Saturday, September 5, 2015
To Tide You Over
Finally got all the photos transferred from one laptop to the other. New photos incoming soon. For now, here's a happier picture than the last one.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
Why aren't there any new photos?
We just bought a new laptop this past weekend, and I'm still in the process of moving important files from the old one to the new one. Once that's done, more updates will be on their way.
In the meantime, I've uploaded all of my photos from 2002 to Flickr so you can check that out if you really need to see "new" (albeit very old) pictures. (here's the link in case you forgot: Flickr)
In the meantime, I've uploaded all of my photos from 2002 to Flickr so you can check that out if you really need to see "new" (albeit very old) pictures. (here's the link in case you forgot: Flickr)
Tuesday, August 25, 2015
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Flickr
For years, I've been wanting to store all of our photos online, on the off-chance something happens to our computer or the two external hard drives that have backups of most of the photos. I stored quite a few of the pictures on Picasa Web Albums a few years back, but it wasn't a very user friendly experience, and I decided to move on from it.
Tonight, I started the very long process of putting the photos on Flickr. It may not be the best option, but it's definitely one of the most popular. I've decided to work my way from the oldest to the newest so right now, all that's on there are some photos from 2001 and 2002, but I will be adding more periodically until (hopefully) I am all caught up.
Anyway, if you're interested in seeing what's up so far, click here. I've made all the photos public so you shouldn't need to have a Flickr/Yahoo account to view them. Also, it's not immediately obvious since it shows up as a photo album, but I've been adding captions to the photos so if you click on an individual one, most of them will have more details about the photo. I may stop doing this in the future if no one cares about captions.
One last thing, I do plan on keeping the blog going. Flickr is primarily a backup for me with the added benefit of giving you access to the 1000s of photos that didn't make the cut for the blog. Think of it as "deleted scenes."
Tonight, I started the very long process of putting the photos on Flickr. It may not be the best option, but it's definitely one of the most popular. I've decided to work my way from the oldest to the newest so right now, all that's on there are some photos from 2001 and 2002, but I will be adding more periodically until (hopefully) I am all caught up.
Anyway, if you're interested in seeing what's up so far, click here. I've made all the photos public so you shouldn't need to have a Flickr/Yahoo account to view them. Also, it's not immediately obvious since it shows up as a photo album, but I've been adding captions to the photos so if you click on an individual one, most of them will have more details about the photo. I may stop doing this in the future if no one cares about captions.
One last thing, I do plan on keeping the blog going. Flickr is primarily a backup for me with the added benefit of giving you access to the 1000s of photos that didn't make the cut for the blog. Think of it as "deleted scenes."
Thursday, August 20, 2015
WOSC meets the Ottawa Fury
From one sport to the next! Last time it was football camp. This time: soccer!
As you may know, Lucas played soccer for the first time this year. Well, "real" soccer anyway. When he was 4, he did some sort of soccer playgroup type thing, but that doesn't count. Anyway, he's had a fairly good time although he's missed quite a few practices and games due to vacations, but I guess that's just summer being summer.
This past Tuesday, several of the West Ottawa Soccer Club teams got a chance to meet the players of the Ottawa Fury, our professional soccer team. They're in the NASL, which is one level below the MSL. I thought it was just going to be us watching their practice, but it ended up being about 45 minutes of the kids scrimmaging with the players and then another 20-30 minutes of doing autographs. As a result, the kids had an absolute blast.
Prior to the Fury players arriving, the WOSC coaches combined all the kids, regardless of age or gender, and let them scrimmage. It was pretty cool since Lucas was able to play with kids the were 2-3 years older than him and he hung in there.
Once the players did arrive, they formed a game that was mostly U8 Boys vs U8 Girls. It's the first time I can recall that I've seen boys against girls in any sport, and I was honestly a little surprised at just how much the boys dominated the girls. I mean, I know males are generally stronger/faster/etc than females, but I didn't expect such a big difference at this age. It also didn't help the girls that the boys were much more aggressive when going for the ball. Suffice to say, the Fury players helped the girls out quite a bit more than the boys, in order to keep it close.
