My email sent to you Aug. 3, 2013

Here’s my email to you sent Aug. 3, just in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I’m doing fine, though I miss you like crazy! Hope you’re enjoying your summer. Unfortunately, your email is not working again, because I haven’t received any emails/letters from you during the last three weeks. Hopefully your mother can fix that for you.

The last month of summer, August, has arrived! That means school starts very soon. Are you excited about entering first grade? What day does school begin? Do you know who your teacher will be this autumn? Have you gotten your school supplies yet? Picking out school supplies and getting new school clothes always was one of my favorite parts of going back to school in autumn. Well, that and seeing my friends again after missing them all summer long! Living in town (I lived in the country) and going to summer school, I bet you got to see lots of your friends over the summer.

Next weekend is the Irish Festival in St. Paul. Hopefully you’ll get to go, especially since your name is Celtic! We went to an Irish festival together four years ago in California. You had a great time on the playground as we listened to an Irish band perform. Then ee walked through a medieval Irish village that had knights, and later you got to pet sheep and a border collie. We had fish and chips for lunch! Here’s a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure.

The following weekend, the Renaissance Festival begins. The festival is a huge medieval village, sort of like the castle area at Legoland. The festival lasts for several weeks, and has a couple of special weekends dedicated to the Scottish Highlands and to Ireland. We’ve gone to lots of Renaissance festivals in California; at one of them you got a Robin Hood cap and foam swords that you later pretended were “light sabers.” Here are some photos from one Renaissance festival we went to in 2009. Hopefully you’ll get to go to the festival in the Twin Cities during one of the weekends ahead.

Have you read any good books lately? I have. It was called “The Night Before First Grade” by Natasha Wing. It’s all about this girl named Penny on the night before she goes to first grade for the very first time. Why kind of things do you think she does that night to get ready for school the next morning? You will have to read the book and find out! I bet you can find it at your city or school library.

I am very excited. Do you know why? I am excited because I get to see you again next week! We get together again the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 9. Of course, I will bring a tote of fun things for us to do. Is there anything specific that you’d like me to bring? Just let me know in the email that you write during the next week (and be sure to send it from a new address as the old email apparently isn’t working). I miss and love you very much – see you on the 9^th!

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

My email for week of July 14-20, 2013

Here is my letter to you for July 20, 2013, in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I am doing fine, though I miss you very much! I did not receive your email this week – could resend it to me, please?

How has summer school been going? What kind of things are you studying? Have you finished learning about the presidents and which ones are on money? There are a lot of presidents to learn about, aren’t there?! In a previous email, I told you about my favorite president, Abraham Lincoln. Do you have a president that you like or admire more than the others?

What kind of stuff have you been doing for fun this summer? When I was a little boy your age, I lived on a farm near Elmwood, Wisconsin, and spent my summers playing outside. We had a big pile of sand that I could run my trucks and construction toys through all day long! I also liked to check out all of the animals on our farm, which were kept in different buildings. We had cows in the barn, two pigs in their own little shed, chickens in the chicken shack, and cats in our hay mow. Sometimes I also visited my best friend, Ronald, who lived next door. We thought it was amusing that both of our names started with the letters “Ro”!

Do you have plans to go to the State Fair later this summer? It doesn’t start for another month or so. It always is a lot of fun – there are carnival rides, farm animals, interesting displays, and lots of great fair food like cotton candy and corn dogs. I have not been to the State Fair in many years, and I hope you get to go since you live so close to it. The fair is held in St. Paul, and it’s much bigger than the Los Angeles County Fair that we used to go to in Pomona…you may not remember that fair, though, as the last time we went you were just three years old. Here are some pictures of it. 

Another great event in Minnesota held each summer is the Renaissance Festival. That is when people dress up like they live in the Middle Ages in England. People back then had castles, and there were knights! The festival also has lots of fun shows you can go to and neat costumes and toys you can buy. We went to a few Renaissance festivals when we lived in California; at one of them, you got a Robin Hood cap. At another one in San Diego, you dressed up in a knight costume! I hope you can go to the Renaissance Festival in Minnesota!

How is your baseball throwing and catching coming along? If you like, I will pick up a softball for us to toss to one another when we get together. The visitor center has a playground area outside that we can go to and safely throw the ball without worry about breaking windows. Just let me know!

We now get to see each other every other week, and we next get together on Friday, July 26 – that’s in just six days! I can hardly wait to see you again! I’ll bring the tote full of new stuff for us to do and with some of our old favorite standbys in it as well. Let me know in your next letter if there’s anything special toys or books that you would like me to bring.

Well, that is all for now. I love and miss you very much! I’ll see you on Friday!

Love,

Dad