My Cousin Greg

Earlier this week, my cousin Greg passed away. Greg had been dealing with serious health issues for the last few years, including a coma at one point, so the news didn't come out of the blue. Having said that though, it was well before his time, and I think I speak for everyone in my family when I say we'll truly miss him. Marilu, Lucas, and I have a trip to Massachusetts planned for July, and one of the main things that went through my mind after I heard the news is that I wish I would have been able to have one last conversation with him. I'm also sad that Lucas will never get a chance to know him better. During our last couple of visits, you could tell that Greg was always delighted to see Lucas, and Lucas really liked seeing him. It probably didn't hurt that Greg always showed up with creative and thoughtful gifts for the little guy!

I spent some time this afternoon going through all of my photos from our past vacations to Massachusetts and found some great shots of Greg that I'd like to share. I hope you enjoy seeing a side of Greg that not many people got to experience.

Back in October 2007, just a few months after Lucas was born, my mom threw a party for Lucas at The Lodge in Webster. This is the first picture we ever took of Lucas and Greg.

A couple of months later, we returned to spend Christmas with my mom and Kevin. During a family photo, Greg showed off his goofy side.

During our annual summer trip to Massachusetts in 2010, Lucas got his first fishing pole, and Greg showed him how to catch kivers off the dock.

Here's some more from that trip. I think it's plain to see how much Lucas loved "Cousin Greg."

Jumping ahead to our summer trip in 2011, Greg brought Lucas a whole bag of gifts. Suffice to say the rugrat was overjoyed with that!

For what it's worth, Lucas was playing that Scooby-Doo game this past weekend with a friend so it has definitely stood the test of time.

My favorite picture from that summer has to be this one. I don't think Lucas really understands what happened yet, but when he does, I know he's really going to miss Greg.

Unfortunately, we only took two photos with Greg during our last visit in 2012, but I'm so thankful one of them was a good one of just the two of us. As you can see in the photo with Lucas, Greg bestowed upon him another gift, this time a computerized telescope that will last Lucas for many years to come.

One of the things going through my mind right now is the gifts Greg bought for Lucas. I alluded to it at the beginning of this blog post, but I wanted to reiterate that Greg put a lot of thought into the gifts he bought Lucas. I'm as guilty as anyone of just grabbing the first action figure I see when I want to surprise Lucas, but Greg would ask questions of Marilu and I as to Lucas's interests, and even after Lucas opened them, Greg would worriedly wonder, "Is that good? Will he like that?" As much as Greg could be a gruff personality at times, below that was a very caring individual who absolutely lit up while watching Lucas fish, swim, or just play at his feet.

It's no secret that I'm not a religious person, and I have no idea what happens when a person dies. However, what I do know is that I am going to miss my cousin Greg. There's a permanent hole somewhere inside of me--as well as for many of you reading, I suspect--now that he is gone.

Next week, I'll be traveling down to Massachusetts for his memorial service, and while I think there will be plenty of tears shed, I'm sure there will be a lot of laughter as well since that's the way Greg would want it. It won't be too hard to imagine him, maybe a little younger, maybe a little slimmer, kicking back in one of the chairs with a cigarette in one hand and an adult beverage of some variety in the other, wondering just what the hell we're getting so worked up about. As far as I'm concerned, there are a lot worse ways to be remembered.

Rest in Peace, Greg. We'll always miss you.

Eatin' by the fire

Lucas chows down on S'mores. We are out in Carleton Place at the surprise 60th birthday party for the father of our friend Christine. Don't say I never posted something current. :)

Ottawa Comiccon 2013

(Before I kick this entry off, I wanted to mention that the last photo in this blog contains the F word. I'm not sure if anyone who reads this blog is that easily offended, but consider yourself warned!)

On Friday, Lucas and I attended the Ottawa Comiccon for the second straight year. If you're feeling nostalgic, you can find the blog entry for last year's visit here. I hadn't planned on going, but earlier this week, I realized Friday tickets were fairly inexpensive, and Lucas's would only be $5 so I said what the hell and ordered a couple.

The event itself was very similar to last year, but because we went on a Friday, as opposed to a Saturday in 2012, it was not nearly as crowded. Unfortunately, another thing that was similar to last year is that Lucas didn't want to pose for the camera much. It's a shame since there was some amazing costumes, but alas, that's the way it goes. Nonetheless, I did manage to get a few good pictures of him so that's what you'll see here.

Just to give you an idea of how popular these conventions are, check out the line we were in. Although its length puts a Disney line to shame, it moved a heck of a lot faster. I'd estimate it took us about 20 minutes to reach the entrance, which wasn't too bad. It also helped that it was cool this afternoon, as opposed to the brutal heat last year.

