Recall your construction crane?

Another one of your favorite toys as a toddler and preschooler was the Imaginext construction crane. It was a long truck with a crane that you could raise on its truckbed. At the end of the crane was a wrecking ball that could be used to knock stuff down!

Among those items was this cool conical tower made out of five pieces. We often used that tower as a "cage" or a building when playing with other toys.

The truck also came with two construction guys, who probably were your favorite part of the whole set! They often were used when we played fireman or spaceman with your other Imaginext characters.

Recall seeing the rare desert tortoise?

Kieran watching the desert tortoise.

Three years ago today we hiked the Desert Tortoise Natural Area in the Mojave Desert. The reserve was about 40 minutes north of where we lived in Lancaster, Calif.

Yes, we got to see the rare desert tortoise! We found one sitting outside of its den just off the trail. This particular species of tortoise has been on the Earth for about 2 million years but is facing extinction.

The highlight of the hike for you was finding the numbered posts along the trail. They corresponded to a guide that pointed out interesting sites along the trail. You turned it into quite the game to find the next numberered post!

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

Remember Palmdale's airparks?

At Joe Davies Airpark

Two years ago today, we went to the two airplane parks in Palmdale, California: Joe Davies Heritage and Blackbird airparks.

The Joe Davies airpark exhibits planes connected to the neighboring U.S. Air Force Plant 42, a sprawling facility where a number of the nation's premier military aircraft have been developed or manufactured during World War Ii and th Cold War. The Blackbird Airpark displays aircraft tested at the Air Force Flight Test Center on nearby Edwards AFB.

You always enjoyed going to them, though later when we moved to San Diego and could play in the aircraft on the Navy carrier and at the Marine base airpark, you kind of thought these two little airparks were a downer because you couldn't inside any of them!

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

A trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific

A year ago today we went to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif. This always was one of your (and mine!) favorite places to visit when a preschooler.

The day was perfect - a wonderful 72 degrees and sunny, so I couldn't resist taking us there! Back in the Midwest where I grew up, there were snowstorms or at least cold temps, and in the high desert where we lived at the time, the temps during winter usually only got into the high 50s.

After the aquarium, we walked around the harbor to some of the neat seaside shops and got ice cream. We also spent a little time in the aquarium where we played some game that netted you a toy Army man or two.

Unfortunately, I only have a couple of pcitures from this trip - the disc on my camera was full so only three pages could be taken!

Remember your Hot Wheels ramp?

One of the toys we played quite a lot with when you were a toddler and a preschooler was a Hot Wheels ramp. It was mad eup of three straight Hot Wheels racing track pieces, and using a plastic vice, could be held to a ledge. I hook it up to the glass table we had in the living room.

We'd zip cars down the ramp to see which ones went the farthest! It was a great to teach you colors, as we'd race the "yellow" car against the "green" car and so on. Because you had almost a tote full of cars, we could spend the better part of an hour sending cars down the ramp.

Ont time you used the racing track pieces as a "light saber," though, and started whacking stuff, so I had to put away the ramp away. But we eventually set it back up.

This was just one of many Hot Wheel and Matchbox toys that you had.

My email sent to you on Jan. 26, 2013

Here is the email I sent to you on Jan. 26, 2013, just in case you don’t get to see it:

Hi Kieran,

How are you doing? I’m doing fine, though I miss you very much and think about you every day. The good news is that we finally will be able to see one another again in just six days, on Feb. 1! I will enjoy catching up with you since I have not received your emails during the past months. Hopefully you have been receiving mine; I have kept all of my emails to you and will show them to you once we are allowed to see one another again.

We have much to celebrate when we see each other on Friday. First, there is Valentine’s Day! Do you get to exchange valentines with your classmates on Feb. 14? I always did when I went to school. We also had parties, too, usually in the afternoon. Everybody in school looked forward to them. We also got to make valentine mailboxes that we’d put on our desk for our classmates to drop valentines into. One year, I made a valentine box that looked like a gas station!

We’ll celebrate Valentine’s Day together on Feb. 1 with some of grandma’s yummy valentine sugar cookies! She also is baking another special treat that you’ll really like – it’s one of your favorite sweets!

The second thing we have to celebrate is your birthday! Everybody has birthday presents for you, and I can’t wait for you to open them. Is there anything special you wanted for your birthday this year? Last year for your birthday on Feb. 23, you and I went to Chuck E Cheese together in Lancaster, and you got a Transformer toy and an art set. We then played all kinds of games together. I had lots of fun with you!

There’s another big day coming up in February – President’s Day. We usually celebrate George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthdays on President Day, which is Feb. 18 this year. Speaking of Abraham Lincoln, today I saw a movie about him at the theater. It was a very good movie, and one day when you’re older I’m sure you’ll want to watch it. Some people said the movie is too serious, but you’re a very smart boy, so when you get older I’m certain you’ll enjoy it.

Have you read any good books lately? I have. It was about Abraham Lincoln! The book was called “Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek” by Deborah Hopkinson. Actually, it’s about when Abraham Lincoln was a boy, maybe 6 or 7 years old. He and his friend Austin have to get across a very dangerous creek but because there’s no bridge they run into problems. I bet your school library or the public library has a copy of the book that you could check you. Perhaps your mother or Grandpa Don could read it to you!

Well, that it is all for now. I can’t wait to see you in just a few days!

Love,

Dad

States where I've lived!

You've probably noticed from all of the entries recounting my life that I've lived a lot of places! Here's a list of all of the state's I've lived in:
>>Wisconsin (1965-1989, 1991-92, 1994-2002, 2012-current))
>>Minnesota (1989-1991)
>>New Mexico (1992-94)
>>Iowa (2002-2005)
>>California (2005-2012)

Through the Army, I underwent training in the following states (I didn't include Wisconsin or New Mexico as I was attached to those units located there.):
>>South Carolina, Fort Jackson (1983)
>>Georgia, Fort Benning (1983, 1984)
>>Minnesota (1986)
>>Nebraska (1987)
>>California, Fort Irwin (1988)