As I mentioned above, the last part of the event was an autograph session. Lucas initially had the players sign a little booklet that they had given out, but by the end he was having them sign his shoes. Here, he points out the perfect placement for a signature.
You can't have a meet the players event without getting a picture with the mascot. In this case, it's Sparky. Incidentally, Lucas had Sparky sign his name on the back of both of his shoes.
Since I haven't posted many videos lately, here are a few from the event.
First up, a bit from the scrimmage with the Fury.
This second one is a shorter clip from the game and was about the closest Lucas got to getting the ball from a Fury player.
Finally, Lucas taking a shot at one of the Fury goalies.
I don't expect anyone from the Fury will see this, but I did want to mention that the whole event was a class act. The players were both friendly and accessible, and the kids were kept entertained throughout the full session. I definitely hope they do something like this again next year.
As you may know, Lucas played soccer for the first time this year. Well, "real" soccer anyway. When he was 4, he did some sort of soccer playgroup type thing, but that doesn't count. Anyway, he's had a fairly good time although he's missed quite a few practices and games due to vacations, but I guess that's just summer being summer.
This past Tuesday, several of the West Ottawa Soccer Club teams got a chance to meet the players of the Ottawa Fury, our professional soccer team. They're in the NASL, which is one level below the MSL. I thought it was just going to be us watching their practice, but it ended up being about 45 minutes of the kids scrimmaging with the players and then another 20-30 minutes of doing autographs. As a result, the kids had an absolute blast.
Prior to the Fury players arriving, the WOSC coaches combined all the kids, regardless of age or gender, and let them scrimmage. It was pretty cool since Lucas was able to play with kids the were 2-3 years older than him and he hung in there.
Once the players did arrive, they formed a game that was mostly U8 Boys vs U8 Girls. It's the first time I can recall that I've seen boys against girls in any sport, and I was honestly a little surprised at just how much the boys dominated the girls. I mean, I know males are generally stronger/faster/etc than females, but I didn't expect such a big difference at this age. It also didn't help the girls that the boys were much more aggressive when going for the ball. Suffice to say, the Fury players helped the girls out quite a bit more than the boys, in order to keep it close.
As I mentioned above, the last part of the event was an autograph session. Lucas initially had the players sign a little booklet that they had given out, but by the end he was having them sign his shoes. Here, he points out the perfect placement for a signature.
You can't have a meet the players event without getting a picture with the mascot. In this case, it's Sparky. Incidentally, Lucas had Sparky sign his name on the back of both of his shoes.
Since I haven't posted many videos lately, here are a few from the event.
First up, a bit from the scrimmage with the Fury.
This second one is a shorter clip from the game and was about the closest Lucas got to getting the ball from a Fury player.
Finally, Lucas taking a shot at one of the Fury goalies.
I don't expect anyone from the Fury will see this, but I did want to mention that the whole event was a class act. The players were both friendly and accessible, and the kids were kept entertained throughout the full session. I definitely hope they do something like this again next year.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Are you ready for some football?
Since we're out of town again this coming week (Massachusetts again), I wanted to get a few pictures uploaded before we leave. I'll also try and update via my phone at least once while we are gone.
As you may know, Lucas had a football camp this week. He's been interested in playing it for several years, but you can't start until 8 in Ottawa. Since playing in a league is a pretty big time commitment, we wanted to let him try this first. Then, if he's still interested, he can play next year since his plate is full this year with soccer and hockey (and probably swim lessons).
Since the clock just passed 1 AM, I'm just going to post a few highlights from the open scrimmage they had today on the last day of camp. When I get back, I'll post any others that seem worthy (plus a video or two). If you're having trouble locating Lucas in any of the pictures, he's #64 and he is one of the shortest kids on the field. He was in the 8-10 age group, and I think the majority of kids were 9 or 10.
The first photo is from one of the running drills they did at the beginning. Nothing too special, but since none of the other photos are "active" ones, I wanted to show that he did move.
He saw me taking photos so of course that meant to cover his face.
This was one of the biggest kids in the camp. I get a kick out of the size disparity between him and Lucas. That said, it was cool to see Lucas hang out and hang with the older kids.