Believe it or not, Lucas was great in line. He was very patient and didn't complain at all. It probably didn't hurt that there were lots of people in costumes around so that kept him entertained. You'll notice he dressed as Boba Fett for the occasion. That lasted about an hour before it got too hot for him. As close as I got to a costume was wearing an Avengers t-shirt.

Here's the one picture Lucas allowed me to take of him with another person. Quality over quantity is definitely in effect as this picture is just too darn cute. Big Boba Fett and mini Boba. It was taken just after we entered the main hall. Boba Fett was taking a picture with someone else, and as soon as he saw Lucas in costume, he came over and gave him a high five. You can't see it under the mask, but Lucas was grinning ear to ear. (Coincidentally, while looking at last year's blog post, I noticed I took almost the exact same picture...though with a different Boba Fett and a non-costumed Lucas.)

At these conventions, there are a lot of different vendors, selling everything from comics to action figures to clothing to real swords. Surprisingly, a vendor that caught Lucas's eye was one that sold costume accessories. In particular, he liked the spiked bracelets. He originally wanted one with metal spikes, but I "convinced" him that maybe the rubber ones would be a better idea. Here, he shows off his new purchase. It really complements the Boba Fett outfit, right?

For those of you familiar with the British sci-fi show Doctor Who, there were several Daleks in attendance at the Con. They were fully functional and could move and talk. I believe they were actually manned from the inside. The reason I mention this is that shortly after the picture below was taken--a showdown between Boba Fett and a Dalek--the Dalek noticed Lucas and chased him around for at least a minute. He was running all over the place, trying to escape, but it just kept coming. He finally bolted off into another room, shrieking happily all the way. No photo or video of that, unfortunately, but I'm sure you can picture it.

There was a board game area at Comiccon that allowed you to check out and play games. Not only did it give us a break from walking around, but I got to try out two games with Lucas to see if he was old enough to play them. That's a lot better than blindly spending $30-40 and hoping he takes to it! In this photo, we were playing Get Bit, a card game that uses a plastic shark and robot swimmers to keep score. Lucas liked playing with the robots, but he still has a year or two to go before understanding the game.

Here are some of the sights from Comiccon: a massive Dalek, Luke's landspeeder from Star Wars, and the one and only Batmobile!

Finally, here's the picture I warned you about at the beginning. Now, to understand its meaning, you have to realize that many diehard fans of the original Star Wars trilogy hate the newer movies and blame George Lucas for everything that is wrong with them. This guy was just letting the world know what he thought of George Lucas via his t-shirt. I thought it was absolutely hilarious--obviously for a completely different reason--and asked the guy if I could take a picture. As much as I would love to get this shirt as a joke, Marilu did point out that there is almost nowhere I could wear it. Plus, Lucas recognizes his name on it, and the last thing I need is for him to concentrate his reading on understanding what the first word means! :)

So that was this year's Comiccon. We had a great time and are already looking forward to next year. Maybe I'll convince Marilu to come next time, and we can get a lot more pictures.

Blast Ball 2013

Yesterday, Lucas started his second season of Blast Ball. If you recall from last year, Blast Ball is basically t-ball with a first base that honks when the kids step on it. There's not much of a competitive aspect to it as the main purpose is to teach kids the basics of baseball, such as hitting and fielding.

This year, a friend of ours, Dave, volunteered to coach one of the teams, and I offered to be his assistant coach. This made Lucas more excited than he normally is when he starts something new since he knew I would be out there with him.

The first session went well. All the kids were reasonably well-behaved, and I think everybody had fun. Here are some pictures that Marilu took.

Probably the kids' favorite part: snack time!

Before we left for practice, I asked Lucas if he had any ideas for a team name, and he immediately offered the suggestion, "Super Blast Ball Army Dragons with Guns!" Eventually, that got whittled down to Army Dragons, and Dave compromised and suggested Yellow Dragons, which the team thought was a pretty good idea.

As the season progresses, I'm sure we'll have plenty more Blast Ball pictures so keep an eye out for that.

Boys' Weekend

This past weekend, Marilu went on her annual shopping trip to Syracuse with some friends of hers. So it was just Lucas and me from Friday until Sunday afternoon. I'd planned to do a bunch of outside stuff with him since the weather has finally taken a turn for the better, but unfortunately, Lucas developed a fever on Friday, and it stuck with him until Sunday morning. Things worked out in the end since we got to sit on the couch playing video games and watching TV all of Saturday, and that's what a boys' weekend is all about, right?

