Massachusetts 2010: Part 4 (Mystic Seaport)

On the 4th day of their trip, Marilu and Lucas went with my mom down to Mystic Seaport, which is located somewhere in southern Connecticut on the Atlantic Ocean. The highlight for Lucas was visiting the aquarium (however, Marilu said it was way overpriced for what they offered).






From what I recall Marilu telling me, Lucas found out early on there were sharks there, and apparently that's all he could talk about as they walked through the place. So for him, the best part came when he got to see the sharks.



My favorite picture from the day. Love the face and the fact he's throwing up the heavy metal devil horns with his hand as the shark swims overhead. This may become my new wallpaper on my desktop.


Afterwards, they went to a seafood restaurant, and Lucas hammed it up for the camera.

Still alive

More pictures from Massachusetts are coming this weekend. The real estate deal I mentioned in my last post has been topsy turvy all week and kept me pretty busy. However, I promise Part 4 will go up tomorrow and maybe Part 5 on Sunday.

Massachusetts 2010: Part 3

Sorry about the delay since the last post. I spent the better part of the Labor Day weekend working on a real estate deal for some friends of mine. The good news is that we got it done this evening (pending conditions like inspection and financing). It's not so bad working on the weekend when you get paid well for it!

Now that that's out of the way, let's get back to Massachusetts and see what they got up to on Day 3. Looking at the pictures (since I was still in Ottawa that first week), it looks like the morning of Day 3 was spent up at the barn where Kevin keeps his horse. Lucas really likes animals (like most kids) and he enjoyed touching the horse. I'd use the horse's name, but I have no idea what it is.




Up next was taking a little ride. First step: get geared up!


After that, time to hit the trail. Or just sit on the horse, as the case may be.


Obviously, the next logical step after riding a horse is to immediately drive some heavy machinery.







And what would a day in Webster be without playing in the lake?

Massachusetts 2010: Part 2

Much like Part 1 of the Massachusetts series covered Day 1, Part 2 just tracks Day 2. I have no doubt this won't continue, especially considering some of the upcoming days have well over 50 pictures, but it's working for now. The theme of Day 2 pictures, if there is one, is (not surprisingly) the lake. More specifically, being on the boat. Mind you, the boat never left the dock since something was wrong with the battery, but the boat was on the lake and that's all that really matters in the end, right?

To start us off, I wanted to post this video from that day since it's the only thing that has nothing to do with the lake. It's basically just Lucas jumping on a bed, but the way it ends made me laugh. I called it "Disaster!" on YouTube, and when you watch it, I think you'll understand why.





When it comes to water pistols, I know there is a debate amongst parents as to whether they are appropriate or not. Growing up in the '70s, we played cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, and all sorts of other games that involved mock shooting at one another. As such, you can probably guess which side of the debate I adhere to. I think parents who shelter their kids from this kind of stuff are going to have pansy ass kids who get beat up in school, but more power to 'em if that's what they want to do. Tangent aside, here are a couple of pictures of Lucas armed with his trusty water gun.



And here he is, mowing Kevin down with Marilu's help.





Later on, the festivities moved to the boat. Lucas had some great expressions, as seen below.




The captain gets ready to put out to sea.


Kevin took advantage of the moment to get revenge for the gunfight earlier in the day.


Lucas hanging out with mom and Grammy (albeit hiding his face).


And that concludes Day 2. See you next time!

Massachusetts 2010: Part 1

Time for the Massachusetts trip. I just counted the total number of photos and videos from both our camera and my mom's camera, and it came to a whopping 464. Even if I pick out just the highlights, we're still looking at a whole buttload of posts devoted to Massachusetts. I'll try and be gentle.

Before I get into it, I just wanted to update with what's been going on lately in our lives. Lucas started back at daycare last week, after having the whole summer off. He wasn't there the whole week though, as we drove down to Niagara Falls on Thursday. Besides seeing the waterfalls themselves, we got a chance to visit our friends Wes and Kelly, along with their brood, in Hamilton, Ontario, and then on Saturday, we spent the day at the Toronto Zoo. I didn't take nearly as many pictures during that trip so I should be able to cover it in one post. Whenever the Massachusetts juggernaut quits rolling.

Also, we're bringing Lucas for another speech assessment tomorrow. He's light years beyond where he was last year, but we're just being safe. He still doesn't say his H's very well (if at all), but as those of you who have heard him recently can attest, he sure doesn't mind talking.

Ok, onward with vacation pics. The first week was just Marilu and Lucas so, like the Newfoundland, trip, I may not have much to say sometimes since I wasn't there. However, all 3 of us were around the second week.

