My email to you for May 4, 2013

Here is my email sent to you May 4, 2013, in case you do not receive it:

Dear Kieran,

How are you doing? I’m doing fine, though I miss you very much. There’s not an hour in the day that goes by that I don’t think of you!

Hopefully, we will be able to get together on Friday (May 10). Our visitation for April 26 still has yet to be made up, and the Family Center said that next Friday will work for us to get together. We also are scheduled to get together the afternoon of May 24. We will be able to see each other a couple of times this month!

How is school going? What recent books have you read? Are you still studying the oceans or have you moved on to a different topic in science class? How did the spring concert go? I can’t wait to see you again so that you can fill me in on all that you’re doing in school!

Did you know that Sunday is a special day for many Americans? It is Cinco de Mayo. Many Americans celebrate it as a day of pride of Mexican heritage and culture, much like we celebrate the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. The day originally celebrated a major battle in which the Mexican Army defeated the French Army, which invaded Mexico in the 1860s. Mexico is the country south of the United States; when we lived in California, we were very close to Mexico (especially when we lived in San Diego!). Did you celebrate or learn about Cinco de Mayo in school? Maybe you will go to some Cinco de Mayo events on Sunday in the Twin Cities.

Another big day coming up this week is Tuesday (May 7) – It’s National Teacher Day! When I was a teacher, I received a great card from one student on Teacher Day. I taught language arts and grammar to kids, and her card was full of spelling errors and said “Thanx 4 beeing a grate teecher - U lern us stoodents reel goode!” I think I still have that card somewhere and will have to show it to you someday. Be sure to bring an apple to your teacher that day and wish her “Happy Teacher Day”!

I bet you were surprised by all of the snow we received Thursday! Minnesota and Wisconsin usually don’t get snow in May – and if we do, we don’t that much! It should melt very quickly, though, and then we can enjoy the green grass, warm breezes, and sunny skies of spring. I hope to get back out on the trail and do some hiking once spring returns – this weekend, though, I am going to take down my snowshoes and go walking through the woods on them!

Have you read any good books lately? I have. It was called “No Jumping on the Bed” by Tedd Arnold. Despite being told by his parents to not jump on his bed, a naughty little boy named Walter ignores them and keeps seeing how high he can go. He keeps ignoring his parents and keeps going higher and higher. Guess what happens to Walter? You’ll have to read the book and find out! If you’re school library doesn’t have the book, I bet you can get it at the city library when your mother takes you there.

Well, that is all for now. I love and miss you very much! I can’t wait to see you in the week ahead!

Love,

Dad

Our Star Trek movie action figures

With the new "Star Trek" movie coming out in a few more days, thought I'd share with you some memories of the action figures we had from the last movie. You had all of them!

You liked the Uhura and the Captian Kirk action figures the most for some reason. The pony tail broke off our first Uhura, and it took a while for me to find a replacement one, but we did! Then I think our Sulu or Captain Kirk broke, but I was able to tape him back together.

The belts never stayed on them, but we the phasers did a fairly good job of being in their cupped hands. Sometimes we taped them in place to keep them there!

There were both tall and short ones, so we had two of each character! Usually we played with the small ones, though, because they fit with the transporter and the bridge play action action we had. They also were closer in size to our Star Wars action figures, so we were able to have the two interact.

I think the above picture is of the tall ones, because Chekov is missing, and he wasn't in the tall set.

We had lots of other Star Trek movie tie-in toys, too, and I'll have to bring them up in future entries!

Enjoying real maple syrup

I had pancakes with real maple syrup for breakfast today, and it brought back memories of how you liked real maple syrup, too!

Having grown up on a farm eating only real maple syrup, I never liked the imitation stuff, such as Aunt Jemima Syrup, which has a maple flavoring but doesn't come from maple trees at all (It mainly comes from corn syrup!). So when we went grocery shopping together, I always bought real Vermont maple syrup, even though it was quite expensive.

So you also grew up having real maple syrup on your French toast sticks and waffles.

One day while at Denny's, you got pancakes, but they served you fake maple syrup. When you took a bite of it, you made a face and exclaimed they didn't give you maple syrup!

Like father, like son!

You're No. 1!

Did I ever tell you about the great exchange we came up with when you were about four?

One of us would say to the other, "You're No. 1!" The other person then would respond, "No, you're No. 1!" Then we'd both point at one another and at the same time say, "We're BOTH No. 1!"

We had lots of little exchanges like that. Sometimes we'd recite/exchange lines from books or TV shows we'd seen. "Knuffle Bunny", "Green Eggs and Ham" and "The Book that Eats People" come to mind!

Our hike into the Devil's Punchbowl

Outside the nature center at
Devil's Punchbowl, April 29, 2009.

Four years ago today we hiked the Devil's Punchbowl in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest. As you were only a couple of years old, I carried you on my back as we walked down into the punchbowl and then back up it.

Snow melt flowing from the higher San Gabriel Mountains - standing about 8,000 feet above sea level - cut the deep canyon that is the punchbowl. Uplift and pinching from nearby fault lines turned the sediment layers up to 80 degrees on their sides. It's truly a fantastic place!

When we got all done with the hike and had a snack, you played with my trekking pole in a pine grove near the nature center. After seeing the trees' fallen cones, you got a little confused and started calling them "pineapple trees"!

Then we went into the small nature center there, where they have live animals caught in the park, usually poisonous snakes. You were super fascinated by that and in the weeks ahead kept asking to go back to see them again!

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

Our first visit to Calico Ghost Town

Four years ago today we went to Calico Ghost Town near Bastow, Calif., for the very first time! It's an Old West town that used to actually exist near a silver mine!

We went on a train ride near the mines. Afterward, we went into the mines themselves!

Then we went shopping at the various stores. You also got to pan for gold! You got about a thimble-full.

Following our visit, we went shopping at the outlet stores in Barstow. I remember buying you whole bunch of new summer clothes!

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

Recall our hike along Lake Piru?

Watching a bug cross the road near Lake Piru,
Calif., on April 28, 2010.

Three years ago today we took a hike along Lake Piru, a reservoir near Santa Clarita, Calif. The water is held in a canyon, so the mountains rise straight out of the water in a really cool effect!

For me, the highlight of the hike was seeing a condor fly overhead. We spotted one searching for food near the lake; even at 500 feet above us, its wings dwarfed those of the raven that sat on the road just 20 feet away.

For you, though, the highlight was watching this huge bug cross the road in front of us (see picture at above right)! You must have spent close to a half-hour following it and were so disappointed when it finally disappeared into the grass!

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