with 4 teams and one with 3. The top 2 from each division after the round robin move on to the semifinals. The Skulltroopers lucked out and got in the 3 team division so if they get one more win, they are definitely moving on. Even a tie will probably be enough. Actually, the team they beat also lost twice to the other team so even if the Skulltroopers lose both games, they could feasibly move on, based on goal differential. Whatever the case, I will let you know what happens this weekend. (Incidentally, the head coach quit the team last week based on the feedback he received from the coaches survey. What a guy.)

Back to Houston!

The next day (Tuesday, I believe), the three of us went to the Houston Zoo. It started out as a bit of a headache since the parking lot was full, but they had overflow parking and shuttles that were surprisingly efficient. We picked a perfect day for the zoo, at least from an animal perspective. It was a bit overcast and although it was warm, it wasn't hot. As a result, just about all the animals were out and active. I don't know how many times I've gone to a zoo and looked at barren cages so this was a nice change of pace. Although there were a lot of people there, the zoo is spread out so crowding wasn't much of an issue.

Below, Marilu poses in front of one of the ape enclosures.

I know you've been waiting to see the world's largest rodent (the capybara) so consider your waiting over. I liked how close we could get to the big guy.

Insert your own "horny" joke here.

What visit to an attraction is complete without posing in wacky settings?

The elephant exhibit was amazing at the Houston Zoo. They had two full enclosure, one for the males and one for the females. I want to say they have about 10 elephants there (maybe more) and most of them were out walking around. I know this was definitely Marilu's highlight.

Don't remember what this is. I just thought it was amusing.

I may be 48, but this name still makes me laugh.

Probably the closest I'll ever get to a bald eagle.

That night we went to a pub/restaurant near the house where we were staying. Just look at the number of beers on tap as well as the amazing number of taps along the bottom of this picture.

The waiter was kind enough to preserve the festivities for us.

In part 3, the Museum of Natural History (and lots of dinosaurs). See you next time!

Houston Trip, Part 1

Hello again! We're back from Houston, and I have lots of pictures to share. Enough so that I figure I'll need 2-3 posts to show them all, hence the "Part 1."

This first picture was taken at the Toronto airport, our stopover between Houston and Ottawa. We were able to get on an earlier flight so we had plenty of time to kill in Toronto. As such, we spent it on a leisurely lunch at Wahlburgers, a hamburger placed owned by the Wahlberger brothers (of music and movie fame). It was super pricey since we were in an airport (and had a couple of beers), but the burgers were decent.

Because we got in really late on Saturday, we stayed at a hotel near the airport. We then drove to Jon and Lara's on Sunday morning. Here, Lucas and I pose in front of the Best Western complimentary breakfast buffet.

We decided to be completely lazy on Sunday, just hanging around their house. Well, other than lunch since we went to a tasty Mexican place. You can't be that near the Mexican border and not get Mexican food!

On Monday, we decided to visit the NASA Space Center. It was kind of amusing since Lara works at NASA but it was her day off so I teased her a bit about wasting a day off by going to work. This was the first time it registered that Houston school were also on Spring Break as the lines here (and everywhere else we went last week) were massive. I had to really work my patience muscles last week!

The next few pictures are of the very impressive Saturn V rocket. It was HUGE!

No, Lucas doesn't have huge hands below. That's Marilu messing with his face. One of my friends on Facebook said he looks like Ted Cruz, and I can't disagree.

Incidentally, you can see how frizzy his hair was. The warm weather really did a number on the longer hair.

Our first (and probably worst) experience with crowds was when we were in line for the tram tour. I think we ended up waiting over an hour. The kids were actually pretty good about it, which forced me not to head back to the car and go home. :) This is the whole group of us once we actually got on a tram.

Actually, now that I look at it, it's just Jon and I with the Chinese Beatles sitting next to us. Marilu and Lara can be seen over our shoulders. And that might be Doctor Who in the row behind them.

The tram tour we went on visited the facility where the astronauts train in mock-ups of actual vehicles and space modules. I know pictures can't really convey what the place was like, but just like the Saturn V, it was huge and impressive. Here are a few photos to give you an idea.

I tried to do a panorama shot, but the result was so-so.

This group shot was taken outside the Saturn V building as we waited to return to the main center. If you squint, you can see the shuttle and its jumbo jet carrier in the background.

Speaking of that shuttle, we got to go into it later. Ever want to see the cockpit of a space shuttle?

This is the inside of the jet.

On the way home, I had to take this picture for my mom. For obvious reasons.

I don't have any pictures from it, but the highlight of the day for me was a Q&A session with astronaut Jerry Ross, who is tied for the most spaceflights with a whopping 7 Space Shuttle flights! He was a very interesting guy, and I'm glad we got to see him.

So that was Monday. In the next post, we will move on to Tuesday at the zoo. See you then!