Remember our wampa action figures?

One "Star Wars" toy that we always had fun with were the action figures from the wampa scenes in "The Empire Strikes Back."

I can't recall if we bought these pieces as from a couple of different sets, but in any case we quickly combined them into one. It included a wampa, the white monster that captured Luke Skywalker, Luke himself, and his taun-taun, the dinosaur-like creature they used as a horse. I recall that pieces of raw meat that the wamp ate came with the set - yech!

We also had a Han Solo dressed up for the winter scene on Hoth (the planet where the wampa lives), so I think we combined two kits: Han Solo and the taun-taun; Luke Skywalker and the wampa.

Unfortunately, I don't remember any specific stories about playing with these toys, only that they always were part of the starfighter base that we typically built on the glass coffee table in the green house in Lancaster.

Remember your room's Star Wars poster?

When we lived at the green house in Lancaster, Calif. your room was decorated with Star Wars stuff, such as the bedspread and posters. One poster that hung over your bed was a collage of famous characters and scenes from the fourth through the sixth Star Wars movies.

Sometimes I'd tease you about the characters saying "Oh look, you have a Sesame Street poster!" Then pointing to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, I'd say "There's Ernie and Bert!" Then pointing at another character, I'd go "And there's Cookie Monster!"

At first you'd take me seriously and go, "No, no, that's not Sesame Street, it's Star Wars." Eventually you caught on that I was just foolingwith  you and would get exasperated. So then I'd stop.

At upper right is a picture of the poster. I may still have it, actually, in a tote of your stuff.

Remember reading 'Hi! Fly Guy'?

Your cousin Rebekah this week got from the library a great book that instantly made me think of you - mainly because we'd read it together long ago!

The book was called "Hi! Fly Guy," by Tedd Arnold. It's about a boy who wants a pet - but the animal he can catch is a fly! The stories tell about the adventures of the boy and the fly, usually as the boy tries to pass off the fly as his pet!

We checked out the book from the Lancaster library in Lancaster, Calif. Are there other books from the library that you remember us reading together?

Maybe you can find the book again at your local library and read it on your own!

Remember our pear tree and flowers?

Pear tree, July 2010

Do you remember all of the great plants we had at the green house in Lancaster? They come to mind this morning because about this time each year the fruit on our pear tree (see photo at right) would ripen.

We never ate the fruit because that would require a lot of special care of the trees to ensure they were edible. I just liked seeing the fruits on them and the annual spring blossoms that smelled so wonderful!

We also had an apple tree in our backyard and lots of flowers (including a gigantic rose bush) in front of the house and along our backyard wall.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures of plants that blossomed during July at the green house!

Playing on pirate ships at parks

Pirate ship at the Maritime Museum
in San Diego.

A few days ago I was in Cumberland, Wis., to give a book reading, and while driving past the park there, saw a cool looking pirate ship among the playground equipment. That immediately made me think of you!

Pirate ships often were a staple of our playgrounds. There was one at the City Park in Lancaster, Calif., though the one in Cumberland looked cooler as it looked more like an actual ship.

Often when we played on the regular playground equipment, we'd pretend it was a pirate ship. One memory that really comes to mind is us doing that at Cottonwood Creek Park in Encinitas.

And of course there was the pirate ship inside a sailing ship at the Maritime Museum in San Diego! That had a helm and a pulley to lift cargo on and off the ship.

Remember your cool Lego RV toy?

Do you remember your Lego RV that we out together together when living in the green house in Lancaster? Since you liked both Legos and RVs, it felt like the perfect toy to have!

You were fairly young so only helped me put together part of it. You sure liked playing with it, though!

After a couple of days, though, you started taking it apart. I think you were interested in how it all was put together and kind of wanted to do that again.

That didn't bother me, as I sure could relate to such a desire. When I was about the same age, my dad built this great model railroad set for me. I  had so much fun helping him do it (Though he did most of the work!) that I tore it all apart so we could put it together again!