Setting up in the backfield as a running back.
I thought this photo was amusing since it looks like he's giving the team a pep talk. It probably wasn't anything of the sort, but that's what I choose to believe.
Photo op after the game.
As you may know, Lucas had a football camp this week. He's been interested in playing it for several years, but you can't start until 8 in Ottawa. Since playing in a league is a pretty big time commitment, we wanted to let him try this first. Then, if he's still interested, he can play next year since his plate is full this year with soccer and hockey (and probably swim lessons).
Since the clock just passed 1 AM, I'm just going to post a few highlights from the open scrimmage they had today on the last day of camp. When I get back, I'll post any others that seem worthy (plus a video or two). If you're having trouble locating Lucas in any of the pictures, he's #64 and he is one of the shortest kids on the field. He was in the 8-10 age group, and I think the majority of kids were 9 or 10.
The first photo is from one of the running drills they did at the beginning. Nothing too special, but since none of the other photos are "active" ones, I wanted to show that he did move.
He saw me taking photos so of course that meant to cover his face.
This was one of the biggest kids in the camp. I get a kick out of the size disparity between him and Lucas. That said, it was cool to see Lucas hang out and hang with the older kids.
Setting up in the backfield as a running back.
I thought this photo was amusing since it looks like he's giving the team a pep talk. It probably wasn't anything of the sort, but that's what I choose to believe.
Photo op after the game.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
More random stuff
A few pictures on a slow day...
I can't remember what restaurant we were at here, but Lucas asked to borrow my glasses so he could pretend to be a nerd.
From the Women's World Cup games that Marilu and Lucas attended. (after posting this, I realized the 2nd picture below is a repost, but oh well...it's cute and you can never have too much cute)
And we'll close out with Lucas showing off his new street hockey goalie gear.
I can't remember what restaurant we were at here, but Lucas asked to borrow my glasses so he could pretend to be a nerd.
From the Women's World Cup games that Marilu and Lucas attended. (after posting this, I realized the 2nd picture below is a repost, but oh well...it's cute and you can never have too much cute)
And we'll close out with Lucas showing off his new street hockey goalie gear.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Sad News
I received some sad news out of Newfoundland this morning. Marilu's Uncle Colin passed away during the night. He had been in a coma this past week and wasn't expected to survive, but that doesn't really lessen the impact on those lives he had touched. Unfortunately, I never got to know him well since I didn't visit Newfoundland often, but he was a big part of Marilu's family's life and Lucas really liked him.
Here are some photos of Colin that we took over the years.
Rest in peace, Colin. You'll be greatly missed.
Here are some photos of Colin that we took over the years.
Rest in peace, Colin. You'll be greatly missed.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
On the topic of sleep
It's been a while since my last post, due to equal parts vacation and procrastination. So to get back on track, here's a photo from our trip to Massachusetts, while I sit at the park watching Lucas and his friend Zach. This was taken on our first night there. As you can see, my mom set up a tent for him inside the house. Suffice to say, he loved this sleeping arrangement.
On a related note, Zach slept over last night, making that Lucas's first time hosting a sleepover. I'm sure it's the beginning of many to come.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
New Bike
As promised, here are some pictures of Lucas's new bike, a birthday gift from my parents. Of note is that this is first bike with gears. It has 6 speeds and 20" wheels, and while he's still getting the hang of it, he likes it a lot better than his old bike.
And here's the requisite video. You'll notice the video goes sideways halfway through. Oddly enough, on the computer, it's the opposite where it starts out sideways and then goes normal. Ah, Apple iPhone, how I love to hate you.
In contrast to Lucas's bad behavior story in the last post, I wanted to point out that he received a Student of the Year certificate from his teacher on the last day of class today. Only 2 other kids received them so hopefully that's a good thing!
And here's the requisite video. You'll notice the video goes sideways halfway through. Oddly enough, on the computer, it's the opposite where it starts out sideways and then goes normal. Ah, Apple iPhone, how I love to hate you.
