Your Lego Star Wars Rancor pit

This past weekend (Feb. 8-9, 2014), we purchased and put together the Lego Star Wars Rancor pit. It's from a scene in "Return of the Jedi."

We found the Lego set at Target in Eau Claire. I had intended to buy some Legos for you and spotted this one on sale. You were excited to put it in the shopping cart!

 

You started putting together the kit when we got back that afternoon to Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's. I finished it off while you worked on your fire truck Lego set.

 

The set had a gate that moved up and down and two secret compartments. It came with Luke Skywalker, the Rancor, the Rancor's keepr, and one of Jabba's guards as Lego people.

 

You took the Lego character swith you back to your mother's place but I kept the Rancor pit!

Our day together: Feb. 9, 2014

Finding rocks and gems in your science kit. Feb. 9, 2014.

I had another fun day with you, Kieran! We started the day with a breakfast of Belgian waffles and bacon, which you devoured. Then it was off to playing with a variety of toys we had in your room, including the castle set you got for Christmas, and the great Rock and Gem kit I'd gotten for you at Michaels last week.

After a spaghetti lunch, we went to Wal-Mart and got another Lego kit - this time of a semi-trailer than carried a Monster truck on it. You spent the whole afternoon putting it together - I was so impressed by your focus and dedication!

We did lots of other things to - play Star Trek with our phasers and tricorders; play chess, play with the new Play Doh set we picked up earlier at that day. Our weekend together ended all too soon!

Our Saturday, Feb, 8, 2014

I had a great time with you today, Kieran! After picking you up at Caribou Coffee, we made a quick jaunt to the Dollar Tree in Hudson for sports books stickers then headed to your cousin Bryan's house for his brothday party. Shortly thereafter, we went up to Action City in Eau Claire (where the Terminator game unfortunately was broken) and then over to Target.

At Target, we picked up a Star Wars Lego set, among other items, and headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's. We spent the rest of the afternoon putting together the Lego set and playing games, including chess! I'm impressed with how quickly you're picking up the game, specifically how the pieces move!

We also listened to lots of oldies, particularly my collection of songs from 1964-66. I remember how after hearing the TV theme to "Car 54, Where Are You?" you hummed the tune for the rest of the afternoon!

Some new surprises for you

I'm very excited to see your reaction the next time you visit (which is Feb. 8)! Grandma and Grandpa Bignell bought you a new bed, and we modified the playroom in the farmhouse so tht it can be your bedroom!

I also purchased NFL sheets/comforter/blanket set for you! Back when we got our condo in Palmdale, you had said you wanted NFL sheets, but they were far too expensive to get, so we got you a generic football set instead; unfortunately, we never got stuff unpacked so that we could set up your room that way.

With your love of football this past year, you should like the NFL bedding even better than when we had the condo!

Our day together sledding and playing

Playing Beyblade

I had so much with you on Saturday, Kieran! Our few hours together went by so fast!

We started the day snow tubing on the bunny hill at Badlands Snow Park near Hudson, Wis. You might recall they had these all ropes you could use to ride up the hill. After that, we went inside the warming house and played foosball.

Then we went to Target and picked up some Beyblade materials and basketball cards. We disccovered during lunch at Culvers that the basketball cards cube we got was a rip-off, so we went back to pick up a big pack!

We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's and played games, went through our NBA cards and NFL stickers, enjoyed a Star Trek phaser adventure on a derelict alien ship, and opened up a pack of Star Wars action figures (the making of Darth Vader set).

I can;t wait to get back together with you!

Our day together on Dec. 28, 2013

Scooby Doo video game you played.

I so enjoyed our time together on Saturday (Dec. 28, 2013), Kieran! We had lots of fun hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's playing games and enjoying one another's company.

You also got to meet Aunt Sandy and Uncle Mark, who you hadn't seen since you were an infant. They gave you $10 in half-dollar coins, a snow owl Christmas ornment, and a rocking horse ornament that I squirrled for our own tree when we get our own house!

Among the many games we played (some with Bryan and Rebekah) were: Monopoly Empire, Hi-Ho-Cherry-O, Don't Rock the Boat, Clue, and Life. You also played some Scoooby Doo video games on my compter.

At the end of the day, we went to the Dollar Tree and got some NFL stickers, NBA stickers, an FBI playset, football cards, glue and Scotch tape. We finished the evening with a meal at McDonalds!

I can't wait to see you again!

Our day at Action City in Eau Claire

I had so much fun with you yesterday, Kieran! We spent most of the day at Action City in Eau Claire and then came back to Grandma and Grandpa Bignells for birthday cake!

