Remember your transporter playset?

A couple of entries ago, I wrote about the neat "Star Trek" bridge playset you once had. I'm following up today with the transporter playset that accompanied it!

While the transporter playset had fewer pieces, it was a little cooler as it had a chamber in which you could place one of the action figures. By pressing a button atop the chamber, it made a shimmering sound and lit up blue. The action figure in the chamber then "disappeared" from sight.

We'd set up the transporter so it was at the back of the bridge playset. Then members of the crew could quickly leave the bridge and beam down to the planet!

The transporter play set came with a Captian Kirk action figure, so we actually had two of them! Sometimes we'd pretend one was the evil Captain Kirk from the alternative universe. Othertimes he was just an extra crewman.

A musical flashback to our past

Entry to Snow White's Scary Adventure
at Disneyland.

The other day while listening to NPR, one of the tunes playing between the reports was this old German folk song (The reports were about Germany.), and I knew I'd heard that song before - in fact, I'd heard it quite a lot before! I couldn't quite place where, and then it hit me - I'd heard it in Disneyland at Fantasyland. It was one of the many songs that played on the speakers in the background as walking by the Snow White and Pinocchio rides.

Oh, how I miss not being able to take you there! We had quite a number of great adventures at Disneyland, adventures that will I'll never forget. But that still falls a little short of being able to make new memories with you!

I don't know the song's title, but if I ever figure it out, I will post it here with a file of the song for you to hear!

Another outing to Moonlight Beach

Two years ago today, we went back to Moonlight Beach! It had became one of our favorite Sunday morning stops before heading off on another adventure before we had to call an end to our weekend.

By this time of the year, the Pacific Ocean water was starting to really warm up, so while initially it was a little cold shock to hit our bare feet, after that it wasn't so bad! Then, after spending some time at the water and playing in the sand, we'd usually go over the the conession stand and get some lunch or a snack (usually ice cream!), and then it was off to the beach's playground for fun!

My fondest memory of the beach, though, was standing in the water together with me holding your hands so that when the waves came in, they wouldn't knock you over (Though they really pushed at us!).

Here's some photos from the morning of Sunday, June 26, 2011!

Taken back to our Disneyland plants

Bird of paradise flower

While visiting a local nursery (a place where plants are sold), I was taken back to the many times that we visited Disneyland. One of the beauties of that place is its great landscaping with all of the wonderful flowers and plants.

The nursery had those cool shrubs that spiral around and can be cut into shapes like there were at the It's a Small World ride. It also had white gardenias (a staple of the Los Angeles landscape), the herbs that grow in the Storybook Land ride, and bird of paradise that lined the sidewalk each walk we took from the parking ramp to the park entrance.

Do you remember the distinctive fragrance that filled the Disneyland night, especially in Downtown Disney as we neared the exit gates or the trams? That was midnight jasmine, which blooms in the evening.

Remember your Star Trek bridge play set?

The new "Star Trek" toys that you like so much during our last couple of visits reminded me of the great "Star Trek" play sets you had when the last movie came out a couple of years ago. One of them was the bridge set that your action figures could play on.

The base of the play set was a plastic sheet that was the bridge's floor showingwhere all of the pieces went. It came with a large viewing screen and the captain's chair with helm station.

The other bridge stations came with the action figures that we bought. Of course, we had all of the action figures!

We often put the transporter station (That'll be another entry!) and bridge play sets together so that we could have been big adventure.

Remember Jack Sparrow and pirates?

On Friday when looking at Toys R Us for some more "Star Trek" characters, I came across some of the old Disney "Pirates of the Caribbean" action figures, and they brought back a flood of memories!

You really like Jack Sparrow and had him and a few other of the Pirates action figures. You also had a super big pirate boat for the action figures that we got one night at Disneyland.

When we were at the Disneyland Pieces of Eight pirate store in New Orleans square, we'd sometimes get the swords and other pirate gear and pretend to be dueling pirates. I'd say "Tell me where the treasure is, Jack Sparrow, or I'll run ye through!"

And when in San Diego, we'd sometimes go to the maritime museum where they had old sailing vessels that you could tour. You called the museum "the pirate ships" (though submarines were there, too)!

I also had a big picture book that I kept in the car about pirates that you'd look at when we made those long journeys between San Diego and Palmdale.

My letter to you for June 22, 2013

Here is my email/letter from June 21, 2013, in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran,

How are you this morning? I am fine, though I miss you more than anything! I had a lot of fun with you Friday afternoon and can’t wait to get back together again!

It was great fun looking at the human body book just like we used to do when we’d stop at bookstores. You were very good at finding the little skulls. The human brain certainly was interesting, especially how it is made up of little cells that send electrical signals to one another that allows us to do all that we do. It’s amazing how it can do that, isn’t it?

I’m so glad you liked the “Star Trek” guys I picked up. I shall get some more of them for you. I think they are called “Star Trek Pods” and the set includes the starship Enterprise and other toys. I also will put together the Lego shuttlecraft for you – it has a chair in it that all of your Lego characters can sit in!

You are really starting to learn your states as well – I was impressed with how many of them you knew on the world map puzzle! I’ve attached to this email a couple of photos of when we hiked into the volcano (and here’s a link to all of the photos from our adventure; mom will have to sign in to her Facebook account for you to see them). The volcano was called the Amboy Crater, and it was off of the old Route 66! The first picture shows the volcano in the distance, and the second photo shows you inside it.

Boy, have you gotten really fast! It was difficult to keep up with you when we were playing football (I guess that’s why you won both games!). I’m so happy that you remember how to catch the ball by using both hands and pulling it in to your chest. Sorry we couldn’t do the tackle drills like you wanted, but wrestling isn’t allowed at the center. Do you have any football jerseys? I bet by now you’ve outgrown your Philip Rivers San Diego Chargers jersey.

The Dr. Seuss card game is just as challenging as trying to catch you in football, I think. I will have to practice my skipping!

Have you set up your Hot Wheels car ramp yet at your house? And if you did, is car. No. 2 still going the farthest? I think it’s funny how the numbered cars that didn’t come with the ramp all went farther than the purple car that did come with it!

And how does your stuffie penguin like his new home? What other interesting things does he say?

Well, that is all for now. I am looking forward to seeing you again in just a few weeks. We soon will be able to start seeing one another every other week rather once every four weeks, and I am very excited about that. I’ve attached some pictures of our time together on Friday as well. Be a good boy, and I will see you soon!

Love,

Dad

 

June 21, 2013

June 21, 2013, in Long Beach shirt

March 26, 2009, Amboy Crater (Volcano)

March 26, 2009, in the center of
Amboy Crater (Volcano)