Massachusetts 2010: Part 7

I'm going to try and speed up the rest of the Massachusetts photos since it's almost 2 months after the trip. To aid in this endeavor, I've moved all of my pictures to my laptop, which is not only faster than my desktop PC, but it's also more convenient. I can update while watching TV or, as I am now, lying in bed.

Day 7 saw my arrival. I flew into Boston, and right from the airport, we headed over to the Boston Children's Museum, which was fantastic. I would heartily recommend it to anyone with kids. It completely blew the children's museum here in Ottawa (or Gatineau, specifically, out of the water).

In the parking garage, I gave Lucas a present I'd picked up in Ottawa: a new Playmobil knight. FYI, if you are ever looking for gift ideas for Lucas, he loves knights. Just look at his face!

Here are some random photos from the museum.




This one of all of us posing would be perfect is Lucas was not holding a dinosaur in front of his face.


I like to call this one "The Psycho Road Worker." He just looks really menacing and unbalanced there.


This one is much cuter.


My expression in this one amuses me for some reason.


One of the exhibits had a green screen that kids could stand in front of, and on the TV monitors, it looked like they were in a cartoon. I figured I'd explain it since this picture would probably be more than a little confusing, otherwise. Lucas played in that room for well over 10 minutes.


Another wacky father and son portrait. I think more of our pictures together fall under "wacky" than "serious." That's probably a good thing.


Based on his reaction to the headdress, I don't suppose Lucas will become a Vegas showgirl anytime soon.


After the museum, we had dinner at Maggiano's, a favorite restaurant of ours. How can you go wrong with all-you-can-eat family-style Italian dinner? On the way there, we walked through the park made famous by the children's book "Make Way for Ducklings." There are little statues of the ducks, and I guess it's popular for kids to take pictures sitting on one of the ducks. At least it was popular that day, as we had to wait for 2 or 3 other people to take pictures before Lucas got his.


The next logical action is to go chase the ducks.

I'm only using one photo from dinner at Maggiano's, but I think you'll agree it's a winner.

Tales of woe

So, we had some drama earlier. At about 5 this afternoon, I got news that my listing was conditionally sold so I was pretty happy. I was at the computer emailing the other agent to let him know I'd received the offer, Marilu was in the kitchen, and Lucas was playing in the living room. I heard a *snap* sound that reminded me of a rubber band and then Lucas begins wailing like a banshee. He came running into the kitchen, screaming his head off and I ran over to where he had been sitting behind the couch and found his EpiPen, opened and used.

Marilu said he was bleeding, and she realized it's from his two index fingers. We don't know the exact details, but he must have pushed on the end of the EpiPen and the needle popped out, getting both of his fingers. We're less worried about the shallow cuts and more worried about the fact that he might have a great deal of epinephrine running through his system.

I called 911 and they got the information they need to send an ambulance over. In the meantime, Lucas was still crying pretty hard and holding his obviously injured hands out, away from his body. However, other than the cuts and the fact that he was shaken up (as were we), he appeared to be okay.

By the time the ambulance arrived, he had stopped crying and was actually friendly when the 3 paramedics came in. They checked him out and didn't seem overly concerned, but they did say that it was highly recommended he go to the hospital to get checked out since there was no telling was the drug (chemical?) might be doing to his system.

So Marilu and Lucas got in the ambulance, and I got in our Torrent, and we drove to the children's hospital CHEO, clear on the other side of town during rush hour. It wasn't as bad as I thought the drive would be, but I'd rather not make it a daily trip.

To make a long story a little bit shorter, the worst part of the hospital was the wait. I think we checked in somewhere between 6 and 6:30, and we didn't see the doctor until nearly 9. Once she did see him, she gave him a clean bill of health. Much ado about nothing, basically, but better safe than sorry.

In case you are wondering about how he got the EpiPen, it was on top of a table we have just inside the front door. Marilu put it there after his allergist appointment yesterday, and we both forgot to move it. It was a little ways back so he had to reach back and get it, but if there's one thing he's good at, it's climbing and getting a hold of things that he shouldn't. Our bad, but it'll be interesting to see if he learns anything from this. I'm guessing "no" since he is only 3, but you never know.

Anyway, that was our little slice of drama for the day. My first ever call to 911, and Marilu and Lucas's first ride in an ambulance. An adventure I hope we need not repeat anytime soon.

Allergy update

Alas, he still has the peanut allergy. He'll be re-evaluated in another 18 months so hopefully it will be gone by then.

Mr. Peanut

Just a quick note to let you know that we are bringing Lucas to the allergist tomorrow morning for his 18-month re-evaluation. As you may remember, back in spring of 2009, we brought him in and found out he was allergic to peanuts (but no other types of nuts). Apparently, between 10 and 20% of kids grow out of the allergy so we're really hoping he happens to be one of them. Keep your fingers crossed, and I'll update tomorrow night with the results.

Massachusetts 2010: Part 6

I tried uploading pictures one at a time, and that worked, so I tried doing 2-3 at a time, and that worked as well. It only failed when I tried the maximum of 5 pictures, which I do with almost every post. If this keeps up, I'll be moving the blog to another site very shortly or just giving up on the blog structure altogether and use Flickr.

Anyway, these pictures are from the day after everybody relaxed on the lake. Marilu, Lucas, and my mom headed to Davis Farm, a place I've never heard of but it looks like it was a lot of fun for them. I finally got there on Day 7 so I should be able to start adding a bit more to the pictures in the next post. Enjoy!

Still not working

Something is either wrong with my computer or with this website. It's several days later, and I still can't get the pictures to upload. So until I figure out what is wrong, consider "Let's Make a Deal!" shut down.

Please pardon the mess...

I was hoping to do a post for Day 6 of the Massachusetts trip, but Google's photo uploader doesn't appear to be working at the moment. So I guess it will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry about that!

Massachusetts 2010: Part 5

Based on the pictures from Day 5 of their trip to Massachusetts, it appears Marilu and Lucas took a break from driving around and made the most of staying at the lake. I love this first one. That is just the picture of relaxation.


The dock even included swim-up bar with appetizers! :)


Later on, they went for a cruise around the lake with Nancy, Bobby, their grandson Aidan (spelling?), and of course, Grammy and Grampy Kevin.



I never get tired of him throwing up the devil horns (even if he's probably just trying to be Spider-Man or show the number 3).


Checking out the view from the front.


I have no idea what prompted this face. I can't tell if he is just making a face or if he is actually upset since none of the other pictures show the moments immediately before or after this shot.


Sometimes a kid just needs a snack ("snack" since I can't recall the name of those ice things).


I like how this picture came out with the sun trying to peek out from behind the clouds back there.


And finally, a shot from the picnic table later on that night.


And finally, a video of Lucas testing out the new exclamation he learned from Aidan: "Oh my God!" What a cute little heathen.

Blah

I hope to have more pictures up soon. I've been under the weather for a few days now and haven't been at the computer much. Hopefully, I'll have some time tomorrow (Monday).

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!