At Action City, you started the day with some racing video games. I was impressed by your driving - you definitely drive aggressively like a Bignell!

Then we went on the bumper cars and after that to the gocart racing track. We got first place on the the gocart racing, making a great move at the end that sped us from second to first place!

We must have spent an hour on the Terminator video game. I think you got ripped off, because when I used your machine gun, it didn't fire all of the time. When you used the machine gun I had through most of the game, you scored "Elite" and won!

Finger lights to search for monsters!

I bet your remember the cool finger lights we had when at the condo in Palmdale! They came in three colors - red, green and blue - and could be worn on your fingers with a little elastic band that held them in place.

The condo was perfect for the finger lights because even during the day as two back bathrooms were dark enough that we could sneak into them, pretending to search for monsters. Of course, they were even better at night when almost every room could be dark!

You liked to play so much with the finger lights that you actually drove me crazy! I'd have to break up the pay with other activities.

When we moved back to Minnesota/Wisconsin, I got some new finger lights that you, Bryan and Rebekah played with at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Photocopied football book for you!

One of the books we checked out from the Menomonie Library that you were unable to take to your mother's place was "Successful Sports: Football." It seemed to be the book you were most interested in when we stopped at Dairy Queen and then went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to make our football game.

Well, I photocopied the book and stapled the pages together for you so that you can read it whenever you like! I will give it to you when we next get together on Saturday.

I must admit that the book brought back some memories for me. It was published in 1997 and so had photos of great players from the 1990s, like Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, and Deion Sanders!

Recall your I Can Do That! card game?

Do you rmember your I Can Do That! card game? It was a Dr. Seuss game in which you had to draw three cards and do silly things, just like the Cat in the Hat would.

If you succeeded in doing the task, such as "Take giant steps around a chair with the fish under your right arm," you got to keep the cards. Whoever had the most cards at the end of the game won. But the fun of the game was in doing the silly stuff rather than trying to win!

When I told Grandma Bignell about the game and how much fun we had playing it, she bought one for your cousin Rebekah. Fortunately, you got to play it with your cousins Rebekah and Bryan and me during a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Bignells in December 2013!

At Grandma's and Grandpa's on Saturday

Decorating the Christmas tree, Nov. 30, 2013.

I had so much fun with you on Saturday, Kieran! We spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's!

The day started with us putting stickers in our NFL sticker books and then enjoying a nice ham dinner that Grandma made. Then we played games with your cousins Bryan and Rebekah; the games includeed Clue and the Dr. Seuss game.

Then we took a drive into town; you got to see the elementary school I went to, we visited the library to get books, I showed you my old high school, and then we went to Dairy Queen for ice cream.

When we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's, we made a cool football game. Oh, and how could I forget - you got help decorate the Christmas tree earlier, right after lunch!

Our time together on Saturday, Nov. 16

At Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's,
Nov. 16, 2013

I had so much fun with you today, Kieran, as did the rest of the family. Everybody was so happy to see you again after all of this time. I thought I would take this entry to recap our day together.

We started with Uncle Chris and me picking you up at Caribou Coffee in Woodbury. Then we stopped in Hudson, Wis., where we went downtown to the bookstore. There you got some "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" notebooks and a football book. After that, we went to KFC and picked up lunch.

Following that, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's farm, where you got to meet the entire family and where we had lunch. We spent the afternoon playing games with your cousins Bryan and Rebekah and coloring. After they left, we played with Hot Wheels cars while listening to the Beatles and wrapped up the afternoon with dinner while playing Battleship.

From there, we traveled back to Woodbury and while waiting for Grandma Deb to pick you up put stickers in your NFL sticker book!

Found photo of you from summer 2008

I found some more photos of you while you stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's farm during the first half of 2008! I've been scanning them into my computer so that you'll have them later in life.

Here's one of them - you sitting on a swing in their backyard. You're only a year old in this photo! The grass is green, so it must have been taken during the summer. You definitely look sleepy!

Tomorrow (Saturday, Nov. 16), you'll finally get to go back to Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's farm and see where you spent the early days of your life and to re-meet them. Everyone is so looking forward to seeing you again!

Your Uncle Chris' birthday is today!

You and Uncle Chris playing together
at you birthday party in 2008.

Today is your Uncle Chris' birthday! He was born when I was four years old. That was a long time ago!

I have tons of great memories about my brother and will have to tell you some of stories when we get together.

