Ah, OK

Should have known that as soon as I complained some would show up. It's in the wall, so I'm leaving it be for now, but there should be more iron around here somewhere.

The Latest Project Hole

What's amazing about this hole isn't the huge number of blocks coming out of it -- it's been the total lack of iron this hole has yielded so far. And by total, I mean total -- zip, zero, nada.

On Our Way To Play

Inspecting a sign on the way to play with Icon in the afternoon. Alex likes to go to one of the soccer fields and throw a deflated ball for Icon to chase (because he's a service dog he isn't permitted to chase real balls, so this deflated ball is a unique toy that signals to him that it is OK to chase and play with), and Icon really likes it too. It was pretty hot, though, and Icon seemed to be laboring a bit, so I called a halt to the game early.

Sign Inspector Again

Alex is volunteering to go walk the dog with me in the mornings on the weekends. I think he likes being out with the dog. I've been letting him have exclusive control of the dog with only a traffic leash, and while he's still hauling the dog around a bit, the dog doesn't seem to mind too much and it is going pretty well.

Riding The Rails

Riding the Via train to Montreal for the Friday Grand Prix practice sessions. It was an early day that turned into a long day (we almost missed our train because the access bridge between the two islands was closed for an hour because of a "situation") but we made it home on time in the end. Nathan seemed to have fun and was enthusiastic about the idea of going again next year.

Sign Inspector

Alex likes to stop and inspect the street signs that we pass -- the school crossing signs are singled out for special attention. He has Icon sit and then he peers up at them.

Today I did something different -- I let Alex hold Icon on the short leash without having my longer leash on the dog as a back-up. I took over during the poop-and-inspect phase of the walk, as well as when we passed other dogs, but other than that Alex did very well holding Icon.

Icon Walking His Boy

Jenn is away this weekend, so Alex has to come with me in the morning on the dog walks. Both Icon and Alex seem to really like being out together.

Domestic Life

Everyone playing in the back yard after supper.

Sleepy Camper

Nathan came back from Cub camp all tired out. He couldn't even stay awake for TV.

I Dug A Big Hole

I dug a 20x30 square hole that's about 30 blocks deep. The base of it is like 10 blocks off of the bedrock, so it is really more of a big empty cavern than a "hole" per se. Took quite a while, although not nearly as long as I thought it would. Digging like this doesn't yield enough iron to keep paying for the pick axes that you go through, you either need stone ones (which burn out really fast) or you need an iron stash previously prepared.

New Hat

Alex got his own Tilly hat for his birthday. Same size and color as Daddy's, although it is a lot less beat up. Here he's rocking it on the way to Dairy Queen.

Pay It Forward

Went to Toys'R'Us Kanata today, and there was (finally!) a new dump bin. Someone had gone through it and left a Treasure Hunt hanging on the display like that. Nice gesture. I left it since it isn't a car type that I am interested in.

Lava Light Element

Ringing a 3x3 tunnel with a lava/glass element. Looks kinda cool, even if it was a pain to build.

Dog Progress

The dog is helping Alex with his puzzle. This is good progress on both of their ends.

New Dryer Fail

New appliance time! The old one wasn't drying properly, even though it had been cleaned and the duct outside cleaned all the way through. Then it started running for only 10 minutes at a time. It is 15 years old, so we decided to buy a new one.

When it arrived, I was sent a message at work that the existing duct connector wasn't salvageable, so they wouldn't do the install -- fair enough. However, when I got home to do the installation, I turned it around and found this:

Kinda looks like it's been dropped.

Update: I called the customer service line, and a nice lady told me to complete the installation and if the dryer worked and we were willing to keep it, they'd refund us some money. So we'll run it over the weekend and see how that works.

A Teenager -- How Did That Happen?

McDonalds Ice Cream for Birthday Breakfast

Happy Birthday kiddo

What Month Is It

It's snowing again. Maybe that's better than rain.

Birthday Boy

Birthday Breakfast Cake

Ten years. Amazing that it's (only) been that long.

Ouch

Zero for four, fortune cookie. That's impressive.

Rail Fan

Nathan went to visit Mr. Carter's train layout again.