As most of you know, my mom and Kevin live on a lake in Webster (I won't show off my awesome spelling ability of the lake's real name again), and the first day they were there, they took little time getting into it.

My cousin Greg (which would be Lucas's first cousin once removed or second cousin?) watched Lucas try and figure out his Spider-Man fishing pole. This picture also gives you a good idea of the view from the dock.


Greg then helped Lucas out.


And then the master fishermen posed on the stairs leading up to the house.


Believe it or not, Lucas took this picture of Marilu and Greg by himself. Why she let him hold a valuable piece of electronic equipment on a dock, with water on both sides of him, is a mystery, but still, a fine job of photography. Note that I am not posting the 20 other photos of their legs, the trees, or the sky that he managed to take while trying to get this shot.


Another good photo of Greg and Lucas.


Guess which of these 2 photo subjects does NOT want to be there at that moment.


Kevin, or Grandpa Kevin in Lucas parlance, had no idea what he got himself into when he married my mom. At least I'm fairly sure he didn't expect to one day be sitting on the floor in his living room playing knights with a 3-year-old.


I'm even more certain he didn't foresee this...


Ok, that's all for Day 1 of the trip as well as Part 1 of this series. See you next time!

Breaking News (that is not all that important)

We're back from our mini-vacation to Niagara Falls and vicinity. We didn't take many pictures on this trip, but I'll make up for it with the scads of pics from Massachusetts. I hope to start posting those tomorrow, and if the Newfoundland trip was any indication, there may be 10 or more parts for that set. As for now, I'm going to sleep since I stayed up way too late.

Father's Day 2010

Here are some pictures of Lucas giving me the Father's Day presents he made for me. Beware, cuteness overload coming up!

Some older stuff

Hey all, we're back in Ottawa. Actually, we returned Friday, but I was busy with Lucas for the past couple of days (Marilu had a book club get-together at a cottage) so I had very little computer time. I thought about starting in with the Massachusetts vacation pictures immediately, but we're headed off yet again on Thursday for a long weekend visit to Niagara Falls so I've decided to wait until next week to post those.

If you thought there were a lot of Newfoundland pictures, you ain't seen nothing. Between our pictures and the ones I got from my mom's camera, I think we have nearly 400 pictures from the 2 weeks we were there (or 1 week, in my case). Obviously, not all of them are Pulitzer prize winners, but there should be enough good ones to keep us busy for a couple of weeks of posts.

To hold you over until next week, I'll be uploading some older photos from June that I never got a chance to post. With any luck, I'll get one step closer to the mythical "catching up" that I always seem to strive for yet always fail miserably at. No comments about that trailing preposition, thank you very much.

We'll start with the very last picture I took in May. Lucas has really enjoyed helping Marilu out in the kitchen. Whether it's adding ingredients to a bowl or mixing something with a spoon, he is more than happy to help. Here we see him perched on his chair, as they concoct that night's dinner creation. Of course, pants are always optional.


As you have seen many times, most pictures of Lucas are adorable.


However, the odd stinker does make its way into the batch.


Like most kids, Lucas loves playing with the hose. Doesn't matter whether it's warm or cold, just so long as he has a chance to make something wet.


Here I was demonstrating how to eat a cupcake as messily as possible. I believe he picked up on it quite quickly.

FYI

Just a reminder, we're on vacation in Massachusetts all this week so there won't be any new updates until Saturday. Have a great week!

Newfoundland Unabridged

Click here if you want to see every single photo from the Newfoundland trip. Trust me, there are a lot.

Newfoundland in Video (only 1 part!)

The first two videos from Newfoundland are shoe-themed. Lucas tries out a few different types. I suspect the latter of the two will be shown at his wedding.







I have no idea what is going on here, but he's acting cute.




One of the days they were in Newfoundland, they caught caplin (spelling?), a small fish that comes up near the shore. Here, Lucas proudly displays his catch.




Finally, Lucas gets a little mischievous down by the shore.

Newfoundland in Pictures: Part 6

We've finally reached the last photo post for Marilu and Lucas's trip to Newfoundland. Following this will be a video post, which should contain 5 videos. I'll also be uploading all these pictures, as well as the ones that didn't make the cut (over 100) into their own folder in our online album. I'll provide the link once I've actually done it.

Last time at the beach. For what it's worth, that does not look a comfortable beach to curl your toes into.





These four are from the last night. Some good (and funny) family ones with Uncle Steve and Nanny.





Returning "home" to dad at the Montreal Airport.