You got to spend lots of time with Uncle Chris when you stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Bignell in the winter/spring/summer of 2008. He even bought you a toy tractor for a birthday present!

He and his family miss you very much and can't wait until the time comes when they can see you again. I signed the birthday card I got him with both of our names on it.

Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's anniversary

Today is Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's anniversary. They have been married 48 years! That's a long time!

They met in spring 1964 while on a high school class field trip in Madison, Wis. They went to different schools but during the field trip ended up in the same elevator together! The next year, they got married!

They lived a few different places as getting their footing, but since March 1974 they've lived on their farm outside of Knapp, Wis.

I wish you were here to enjoy the anniversary celebration with them. They do, too. They took care of your for several months from mid-December 2007 through early September 2008. We all look forward to the day when we can be together again as a family.

Here's a link about them on our family website.

You having fun with Grandma Bignell

You might remember that I earlier wrote that Grandma Bignell gave me a whole bunch of pictures of when you spent the winter and summer with them during 2007-2008. You also might remember that I couldn't find any pictures of you and Grandma (probably because she was the one behind the camera).

Well, I found one! It was buried behind another picture in the photo album. So I've posted it here!

I'm not certain when it was taken, but it would have been between mid-December 2007 and early September 2008. That's when Grandma and Grandpa Bignell raised you at their farmhouse in Wisconsin.

I'm not sure what you two were doing, but you sure looked to be having fun!

Can't wait to see you later today!

You with Grandpa Bignell, winter 2007-08

I'm very excited about getting to see you today, Kieran! It's been a long time since we were able to spend time together.

I have a surprise for you, today! I'm bringing Grandma Bignell with me.

You actually have met her, though you certainly don't remember it. She and Grandpa Bignell took care of you from Decmber 2007-September 2008 when you lived with them. Also, when we were together in San Diego/Palmdale, you spoke to her weekly on the telephone.

She's very excited to see you again after all of these years. We'll all have lots of fun together playing games, with toys, reading books and having snacks.

I love you!

Photos of you when you were a year old

Over Easter, Grandma Bignell shared with me all kinds of pictures she had of when you were about 10-17 months old! You lived with Grandma and Grandpa Bignell from December 2007 to September 2008 on their farm outside of Knapp, Wis. In September 2008, you came back to California to live with me in Santa Clarita.

At above right is a picture of you with Grandpa Bignell and your cousing Rebekah. She is six months older than you and in kindergarten, too! The picture was taken at Grandma and Grandpa Bignell's house.

I am so glad to have all of these pictures of you. While I had a few, I now have tons of them!

Grandma Bignell also shared with me old family pictures of her grandparents and other ancestors. I have a website listing your family tree, but it's only of your grandpa's side of the family - researching that has been so time-consuming that I haven't had time to post your grandma's side!

Sorry that we won't see each other today

I was looking very forward to seeing you this afternoon, Kieran. I don't think I can express enough to you how much I miss you and long for the times when we are together. You're the kind of a son that every father wants, and I've always been very proud of you.

You need to know that I did not cancel our planned visitation today. You also should know that no reason was given by the visitation center as to why our visitation was canceled, and no offers were made by the canceling party to reschedule it.

*****
Did you know that one year ago today I called you from Wisconsin! I had flown back to the Midwest to move Jane out to California. Jane and I spent the day getting together with people we hadn't seen in a long time, including Grandma and Grandpa Bignell.

They so wanted to see you, and Jane and me had tried to come up with a way to bring you on the trip. But we ultimately decided that it would be awful complicated to do, and the long drive back to California would get boring very quickly for you.

But I did promise Grandma and Grandpa Bignell that I would bring you back to Wisconson on vacation to see them. It's a promise I have yet to fulfil, but it is one I will keep - after all, I also promised you that one day I would bring you to their farm to meet them. And I always keep my promises!

Sharing some pictures with you

Scandinavian Festival, April 17, 2010

The other night your cousin Rebekah was visiting Grandma and Grandpa Bignell the same night that I was, and she wanted to look at pictures of you and all of your adventures. I have many of them online so was able to show her some that I have posted for all of my Facebook friends to see.

Rebekah is the same age as you and also in kindergarten, so she's very interested in the fun that you've had.

We looked at pictures of your trips to Legoland, Disneyland, the beach, and to the Poppy Festival last year in Lancaster. I think she was a little envious of all of the great adventures we've taken together!

Showing her the pictures was fun because I got to recall all of our fun times together and to tell her fun stories about you. She says she can't wait to meet you in person!