In contrast to Lucas's bad behavior story in the last post, I wanted to point out that he received a Student of the Year certificate from his teacher on the last day of class today. Only 2 other kids received them so hopefully that's a good thing!
Canada's Most Wanted
I've been meaning to post pictures of Lucas with his new bike, but I keep forgetting to download the photos from Marilu's phone, and when I remember during the day, she's not here, so that doesn't do me much good. Anyway, they'll be up soon.
In other news, Lucas has turned to a life of crime. On Tuesday, one of his classmates and (former?) friends hit him in the face at a school assembly. Lucas then threatened to get the kid in trouble unless he gave Lucas money or Pokemon cards. The next day, the kid brought Lucas $100! Lucas then traded the money to a 5th grader for Pokemon cards. This all would have gone unnoticed if not for the 5th grader bragging about it and getting caught by the vice principal. At that point, the story came out and everyone got their cards and money back.
I should point out that this all happened on the next-to-last day of school. Suffice to say, Lucas will be feeling the repercussion from his first foray into blackmail for several weeks to come. FYI, we still haven't figured out exactly how Lucas got the idea for his scheme, but it's possible it's from something he saw on Scooby-Doo or iCarly. Go figure.
Here are some random photos that have been sitting in my To Do folder for way too long. From the tail end of 2014, here's Lucas with his Uncle Steven outside Canadian Tire Center prior to a Sens game.
In January, Lucas had his first out-of-town tournament in Brockville. I'm pretty sure I posted photos from the actual games, but here's an example of what the kids do in their down time.
And finally, a nice, innocent photo of Lucas. You wouldn't know he's on the lam for extortion charges, would you?
Tomorrow, Lucas and I are driving down to Massachusetts and will be there for a little over a week. I'll try and get one more post up today (with new bike pictures!), but no promises. If not, see you in July!
In other news, Lucas has turned to a life of crime. On Tuesday, one of his classmates and (former?) friends hit him in the face at a school assembly. Lucas then threatened to get the kid in trouble unless he gave Lucas money or Pokemon cards. The next day, the kid brought Lucas $100! Lucas then traded the money to a 5th grader for Pokemon cards. This all would have gone unnoticed if not for the 5th grader bragging about it and getting caught by the vice principal. At that point, the story came out and everyone got their cards and money back.
I should point out that this all happened on the next-to-last day of school. Suffice to say, Lucas will be feeling the repercussion from his first foray into blackmail for several weeks to come. FYI, we still haven't figured out exactly how Lucas got the idea for his scheme, but it's possible it's from something he saw on Scooby-Doo or iCarly. Go figure.
Here are some random photos that have been sitting in my To Do folder for way too long. From the tail end of 2014, here's Lucas with his Uncle Steven outside Canadian Tire Center prior to a Sens game.
In January, Lucas had his first out-of-town tournament in Brockville. I'm pretty sure I posted photos from the actual games, but here's an example of what the kids do in their down time.
And finally, a nice, innocent photo of Lucas. You wouldn't know he's on the lam for extortion charges, would you?
Tomorrow, Lucas and I are driving down to Massachusetts and will be there for a little over a week. I'll try and get one more post up today (with new bike pictures!), but no promises. If not, see you in July!
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Lucas's 8th Birthday Party
Although Lucas's birthday isn't until June 16, we held his actual party yesterday. I originally tried to book it for the War Museum, since they have a very cool-sounding Ultimate Fort theme, but unfortunately, it was completely booked for the month of June. So now we know to book well in advance for next year. As a result, we asked Lucas if he would be okay with doing it at the same place as last year (the Oz Dome), and his answer was a resounding yes. So that's what we did!
Prior to the party, Tracey asked if we wanted her to bring her camera, and in our hubris, we said that we would be fine with our new Nikon. Oh, how silly we were! It turns out that if you aren't on the top deck of a bright and sunshiny cruise ship, action shots aren't nearly as easy to take. As a result, at least half of the photos I took in the not nearly so bright and not nearly so sunshiny Oz Dome had some blur in them. They still came out okay (better than what I could get on my iPhone), but if I've learned nothing else, I know I now need to read the book my mom bought me on how to actually use my camera.