Not long before the weekend, Marilu's dad sent Lucas $20 with the instructions that he was supposed to spend it on snacks for himself. Well, what better time to do that than on our weekend together? Below is a picture I took of Lucas with his haul after we got back from the store. Fever or not, the kid ate a lot of sugar that weekend.

Karate Video

As promised, here's the video of Lucas doing his thing at last Saturday's Little Dragons competition.

Karate Kid

Earlier today, Lucas had his first competition at his martial arts studio. Since he's in Little Dragons for another month or two, the rules were fairly simple. Each of the kids had to do a few different exercises--jumping jacks, push-ups, and crunches--followed by three types of kicks--front, side, and roundhouse--and wrap it up by showing off their flexibility by doing the splits. Afterwards, three of the black belts judged their technique, and then all the kids got trophies, with the top 3 getting slightly larger ones.

Lucas did a decent job though we would have liked if he had been a little more vocal. He was supposed to count out the exercises, but he whispered them. He also didn't yell out "ki-yah!" at the end of each kick set like they were supposed to, instead sort of mumbling it. Despite that, he did end up tied for 3rd out of the 10 or 11 kids that competed. The tiebreaker, with a girl from his kindergarten class, involved getting into one of the stances they learn and not moving. As you can imagine, at age 5, getting a boy to stay still for more than a couple of seconds in a challenge. We were impressed that he lasted almost a minute, but in the end he moved, followed by him raising his hands and letting out a resounding "yes!" Kind of ironic now that I think about it, since that shout was louder than anything he did during his presentation. Whatever the case, he still ended up with a nice trophy.

Below, I've included a picture from before the competition as well as one afterwards as Lucas poses with his new trophy. Marilu recorded his entire performance on the camera, but I haven't uploaded that yet. Once I do, I'll be sure to get it on the blog. In the meantime, enjoy these pics!

Easter 2013

You can blame my mom for the long delay between updates. She visited us over the Easter weekend, and when she is here, she doesn't pay attention to the blog, and thus there is no one to nag me about not updating regularly. However, she left last Tuesday so we're quickly approaching the point where I will hear from her so I thought it was best I get a new update up. And speaking of Easter, that's the theme of this one!

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but at some point, Easter became a poor man's Christmas, from a commercial perspective. Every year, Lucas gets a basket with chocolate, but he also gets a bunch of presents. Maybe the same thing happened when I was younger--I can't recall--but all I have memories of are chocolate bunnies and other assorted bits of sugar. Whatever the case, here are the highlights of Lucas and Easter 2013.

It might have been a little last minute, but the night before Easter, we finally got around to coloring eggs. It doesn't appear to be one of Lucas's favorite activities. He has more fun mixing the colors until they are a soothing shade of brown/black.

 

No Easter is complete without an Easter egg hunt. Lucas had a great time searching for them, and once again, I was able to stay one step ahead of him and actually come up with hiding places he couldn't find without help. I'm sure that won't last too much longer.

 

Showing off the loot. (Quite literally, this year, as my mom got him a pirate chest.)

Feasting away on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! LOVE the faces, especially in the first picture.

Lucas's thank you note for the Easter bunny. Note the "eaten" carrot on the left.

Weekly News

Couple news tidbits for the week. First off, Lucas had his last ever day with his daycare provider on Friday. Daycare was supposed to last until the end of the school year, but Andrea, his daycare provider, was offered her dream job at the Ronald McDonald House at the local children's hospital, and the opportunity was too good to pass up. It doesn't really affect us since we can easily handle dropping him off and picking him up from the bus, but it's kind of sad since it feels like the end of an era. Heck, Lucas has been with her since he was 1 so she's almost like family. Speaking of Lucas, it doesn't phase him. He's actually looking forward to riding the bus that stops on our street since he has a lot of friends and classmates on it.

In other news, Lucas received his green belt at Little Dragons karate. Granted, it's based on attendance versus any sort of merit system (that comes at age 6), but it's still good to see him stick with it for so long and have a good time. Here's a picture of Master John, the owner, putting Lucas's new belt on him.

One last dip into 2012

March break is over, Lucas and Marilu are safely back in Ottawa after their trip to Labrador, and I managed to survive the week despite drinking what seemed like my body weight in beer during their absence. Since I didn't get any new photos this week, I wanted to take a look back at some photos I took last year.

This is a cute one from August. Marilu and Lucas really decided to get into their roles as they read a Where's Waldo book.