The downside of taking apart the Lego RV, though, was that parts would get lost so that I couldn't put it back together! The instructions also couldn't be easily followed because the parts taken off didn't match the order in which they were put on!

Recall playting with the Slip’n Slide?

With summer's arrival, I got to thinking about all of the fun we had at the green house in Lancaster playing outside in that warm California sun. One of the "toys" we got was the famous Slip’n Slide.

It was really nothing more than a long, bright yellow sheet of plastic with little tubes that sprayed water over the sheet, making it slippery. You then can slide on your belly across the wet surface, having lots of laughs while staying cool.

I remember you loving it, especially running through the water sprinklers (You may have liked that more than sliding across it!). Unfortunately, as we lived in the desert, the sprinklers turned our back yard into a mud pit that washed away the grass clinging to the thin, sandy soil!

So I put the Slip’n Slide away until our yard could heal. By the time it did, though, the days were too hot to be outside with temps regularly in the low 100s.

 

Remember your X-wing fighter?

Another one of your favorite toys when a preschooler was the Star Wars X-wing fighter - it was the rebel ship that Luke Skywalker and his companions flew when trying to destory the Death Star. It came with an action figure pilot (not Luke, though) and an R2D2.

The ship often came in for a landing at the rebel base that we'd "make" on the living room endtable by using the Batcave as a command center and some other Star Wars action figure accessories like computers and communication tables. We always had action figures and robots performing maintenance on the ship!

Other times we'd take it and the Star Trek shuttlecraft on flights through space as they explored new planets. Inevitably, those planets included Pillow and Blanket monsters that tried to caputre our heroes and destory their spacecraft!

When we were at City Park in Lancaster, in the areas with steering wheels we'd sometimes pretend to instead be flying the X-wing fighter as we attacked the Death Star!

Attending Fire Appreciation Day 2011

Trying on the U.S. Forest Service's
firefighting gear.

Two years ago today, we went to Los Angeles County Fire Appreciation Day in Lancaster, Calif.! Though a little hot, all of the great fire, police and ambulances vehicles on display there were worth it!

We got to go inside a real station and see what it looked like. After that, we made the rounds, stopping at (and climbing into!) all of the great fire trucks, ambulances and police cars that we could.

There also were demonstrations of firemen putting out fires and "rescuing" people, but usually they were very crowded, and with the heat we decided to skip them. I think you got a new fire hat there, too, if I recall.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!

Our day at the Poppy Festival in 2010

Carrying your bubble gun at the knights exhibit.

Three years ago today we went to the Poppy Festival in Lancaster City Park together! You were just three years old but had a great time.

We began by going on some of the carnival rides. I was very impressed that you didn;t mind going on them by myself, as usually you wanted me to go with you on all of the rides at fairs (Which was difficult for me to do because I was too big for many of them, but we managed!).

One of your favorite carnival attractions was the fun house with its mirrors and glass maze. The carnie girl running it thought you were cute and so let you go into it over and over without a ticket!
You also got a bubble gun and were carrying it around blowing bubbles everywhere. When we got to the car show area, some of the car owners thought you looked so cute with it that they called you "Bubble Boy" and asked you to blow bubbles arounf their cars! You happily obliged!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our say at the festival!

One year ago today: Poppy Festival

A year ago today, you, Jane, and I went to the Poppy Festival in Lancaster, Calif. We started the day by going on the rides at the kid's carnival.

You asked if we could go on the Tilt-a-Whirl, and it didn't look so bad, especially as we'd gone lots of spinning Disney rides, so I said okay. Boy, was I wrong! We both got off the ride all green in the face and staggering. You turned to me and said, "We're never going on this thing again!"

In the picture, you might notice there's a big slide in the background. You and Jane went down it together several times. Then we went to have a little picnic lunch and looked at some of the displays, like the quilting club and NASA booths.