Since the first hour of the party was spent on the field, let's start with that. All my bitching about photo quality aside, I really like how this first one came out. I should also note that this is the first time I've ever cropped a photo on this blog (to get a rid of a bunch of empty space on the right side). I'm going to try and do that more in the future since I'm still getting used to centering photos on the Nikon.
The symmetry in this photo (or whatever you would call a straight line) was completely unintentional, but I really like how it came out.
I'm not quite sure what Lucas is doing here, but whatever works for him.
I have no idea what Lucas and the party coordinator are talking about here, but I love the facial expressions.
This one is a little blurry, but I liked the look of it.
For the last 5-10 minutes, the dads (there were 3 of us) joined the party coordinator in a game against the kids. I'm not sure what the final score was, but I now realize I'm not yet in game shape for adult soccer. It got even worse when the kids decided they could pick up the ball and run with it. I'm surprised my heart stayed in my chest, chasing them all over the field.
Before going inside, we made sure we got a "team" photo of the boys. One semi-serious...
...and the other not so much. I don't really want to know what Lucas is doing to that ball.
The kids are relatively calm before the pizza and cake eating commence. Marilu was pleased that they ate the majority of the vegetables while waiting.
For this birthday, Marilu made an ice cream sandwich cake. It consisted of 3 layers of ice cream sandwiches (18 total) covered in whipped cream and surrounded by frozen raspberries.
Finally, it was gift opening time. Here are a couple of the highlights. (side note: Etienne's eyes in the first photo crack me up...he looks *really* excited)
And here's a final shoutout to the parents who made it through the whole party with us. First, the daring dads, Mo and John, who assisted me in losing to the kids...
...and then Tracey (with Marilu), who has helped out in just about every one of Lucas's birthday parties.
Thanks a bunch!
Prior to the party, Tracey asked if we wanted her to bring her camera, and in our hubris, we said that we would be fine with our new Nikon. Oh, how silly we were! It turns out that if you aren't on the top deck of a bright and sunshiny cruise ship, action shots aren't nearly as easy to take. As a result, at least half of the photos I took in the not nearly so bright and not nearly so sunshiny Oz Dome had some blur in them. They still came out okay (better than what I could get on my iPhone), but if I've learned nothing else, I know I now need to read the book my mom bought me on how to actually use my camera.
Since the first hour of the party was spent on the field, let's start with that. All my bitching about photo quality aside, I really like how this first one came out. I should also note that this is the first time I've ever cropped a photo on this blog (to get a rid of a bunch of empty space on the right side). I'm going to try and do that more in the future since I'm still getting used to centering photos on the Nikon.
The symmetry in this photo (or whatever you would call a straight line) was completely unintentional, but I really like how it came out.
I'm not quite sure what Lucas is doing here, but whatever works for him.
I have no idea what Lucas and the party coordinator are talking about here, but I love the facial expressions.
This one is a little blurry, but I liked the look of it.
For the last 5-10 minutes, the dads (there were 3 of us) joined the party coordinator in a game against the kids. I'm not sure what the final score was, but I now realize I'm not yet in game shape for adult soccer. It got even worse when the kids decided they could pick up the ball and run with it. I'm surprised my heart stayed in my chest, chasing them all over the field.
Before going inside, we made sure we got a "team" photo of the boys. One semi-serious...
...and the other not so much. I don't really want to know what Lucas is doing to that ball.
The kids are relatively calm before the pizza and cake eating commence. Marilu was pleased that they ate the majority of the vegetables while waiting.
For this birthday, Marilu made an ice cream sandwich cake. It consisted of 3 layers of ice cream sandwiches (18 total) covered in whipped cream and surrounded by frozen raspberries.
Finally, it was gift opening time. Here are a couple of the highlights. (side note: Etienne's eyes in the first photo crack me up...he looks *really* excited)
And here's a final shoutout to the parents who made it through the whole party with us. First, the daring dads, Mo and John, who assisted me in losing to the kids...
...and then Tracey (with Marilu), who has helped out in just about every one of Lucas's birthday parties.
Thanks a bunch!
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