We jump ahead to October for the next set of photos. For a while, Lucas went through a phase where he really liked parfaits. Here he shows off that night's dessert.

Marilu and Lucas decorate the outside of our house for Halloween.

When Marilu braided Lucas's hair into the result below, that's the point where I realized he was in dire need of a haircut.

This is what it looked like without the girly braids.

Finally, Lucas delights in drinking out of one of the "adult" glasses.

Believe it or not, I think we are finally caught up with 2012! Unless I missed a folder, everything from here on out should be recent (if you count 2 months old recent, which relative to some of the stuff I've posted, is just about like yesterday!).

March Break

We're in Montreal tonight, and I'm typing this from my iPhone so don't expect anything long as my smartphone typing skills are laughable. We're here because Marilu and Lucas are flying out of the airport early tomorrow morning, heading up to Labrador City for the week. I'll then drive back to Montreal next Saturday to pick them up. Here's a pic of the two of them on the bed from a few minutes ago, Marilu on the phone and Lucas, as per usual, playing on the iPad.

First time skating! (this winter)

Although I've been sick with a fever and a cold and a sore throat for the last couple of days, I'm making sure to get this post up before midnight since I sort of promised it in the last update, and I don't want my mom giving me grief.

This entry is devoted to skating. Marilu and Lucas hadn't skated at all this winter, but she decided to rectify that situation a couple of weeks ago. There's a couple of community "rinks" in our neighborhood so we went to the closest one, which doubles as a parking lot during the warmer months.

Of course, an update like this would be nothing without videos so here you go.





I think they only went skating once or twice last year so we were pretty impressed at how quickly Lucas got acclimated to skating (even if the ice was rough enough that it was more like ice walking). We haven't gone since then, but we hope to get him out more before winter is over. Unlike most Canadians, I didn't grow up near ice so skating isn't second nature to me. Therefore, it doesn't always occur to me to get Lucas into it. On the other hand, Marilu is a true Great White Northerner so you can blame her for Lucas's delay in the tundra sports.

Bye bye, June!

Why yes, yes I did forget to post last week. Thanks for noticing! Here are the last of the highlights for June of last year.

Lucas's school had an end of the year thingamajig with food, crafts, and other assorted activities. I volunteered as an attendant for one of the inflatable slides. Lucas and his friends had a ball with this, going on it no less than 20 times during my shift.

Lucas went through a big science phase last summer where he wanted to do "experiments." During my mom's trip up, she bought him a couple of science kits. In the picture below, he's doing an experiment which is supposed to create sugar crystals. It didn't work that well, but that might have been user error on my behalf.

Here's the card and gift Lucas gave me for Father's Day.

We had much more success with our volcano experiment than the crystal one. Here's a photo and video of our efforts.

Finally, you can thank Marilu for snapping this photo of me asleep in the living room. Classy.

Hopefully, the next entry will be newer photos. Lucas and Marilu went skating for the first time this year last week, and I got a couple of decent shots of them. Look for it by Wednesday!

Birthday #5

Probably the biggest event you missed last summer during my hiatus from the blog was Lucas's birthday. I might have posted a picture of him blowing out the candles on his cake, but I didn't upload anything for his party. I know it's strange posting about this now, seeing as he is closer to 6 than 5, but I wanted to include it for posterity.

Because there are a LOT of pictures from his birthday, thanks to pictures from both my camera, my mom's, and our friend Tracey's (just over 200, I believe), I've decided to upload all the photos to the online albums instead of trying to find 10-15 highlights out of all of those. I think there's a link on the right to the photo albums, but you can click here to go directly to the birthday one. (I just found out Google has changed the way the photo albums work. You definitely need to use this link, not the one on the right. If anyone has problem accessing the albums, let me know.)

When you look at the pictures, you may notice that some are at home, and some are not. What happened is that Lucas's party was initially scheduled for the day of his actual birthday at a place called Monkey Around. Unfortunately, he got sick the night before, and by morning, it looked like he would be in no condition to attend a party. On top of that, Marilu came down with a case of strep throat. As such, we rescheduled the party for the following Saturday. For what it's worth, Lucas ended up recovering pretty quickly, but because of Marilu's condition, it was best that we did cancel the party, or she would have had a miserable time.

So the pictures you see at home are from June 16, Lucas' birthday, and the ones at Monkey Around are from the following weekend. I'm sure that's more information than anyone needs or cares about, but hey, I'm all about full transparency here at Deal With It. :)

(I wasn't going to upload anything in this entry, but I'm feeling generous so here's a video of Lucas getting his birthday cake at Monkey Around.)