Photocopied football book for you!

One of the books we checked out from the Menomonie Library that you were unable to take to your mother's place was "Successful Sports: Football." It seemed to be the book you were most interested in when we stopped at Dairy Queen and then went back to Grandma and Grandpa's to make our football game.

Well, I photocopied the book and stapled the pages together for you so that you can read it whenever you like! I will give it to you when we next get together on Saturday.

I must admit that the book brought back some memories for me. It was published in 1997 and so had photos of great players from the 1990s, like Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, and Deion Sanders!

Your Scooby Doo action figure

Do you remember your Scooby Doo action figures? One of them was Scooby Doo, and his legs and head moved so he could be in different positions. Best of all, you could press a cutton on the back of his neck, and his eyes would pop out!

You were really into Scooby Doo as a preschooler, always watching the DVDs I had of the show. If I recall correctly, the one episode you liked to watch the most was "What a Night for Knight".

The Scooby Doo came with a package of the entire gang. We actually had another Scooby, as he and Shaggy also came with the Mystery Van we purchased.

Recall your I Can Do That! card game?

Do you rmember your I Can Do That! card game? It was a Dr. Seuss game in which you had to draw three cards and do silly things, just like the Cat in the Hat would.

If you succeeded in doing the task, such as "Take giant steps around a chair with the fish under your right arm," you got to keep the cards. Whoever had the most cards at the end of the game won. But the fun of the game was in doing the silly stuff rather than trying to win!

When I told Grandma Bignell about the game and how much fun we had playing it, she bought one for your cousin Rebekah. Fortunately, you got to play it with your cousins Rebekah and Bryan and me during a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Bignells in December 2013!

Your Kai-Adi-Mindi action figure

Do you remember your Kai-Adi-Mindi action figure? He appeared in the first three Star Wars movies and for whatever reason was one of your favorite action figures to play with when a preschooler.

Usually with just a few facts, I can figure out exactly why you like or dislike something. Our psychologies are pretty similar. But you always stumped me on Kai-Adi-Mundi!

Still, the mystery of not knowing is one of the great pleasures of being a parent. It means you are a unique person with thoughts and beliefs all your own, and I take great joy in discovering what they are!

I still have the Kai-Adi-Mundi action figure and will give it back to you. He is missing his hands, though! Here is an online entry about Ki-Adi-Mundi and his life!

Remember Star Wars' pop-up book?

When visiting bookstores as a preschooler with me, one of the Star Wars books you often enjoyed looking at was "Star Wars: A Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy." In fact, I think we got a copy of the book at the library in Lancaster, Calif.

With each page were several illustrations that popped up and flaps that could be pulled to create scenes from the various Star Wars movies. Among them was the cantina from "A New Hope"; it as so elaborate that it almost looked like a mini playset!

Another scene had the big battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker from "Return of the Jedi." Sometimes you'd like to take the two characters and have a light lightsaber battle between them!

Two years ago today: Aboard USS Midway

Trying on aviator goggles
 in the USS Midway gift store.

Two years ago today we toured one of your favorite places to go in San Diego: The USS Midway aircraft carrier.

We began the tour with a walk through the ship's brig and then the engine room. I have some neat pictures of you looking into the ship's boilers.

Then we went up to the deck where the airplanes are worked on (when the ship was in operation, of course), and you got to play around in the aircraft cockpits they set up for kids. Then we went to the conning tower (I may have the term wrong) and played in the ship's command center and visited the ship's "captain."

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

Two years today: In Disneyland

Two years ago today, we spent the day in Disneyland!

Unfortunately, I don't have too many photos from that weekend - sometimes my batteries ran out of power, and my camera has seen better days. But I did get one nice shot of you, wearing a Nightmare Before Christmas hat!

I do recall that we went into the haunted mansion for the Nightmare Before Christmas ride during the weekend!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our trips during that Christmas season!