Recall your parking ramp toy?

Do you remember your cool parking ramp toy we had at the grene house in Lancaster? It was the Fast Lane Street Linx Parking Garage, and we got it one afternoon at Toys R Us. It ook me about any hour to put together, but we got plenty of hours of fun afterward from it!

The elevator on it didn't work too well, but we had lots of great adventures driving cars around on it. Probably the most exciting part of it, though, was the cool spiral ramp that we'd let cars sail down to see how far they'd go when they cleared the bottom floor.

This was one of two parking ramps you had. The other fell apart (Though we kept the blacktop roads that went with it for our construction toys), so we got this as a replacement!

Your Radio Flyer Retro Rocket toy

Do you remember your Radio Flyer Retro Rocket toy? I actually bought it for you before you were born because I thought it was such a cool toy that you'd love!

And I was right, if I do say so myself! You would sit on it and push the buttons that played a countdown and made swooshing sounds. The seat also lifted, and sometimes you'd stick action figures, crayons, and other small toys in there!

You soon outgrew the toy, which was meant for toddlers (Your legs were too long to comfortably sit on it or push it around), but I kept it in my office as a decoration!

Remember your space shuttle toy?

Do you recall your space shuttle and launching pad toy? It was made by Fischer Price Imaginext, and we used it on lots of great adventures in which our intrepid astronauts would explore other worlds.

The shuttle had cargo doors that opened, so often you put Imaginext astronauts or Star Wars action figures in them. After pushing a button on the shuttle, a countdown would begin and then it 'd make a blast off sound, as if its rockets were firing!

Then you'd pick up the shuttle and with guys I was carrying in another of your spaceship toys, we'd fly the two crafts through the house to a table or desk and land the ship. Our astronauts then would explore the planet (and usually have to escape it)!

Remember your squishy goo toy?

Remember your blue squishy goo toy you had as a presschooler? It was a flexible blue tube filled with gel that you could squish in your hands. Inside the gel were plastic pieces of stars, planets and a crescent moon.

We picked up the squishy goo toy at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. I thought of the squishy goo and you because a couple of days ago I visited the science museum in St. Paul and saw some similar (but not the same) stuff (And yes, I picked up a couple of surprises for you that I'll share on Thursday when we next get together!).

You loved playing with the squishy goo! Unfortunatley, it eventually developed a pinhole leak and started fripping the gel, so we had to toss it. :(

Your trips through the state of Nebraska

Great Platte River Road Archway in Kearney, Neb.

You have been to Nebraska at least twice in your life, specifically September and October 2008 with me. The first time, we took I-80 across the state from the Iowa border to I-76 crossing into Colorado. The second time, we did the trip in reverse!

The September trip included a stop at the Great Platte River Road Archway in Kearney. It was a historical museum full of displays about pioneers and modern travelers following the Platte River west, and it stretches over the freeway. You loved all the cool exhibits! Later, we stopped in Gothenburg, Nebraska, and briefly went into a small historical museum there.

During the October trip, we drove through snow as crossing the Colorado border. Then we later stopped in Grand Island, where you got a toy Sesame Street telephone in which Elmo and Cookie Monster would talk to you when you picked up the phone!