But then the day starting getting hot, as is usually the case during late April in the High Desert, so we headed home.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures form our time at the fair together!

Remember hiking the poppy reserve?

Three years today, we hiked the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve! The poppy is California's state flower, and at one time fields of it covered whole swaths of the state. But as the state become more populous and more houses and businesses and farms were placed on the land, the poppy fields began to vanish. One place where a large field was preserved was west of where we lived in Lancaster.

In late March and early April of every year, the poppies bloom, turning the landscape orange with blossoms. It's an awesome sight, and I always tried to take you there to enjoy it.

You were just a little over over 3 years old when we took this hike! And yes, there was a visitor center at the park, where I'm certain you got a little something!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our hike!

Playing airplane at the park

Do you remember playing "airplane" at the park in Lancaster, Calif.? At the park off of Avenue K, we'd sometimes pretend to be airplanes, holding our arms out at our sides like wings and trying to remain balanced as we walked the curb around the wood chip pit surrounding the climbing rocks.

It was a great exercise for your young body because you learned how to keep your balance.

To make it even more fun, we had to avoid "crashing" into each other! But you didn't want to blink or you might "fall off" the curb into the wood pit!

Of course, sometimes you liked to crash into me just for fun!

My email to you for March 30, 2013

Your Easter basket, 2012

Here is my email to you sent on March 30, 2012, in case you don’t receive it.

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I love and miss you very much. I am not certain why our visit planned for yesterday was cancelled, but I want you to know that I had nothing to do with it. I wanted to spend time with you because you are the most important person in the world to me. You always have been and always will be. Hopefully our cancelled visit soon will be rescheduled.

Tomorrow is Easter, so I thought I would share a few memories I have of the holiday with you.

Our very first Easter was in 2007! You received a small basket with a tiny stuffie bunny rabbit and a little book about Peter Cottontail. We lived in Crescent City, Calif., at the time, and though the weather there usually was rainy, that Easter was nicely sunny. We went out to eat for Easter dinner, and you sat in your child carrier on the table and you slept through the whole meal! A lot of people stopped by to look at you because you were so darn cute!

In 2010, when you were three years old, you didn’t get an Easter basket. You got an Easter bucket! It was a Star Wars sandbox pail that we filled with all kinds of goodies. One of the items was a chocolate bunny rabbit. You ate the bunny rabbit’s ears first!

In 2011, when you were four years old, you and I made Easter sugar cookies together! You helped me roll out the dough, stamp the shapes, and frost the cookies! One of the cookies that you really liked was of a baby duck, which we frosted yellow (except for the bill, which we frosted orange) and gave a dollop of black for its eye. We also went to the Easter Egg hunt at Lancaster, Calif., City Park.

Last year, when you were five years old, we were living in the condo in Palmdale, Calif., and we had spent all day Saturday together. When you woke up Sunday morning, I mentioned that the Easter Bunny had left something for you at the front door! The Easter basket was a good mix of toys, candies and clothes I had picked up for you just the week before on our drive from Wisconsin to California.

After a little breakfast, we went to the Easter Egg hunt and festivities at City Park in Lancaster. At the end of the egg hunt, one child had just a couple of Easter eggs in his basket and was afraid that he wouldn't receive a reward for turning in the eggs (All the children received some candy and a little toy for turning in the eggs.), so all on your own you offered to share some of your eggs with him! I was so very proud of you for being so kind and generous.

I will miss you tomorrow during Easter. I hope you have a good day, though, and that the Easter Beagle brings you everything you wish for! We are next scheduled to get together on April 26, but hopefully we will see one another once before that date as well.

Love,

Dad

Our hike of Red Rock Canyon State Park

I bet you don't remember this hike - you were barely two years old at the time! It's the first big hike we took after moving to Lancaster, Calif., and we did it four years ago today.

It was to Red Rock Canyon State Park, north of Mojave, Calif. We walked through some areas where the canyon walls were made of pure black lava rock - it was quite a sight!

