Four years ago today: Mountain snow II

The view from where we went sledding.

Four years ago today we went back to the mountains to enjoy an afternoon in the snow!

The afternoon before (Jan. 23, 2010), we drove up into the San Gabriels to explore what was up there. I was so excited to find a winter wonderland that on the way back we stopped off at a sporting goods store and picked up a sled with rope and some other sundries for cold weather fun.

The following morning, we drove back up into the mountains. We went sledding down a very small hillside and tossed snowballs at one another!

Here's a couple of photos from our adventure together!

Sledding in Hudson at the SnowPark

On Saturday, Jan. 11, we went sledding (or more accurately snowtubing) at Badlands SnowPark in Hudson, Wis. The snowpark was a series of hills on which we could slide down with intertubes!

I bought you a bunch of new winter clothes for you for the adventure, including boots and snowpants. You loved the cool skull stocking cap I got and wore it over your Angry Birds stocking cap! You also wore your sunglasses - the same ones you had in California!

We did the bunny hill, which still was quite "fun but scary," as you said. You even rode your own intertube down the hill. There also was a rope that you grabbed onto it, and it automaticlaly pulled you up the hill!

Unfortunatley, my camera batteries went dead in the cold, so I was unable to take any pictures of us...

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!

My email sent to you Feb. 2, 2013

Oct. 4, 2011, San Diego, Calif.

Here is my email sent to you on Feb. 2, 2013, in case you do not receive it:

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing today? I had so much fun with you on Friday! It was great making the animal puppets, sharing some of Grandma’s baked goods, and playing with all of the toys. I am sorry that I did not bring any of the card games with me, but I will do so next time we get together, which is scheduled for March 1.

One way we can keep in touch until then is through email. As we discussed on Friday, you have the right to email me each week. I look forward to your response to this email. In that email, please send me a copy of your report card. It is very important that both of your parents know how you are doing in school.

Wacky Week at school sounded like a lot of fun! My elementary school didn’t have dress up days, though we got to do them when in junior high school (That’s when I was 12!). One of my favorite days was “Twin Days” when you and a friend dressed in the same kinds of clothes so you both looked alike! Believe it or not, coordinating all of that with a friend was very complicated. It sounds like the costumes and fun hats you and your friends wore took some creative thought, too!

I’m glad you liked the new stickers and play mats of the family’s house. I shall bring that back the next time we meet. We’ll have to come up with some names for the family members. Playing with our old cowboy gang of Sheriff Jack, his horse Luke, the Deputy, Calamitous Jane, and Baby Kieran (Whaa!) was a good time, too.

Do you remember the Russian submarine that we used to go into at San Diego? It was the one where people called each other “comrade” when talking to one another in it (I’ve attached a picture of you standing next to the sub). Anyway, I am editing a book now about the submarine. In the story, the submarine’s former captain decides he wants his old ship all to himself rather than allowing others to visit it, so he and a few mean guys steal it! I can’t wait to find out how the good guys get the submarine back.

Have you read any good books lately? I have. It was called “One Zillion Valentines” by Frank Modell. It’s about two friends who decide to make a valentine card for everybody in their neighborhood in hopes that people will send them back a valentine. Their goal is to receive one zillion valentines! I bet your school or city library has the book if you want to check it out.

Are you enjoying Minnesota’s snow? I understand that we are supposed to get some more this week. I bet you’ve gone sledding, maybe at school? Where I went to elementary school, we had a sledding hill behind our building and went sliding every recess during winter – except climbing the hill took a lot of energy, so we were all tired when we went back to class!

Well, that is all for now. I love you and miss you very much. I look forward to reading your email to me this week!

Love,

Dad

My email to you from Dec. 22, 2012

Here is my email to you sent Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012, just in case you do not receive it:

Hi Kieran,

It was so good to see you yesterday! I had a lot of fun and am very happy you enjoyed all of the presents from Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Chris and Aunt Susie, and Santa!

I received your email as well yesterday. It was a little odd, though, as it appeared to be written earlier in the week though the date stamp was Friday night.

Thank you for the birthday wishes. I remember very well the night that you were born, and based on what Grandma and Grandpa have told me, the days we were born were very similar! I had to drive through snow to get to the hospital where your mother was, and so did my dad have to drive to the hospital to where my mother was! It also was nighttime when we drove, so it was very dark.

I appreciate that when we were together you sang the songs you did in your Christmas program. You have a wonderful voice, and I’m very impressed that you were able to remember all of those words! I am sorry I was not able to be at the programs this year, but hopefully I will be at them next year. I bet getting on the stage to sing was a lot of fun!

It is great to hear that you like the snow. You always did when we went into the mountains after a snowfall. Do you have your own sled? My school had a sledding hill behind it that we always got to use during recess, so every year I got a new sled. All of my classmates and me always decorated our sleds with magic markers, drawing cool flames or airplane symbols on them.

I’m so glad you and your classmates brought toys to the TV station. There are many children who are less unfortunate than we are and so get very little or even nothing at all for Christmas. You helped to make many other kids’ Christmas very special rather than a sad day. Giving always is more fun than receiving, though it may not seem like that at first. I wish I would have known about your school’s plans, as I would have donated toys, too, for you to deliver.

You have a wonderful Christmas, and I hope you receive all that you ask for. I miss you very much and can’t wait to see you in just a couple of weeks!

Love,

Dad

My email sent to you on Dec. 15, 2012

Sledding in the Angeles National Forest,
December 2010.

Here is the email I sent to you on Dec. 15, 2012, just in case you do not receive it:

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I’m doing well though I miss you quite a lot and every day. I am very concerned, though, that I haven’t received an email responding to any of my three previous emails. Please confirm that you received this one with a response and have your mother send the previous emails as they have not arrived.

I am very excited because I get to see you next Friday on Dec. 21! We should have lots of fun playing games and playing with toys as well as reading a book or two, and just plain catching up on all that you’ve been doing. I’ll also be bringing lots of Christmas presents from me, Grandma and Grandpa, your Uncle Chris and Susie, and one or two that Santa left at my house for you!
 

Have you enjoyed all the new snowfall? It’s great for building snowmen and snow forts. When I was a little boy, we’d go sledding during winter. My school had a big hill behind it that we could take sleds up and slide down. I bet you remember the times we drove up into the mountains and went sledding together – my schoolmates and I used sleds just like the one we used.

What do you plan to do for Christmas vacation? While getting an extra day or two off of school was fun, I always missed my friends when I wasn’t in class and so wished for vacation to end! What do your friends plan to do during vacation?

Are you having a big Christmas party at school? I always liked the Christmas parties when I went to school because we exchanged presents, and everyone brought in fun foods that their mother’s or father’s made. It was neat to taste cookies and bars and other sweets other kids’ parents baked!

Have you read any good books lately? I bet you have, knowing how much you like to read and have stories read to you. This past week I read “Reindeer Christmas” by Mark Kimball Moulton. In the book, two young children and their grandmother find a hungry and lost baby deer in the woods. So they take in the fawn, feeding and nursing it back to health. Except when the deer grows up, they find it’s not exactly a deer! Can you guess what the baby deer grew up to be?

That is all for now. I love you and miss you very much and can’t wait to see you on Friday – and to get those missing emails!

Love,

Dad