Remember going to the rock show?

Three years ago today, we attended the Rock 'n Gem Roundup, held at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. We had a blast!

Like an asteroid blast - you got to stand next to the fossil skill of a T-rex, which was so large that it could have eaten you whole! You also got to look at all kinds of other rocks; I believe it's one of the reasons that you're still interested in gems and minerals (When we were at the Minnesota Zoo a couple of weeks ago, you even bought a geode with amethyst in it!).

You won the drawing for free gems at the show, by the way, and got a necklace with a fossilized shell in it! In truth, I think they rigged the contest because they wanted to keep young children interested in their hobby (The Palmdale Gem and Mineral Club sponsored the event). Not that we complained!

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

Remember dressing up as a knight?

Nov. 5, 2011, Escondido Renaissance Festival

Two years ago today we attended the Escondido Renaissance Festival.

You dressed up as a knight in a Halloween costume I purchased. All of the festival workers, who also were dressed up in such garb, were delighted to see you all decked out and gave you lots of attention for it!

We spent a lot of time at the playground; there was a tire swing in particular that you liked. We also bought from a vendora "stuffie" pirate ship that you absolutely loved! It came with a little stuffie pirate!

There also was march of the queen and her court through the grounds, as well as a large mock battle that we watched.

I also remember that the day was a bit cool, but you seemed warm enough in the costume!

Here's a bunch of pictures from our adventure!

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!