Rough and Tumble

On Friday morning, Lucas and I went over to the park/playground near our place for our neighbor's birthday party (his 2-year-old buddy Tyler). As per usual, Lucas decided he would wander away from the playground. Typically, this means running over to one of the soccer fields, but on Friday, he decided to run off into the woods. I chased him down, and once I caught him, I told him not to do it again. Sure enough, 20 minutes later, there he is, running back into the woods. This time, he tried to run from me when he saw me coming and ended up doing a faceplant into a rock.

It looked a lot worse than it ended up being. Based on the shrieking, I was expecting him to turn over and see blood all over the place, either from a broken nose or maybe from missing teeth. As it turned out, he just banged his forehead and cheek. He was wailing about it for a while, but 5 minutes later, he was running around with the other kids, having fun.

Of course, dad of the year candidate that I am, I decided to take a couple of pictures that night, to show off our little prizefighter. Just another step in the long road to building character, right? Note that the red on his lip is ketchup, not blood.



On a completely unrelated note, I took the exam for the second course of my real estate license on Saturday, and unless I filled out the Scantron incorrectly, I should be moving on to Course 3. As a result, I am done with the hardcore studying--for at least a week--and will do my very best to put up new pictures every day this week. I have no excuses this time. :)

Tiding you over

It's been a busy week since last Wednesday, and it will continue to be until Saturday, as I am studying almost non-stop for the second exam in my real estate course. After Saturday morning, things will lighten up considerably. Anyway, that's why you haven't seen anything here for the past few days. In the meantime, a couple more from mid-June to tide you over.

This one is from the sidelines at one of Marilu's soccer games.


Getting kisses from Lucas.


We've seen Lucas with lobsters before, but he was really young back then and barely understood what was going on. This time around, he had fun with them. I don't think he's quite figured out the whole "eating them" thing yet.

Playing around

From back on June 19, Lucas surveys the grass as he tries to figure out where to drop his golf ball.


More fun at the water table. One of his great thrills in life is to be able to use the hose. Oh, to still have such simple desires.


And yet more hose fun from the next day.

Screw the gift, give me the box!

As promised, here are the two videos that go with the last photo from yesterday's post. You know that old saying that states a kid will have more fun with the box from a present than the present itself? Well, here's solid proof. I'm still not sure why he felt the need to lock himself into his highchair beforehand (in the second video), but that's just the way our kid thinks. Enjoy!

The end of the vacations

We got back from our week-long Massachusetts vacation on Friday night. I think it is safe to say we all had a fantastic time. I got to see old high school friends that I haven't seen in nearly 20 years, Lucas had a blast in the lake almost every day, and Marilu shopped. Marilu probably had fun for other reasons, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.

As always, I'm ridiculously behind on pictures so the Massachusetts ones will have to wait. Not counting the Labrador City series, the most recent photos are from mid-June. So bear with me as I try and catch up over the next few days. I'll probably post a bunch from this most recent trip this weekend, but there are well over a hundred so that will be an adventure unto itself.

The first one comes from June 17, a day after his 2nd birthday. I'm not really sure where he got the bruise on his forehead, but nowadays, those types of things are much more common as he continues to find things he can run into, fall off of, et cetera.


The next day, the two of us spend some time together coloring dinosaurs at his table. I take my time, coloring in the lines, while Lucas attempts to see how many different lines of various colors he can make on a single picture.


Later on, he tries to figure out how to use a screwdriver on the new turtle he'd just received from his godfather. It's funny how observant little kids are. He watched me use the screwdriver to open the battery panel and then immediately tried to replicate what I did. Granted, he doesn't get the whole turning thing yet, but it surprised me how well he has retained that knowledge.


Lucas and his turtle. Note his impression of a bulimic.


I leave you with this picture. Tomorrow (which will likely be later today for most of you), I'll be posting 2 videos that will expand on what you see here.

Another trip to the Agriculture Museum

Back on June 15, when my mom was visiting, we took Lucas for another trip to the Canadian Agriculture Museum. This was his 4th or 5th trip there, and he seemed to have just as much fun this time as the first.

One of Lucas's more amusing poses is the one you see below. I get a kick out of it since it looks like he is in deep concentration while observing whatever the heck it is he's staring at. In this case, cows.




On less frequent occasions, he'll take the kneeling approach.


No stop at the museum would be complete without the simulated ride on the tractor. At least this time, we weren't interrupted by a bunch of rude French kids (redundant, I know) trying to push him off and get on themselves.


Later that day, he made the most of the dirt area near the back of our yard, in which promptly made a mudhole and stomped it. That was definitely a bath night (or afternoon).


Finally, here is a perfect example of what it is like to try and take pictures of Lucas. In the first photo, he is doing a great job at looking at the camera while my mom is looking at him. In the second, she finally looks at the camera, but Lucas uses the occasion to make a face. Sigh...my job never gets any easier.

The rest of the story

As promised, here are the remaining photos from our Labrador trip, taken in the days after the wedding.

Cute one of Lucas and Marilu from the gift opening.


No sharing here! Lucas takes the entire bowl of chips.


He may still be a toddler himself, but man, does he love babies.


Kicking back on the bed with Uncle Bub and Aunt Chantal.


