A family full of veterans

My squad summer 1988 in Ft. Irwin, Calif.
I'm second from left, back row.

Today is Veterans Day, in which we honor our countrymen who have fought in wars. Did you know that you have a lot of veterans in who have served in the military?

Among the oldest is an uncle who fought in the Revolutionary War. He was in a militia that fought in upstate New York and Vermont.

We also have several uncles and a great-great-great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War. They all served in Wisconsin units and fought in places such as Tennessee, incuding the Battle of Shiloh.

Your great-grandfather - who your middle name comes from - served in the Army during World War II, though he didn;t have to go overseas.

Your Uncle Chris and I also served in the Army National Guard, though neither one of us ever were in a war. One day I will show you my medals and stripes!

Your picture is in a magazine!

Your picture appeared in an online magazine last week! Every few weeks I write an article about hiking for Seattle Backpackers Magazine and usually send along photos to go with the text.

My most recent article is about dressing kids for winter hikes. Of course, I had photos of you dressed for winter, from when we went up into the mountains after a snowfall while living at the greenhouse in Lancaster, Calif. (at right).

The photo shows us sitting in a sled together! You might remember that I pulled up the hill on the sled and then we went sliding down it together.

Here's the article!

The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs

This week I purchased a book for you - though I'm going to keep it for a few years until you're old enough to read it (Yes, it's going into the "Future Kieran" box)!

The book.magazine is called "The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs," and it's produced by Rolling Stone magazine. It's chock full of photos and stories about how 100 of their songs were written and produced.

What were the top 10 "best songs"? They were:
10. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
9. Come Together
8. Let It Be
7. Hay Jude
6. Something
5. In My Life
4. Yesterday
3. Strawberry Fields Forever
2. I Want to Hold Your Hand
1. A Day in the Life

How does that compare to you list of favorite Beatles songs?

Castle where Martin Luther stayed

Veste Coburg, Germany

You might remember that during our Tuesday telephone conversation, I mentioned that I had been to a castle in Germany where Martin Luther (who you're learning about htis week in school) stayed. Well, I found the photo!
 

The photo was taken on a very cloudy day, and with the picture being taken nearly 30 years ago, it hasn't held up well, but it's attached. It's a picture of the Veste Coburg, a huge citadel in Coburg, Germany, that I toured in January 1986 (the day the space shuttle exploded by the way).

In 1530, Martin Luther sought refuge at the Veste Coburg from his persecutors. He spent almost six months there under the protection of the Elector John the Steadfast. This was during the time of the Diet of Augsburg, during which the Augsburg Confession, one of the Lutheran Church's most important documents, was drafted. While at the Veste Corburg, Luther worked on translating the Bible from Latin into German.

I got to see the room where Luther stayed, but they wouldn't let us take pictures of it. The photo that is attached is the outside wall of the area where Luther stayed, specifically the part that looks like a house standing atop the castle walls at the photo's center. It's neat to think that nearly 500 years ago, Luther looked out the same windows at the very spot where I was standing! I remember that the castle also had a massive collection of medieval armor and weapons, as well as a modern art museum in it.

I sent the photo to your teacher!

Remember scaling the Kirk Rocks?

Nov. 8, 2009

Four years ago today, we hiked Vasquez Rocks (which you affectionatley called "the Kirk Rocks"!).

We'd been there before a couple of times, but on this visit, you were very keen to hike all the way to the top of Gorn Rock on your own! With a little boost from me, you were able to scale each set of walls to the next level up.

Our trips to the Kirk Rocks usually began with a walk to the Friday's Child Rocks (Where scenes from the Star Trek episode "Friday's Child" was filmed) and then a hike up the Gorn Rock (Where Captian Kirk fought the Gorn in the Star Trek episode "Arena.").

Here's a bunch of pictures from our adventure!

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!