During a rest stop, I let you out of the child carrier that I had on my back, and you sat on a boulder of lava that is about 13 million years old. That's what the photo at left is of. The cool dinosaur T-shirt I bought for you in Green River, Utah, a few months before. I still have your hiking hat shown in the picture!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our expedition!

Up, up and away...my beautiful balloon

Hot air balloon over our house
in Lancaster, Calif.

Do you remember the hot air balloons that used to fly over the green house in Lancaster, Calif.? Usually on Sunday mornings, beginning around this time of year, a whole bunch of them would take off in the desert west of where we lived and fly over the house.

Though the balloons were some 1000 to 3000 feet above us in the sky, they were 75 feet tall so could easily be seen. Their brilliant rainbow colors looked very pretty against the clear blue sky as floating quietly upon the gentle wind.

I always wanted to take you to a balloon launching, as watching the them be filled with helium and then rise off the ground is an impressive sight. Wouldn't it be fun to go up in a hot air balloon?

A rose of hope from our cherished past

Here's another old photo I stumbled upon, one of a blooming rose in a row of flower bushes that grew in front of our house when we lived in Lnacaster, California (You always called it the "green house" because it was painted green!). I believe htis photo was taken in September 2010.

For me, this blooming flower is a symbol of hope of when we'll be able to see one another again, unfettered by the lies others have told. We've shared a lot, my son, and though some hate me so much that they're willing to hurt you by keeping us apart, I know that one day truth and justice will prevail.

When that day finally arrives, the first place I will take you is to where I grew up, so you may meet your Grandma and Grandpa Bignell, who also have suffered from other peoples' hatred because they have not been able to see you. If we are there in spring, summer or early autumn, one thing you will notice are all of the wonderful flowers your grandma has planted. It is quite impressive, and the varieties all are native Wisconsin plants that attract quite a number of birds and butterflies. There are no roses, but the blooms are beautiful nonetheless.

I love you, Kieran!

Getting together on Wednesday nights

One year ago today we got to spend the evening together. It was a Wednesday night, and I picked you up after preschool. I was living in the house off of Avenue K in Lancaster at the time.

We had a great time playing with all of the new toys we'd picked up since Christmas; I remember us having adventures with the "Star Trek" action figures and the Sheriff Jack cowboy set we got at the Hart Ranch gift shop. We also built play lasers out of the old wooden and plastic tool kits I'd bought for you long ago.

While being with you always brightens my day, that night us getting together was particularly nice. Jane had just spent the previous week with me, and I dropped her off at the airport that morning so she could head home. It was a bittersweet morning, but at least I had you to look forward to later in the day. Thanks for being such a wonderful son!

Recall your Imaginext space robot?

Do you remember your Imaginext space robot? It was a toy you had as a preschooler when we lived in the green house in Lancaster.

It was a tall figure in which you could place an astronaut who then would manuever the robot around, usually when exploring a planet!

Typically we played with this space robot when playing with the Imaginext space station. Our astronaut in his robot suit would go out and exploring only to be attacked by a space alien! Sometimes our astronaut won, sometimes he didn't.

Our 'Six Million Dollar Man' DVDs

I have been spending the last few nights watching old "Six Million Dollar Man" episodes on DVD. I'm up to season 4, having started to watch the show when we were still together in the green house in Lancaster.

You were utterly fascinated by the box that the DVDs came in. Besides having a hologram on the top of the box that showed the Six Million Dollar Man running toward you, when you lifted the lid a recording went on that recited the show's opening words: "Steve Austin, astronaut, a man barely alive...(etc.)" You loved to open that lid again and again and puzzled over exactly how words could come from a box!

One other "Six Million Dollar Man" memory I have of you: Whenever the opening sequence ran, there are a couple of seconds where a doctor, with his back turned to us, is watching Steve Austin run on a set of monitors. You'd always ask, "Who is that guy? Why is he doing that?!" and get really exasperated by it!