I don't think "giddy-up" is gonna do it here, buddy.


"Why won't you let me ride you?"


"Seriously, dad, what's up with this dog?"


This one kills me. Just look at that face. Someone's been a bad boy.


I suspect he was screaming to be let down here, but let's pretend he was overjoyed to be taking pictures with his Nan.


Sharing drinks at Mike's Restaurant on the way home in Baie-Comeau, Quebec. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, apparently.


And that about wraps up the trip. If that's not enough, the rest of the Labrador pics can be found on my photo album page in the folder "July 2009 - Labrador Trip." Just click the photo album link over on the right side of the page, or if you are feeling lazy, click here.

We're off again on Thursday for a week--to Massachusetts, this time--so I'll try and post some older stuff every over the next couple of days to try and back some futile attempt at catching up. Hope you enjoy!

More from Labrador

Highlights from our trip to Labrador City in early July.

Lucas mugs for the camera with soon-to-be Aunt Chantal and Lily.


When in Rome, do as the Romans so Lucas lay on the floor with Darla and Lily. Man, he enjoyed being around those dogs, and I think they miss him as well.


More mugging for the camera, this time with Uncle John, though Lucas calls him Uncle Bub.


We finally found the best way to manage Lucas on those afternoons when he is totally out of control.


Over in Fermont, a town near Lab City, they had one of the mining trucks on display. As you can partially see here, these are not small trucks. Lucas enjoyed his time in the wheelwell.


On the other hand, he didn't like it when Marilu got in his picture. What's the male version of a diva? He was literally pushing her, trying to get her out of there.


Those are the pre-wedding day highlights from Lab City. In the next post (tonight, I PROMISE), I'll put up the post-wedding day highlights from the trip.

The Wedding

This will be easier than I thought. Since Marilu was in the wedding party, and I was trying to keep Lucas from running all over the place, I didn't take many pictures of the wedding and/or reception. In fact, looking at my photo folder, there are a whopping six pictures, only four of which are any good.

The first one is the only non-Lucas picture. If you ever wanted to see Marilu dressed to the nines, squint and you can see her on the left, alongside the rest of the bridesmaids. You can't really see it that well, but her hair was really well done. It reminded me of our own wedding day 6 years past.


Most of the groomsmen took a shine to Lucas at the rehearsal dinner so at the reception I took a couple of pictures of him hanging out with the boys. I think Darnell was his best friend since he kept giving Lucas little packets of milk, which he wolfed down. Also, in the second picture, you can get a better idea of what Marilu's hair looked like.



Finally, a picture of Lucas with the bride and groom. Somehow the stars aligned since he was acting like a wildman before and after this photo, but miraculously, he gave a big cheese and produced one of the better pictures I've taken of him in a while.


That's it for the wedding photos. I'll probably post the highlights from the rest of the trip over the next couple of entries before returning to the backlog of photos from June and early July.

Coming soon

My mom, ever alert, informed me that I said I would post pictures from the trip this weekend. Whoops. Between starting the second course of my real estate program, having guests this weekend (Marilu's brother John and his new wife Chantal), and just keeping track of Lucas, who is getting more crazy by the day, updating completely slipped my mind.

However, Marilu and Lucas are going with John and Chantal to Niagara Falls tomorrow for 2 days, which gives me plenty of time alone to finally spend some time updating. I'll try not to shout "blessed freedom!" too loud. :)

That said, I PROMISE to post new pictures by tomorrow afternoon. There, now I can't procrastinate.

FYI

Hello! We got back safe and sound last night after 2 long days of driving. I'll post some pictures and tell some tales sometime this weekend.

Real Estate/Vacation Updates

Since I'm on vacation, this blog seemed to be the ideal way to get out the news that I passed my first real estate exam with a resounding 100%! If nothing else, I sure know how to take a test. Anyway, next up is Course 2, which should last about a month and a half. Let's hope for the same results.

Also, the fact that I am writing this now means we did make it to Labrador without any problems. Lucas was a gem, as he behaved pretty much the entire trip, even when we had him at a restaurant until after 9 on the first night of the trip.

Talk to you all again soon!

A boatload of pictures, Part 2

Here's the last pictures I'll be posting before our trip to Lab City. We leave tomorrow morning (so, about 6 hours from now...I really should be in bed), and we'll likely be back Tuesday or Wednesday next week. I may try and update from the road, but don't be surprised if there are no updates this week.

First off, this picture was taken at the same time as the video where Marilu was tickling Lucas with her hair. Tell me that is not one happy kid.


I can't remember if I posted this one or not already. No one ever accused the Deal men of being normal.


Here's a picture of Lucas and my mom from his birthday party. This came from my mom's camera, which I uploaded a week after the ones from mine.


Also from my mom's camera, here's Lucas doing what looks like a T Rex impression at the party.


You can't really see his face too well, but I still like this photo. Hugging the dog, the sunglasses, the camo onesie. It's just too cute.


Kicking back on the patio after a weekend lunch. Tough life you have, kid.


Alright, that catches us up to June 14. I seriously have to go to bed since we'll be on the road to Lab City in about 6-7 hours. Sure, Marilu will be doing most of the driving, but I should at least make an attempt to stay awake. See you all next week! (if I don't post again sooner)