Remember our hike in Nightmare Gulch?

Three years today we hiked Nightmare Gulch!

The canyon is deep in Red Rock Canyon State Park and absolutely otherwordly. Walls of volcanic ash rise up to 20 stories above the canyon floor and virtually no plants grow there.

You walked part of the way, but we went quite deep into the canyon, so I carried you on out in the child carrier. You had a lot of fun playing with the few mud puddles we found along the way!

Here's a whole bunch pictures from our adventure!

Remember hiking Mormon Rocks?

Four years ago today we hiked the Mormon Rocks in the San Bernardino National Forest. We'd often passed the rocks on our way to Disneyland and Pomona, so stopping there for a hike seemed like an idea that was long overdue!

We hiked the southeast corner group of the rocks, taking a trail that rose about 300 feet above the surrounding desert into the hogbacks. The San Andreas Fault runs only a few hundreds away from Mormon Rocks in Lone Pine Canyon.

When we were all done with the hike, you pushed the gear back to the truck as I took it off! You always liked to pitch in and help. Plus I think you were excited about going to McDonalds for a hamburger - which we did when all done with the hike!

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

A great day at Nickelodeon Universe

I had a wonderful day with you Kieran! I had a lot of fun, and we made some great memories, too!

We started the day with lunch at A&W at the Mall of America, showing each other all of our new neat stuff. Then we went on to Nickelodeon Universe and rode tons of rides! You really liked the bumper cars and one that whipped around when it went around corners.

After that, we went to Dollar Tree and got loads of football stickers for your sticker book and football cards for your collection. I was really impressed with the way you broke down the sticker book into a series of logical steps so that finding where they went would be easy! We then went to Kokomos for quesadillas and to paste our stickers into the book!

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

Do you recall your art easel?

Do you remember your art easel? I always wanted you to enjoy a broad range of experiences growing up so that you would have a lot of different interests and find out what you most liked to do. So for Christmas I purchased the art easel for you.

After setting it up, your first experience with it was painting with watercolors. You liked to hold the paint brush over the carpet, though, and the paints would drip, creating a mess! So after that, I pretty much limited the easel to colors, markers and colored pencils.

The easel had a neat paper roll on it. After we used up one side, I unwound it and rerolled it so you could use the other side!

Remember playing 'Scary Monster"?

With today being Halloween, I thought I'd share my memories of playing "scary monster" with you! When we were in the green house in Lancaster, you would pretend to be taking a "nap" on the sofa and then say, "Dad, Dad, I think I hear something!"

I'd say, "There's nothing there!"

"There was, there was!" you'd say.

"I'll go check and show you that everything is okay!"

Then I'd go into the hallway where you couldn't quite see me, and I'd say really loud, "There's nothing here. Now you go back to taking your nap!" I'd start walking back to you and go, "Hey, what was that noise?" Turning around, I'd go, "Oh my God, what is that?"
Then I'd make loud monster growling noises and go "Aggh!" and pretend to slam myself into the wall and slide down it.

A second of silence would pass (You'd be peeking over the sofa to try to see what was happening.), and then I'd start walking with a limp like a zombie toward you, making monster growling noises and saying, "Now I can eat that little boy!"

You'd jump off the sofa and run screaming into the kitchen, where you'd break out in laughter!

Happy Halloween, Kieran!

Recall your B. Meowsic Keyboard?

Do you remember your B. Meowsic Keyboard you received one Christmas? I wanted to encourage your interest in music and so got it for you.

You really liked it - but not for the reason I purchased it! The keyboard had different tunes that could be played, and there was this one Spanish-lyric tune that you absolutley loved to play over and over, but it drove me nuts! You also liked to speak into the microphone, but not to sing along!

Still, I wanted you to keep the keyboard as I tried to interest you in the different sound that each key made so that I might show you how to play a tune. That either was a little advanced for your age, or I didn't quite know how to teach that skill (probably a little of both!).

I think, though, that the keyboard did contribute a little to your interest in understanding and playing music. As I got you other keyboards, your interest was piqued, and you seemed to remember skills learned on the B. Meowsic!

Your Lincoln Logs Frontier Junction set

Do you remember your Lincoln Logs Frontier Junction set? We used it to build a mini-fort/general store. It came with a cowboy and a horse.

The toy wasn't quite your cup of tea, mainly because it fell apart easily during construction and especially once you started playing with it! That was a bit frustrating for you!

I probably should have waited to get it for you until you were a bit older, but I loved Lincoln Logs so much as a kid, I was certain that you did, too! I probably was older than you though, when I got my set.

We still put the Lincoln Logs to good use. We'd use the pieces to build fences or walls for our army men and superhero action figures during their battles!