Watching splashdowns on television

One of my favorite things to watch when a little boy your age was the return of the astronauts from space. We were sending people to the moon during those days, so when they returned from their expedition, it was big news and on TV!

The astronauts would come back to Earth in a capsule that sort of looked like a cone. They would "land" in the ocean - which is why it was called a splashdown - where a helicopter would pick them up and take them to an aircraft carrier.

As the capsule descended toward the ocean, three parachutes would hope up to slow its descent. Once the capsule hit the water, the astronauts would bail out and then grab a life preserver attached to a rope and be pulled up into the helicopter. It was quite exciting to watch!

The importance of 'self-development'

Every once in a while in these entries, I like to discuss with you some important "values" to possess. Values are a sort of "rule" or guideline that you try to follow and live by so that you can lead a meaningful, happy life. A couple of values I've already mentioned are honesty and persistence. Another important is self-development.

A person never should think of himself as "finished," meaning that they've learned all that they need to know. The world is constantly changing, and we always meet new people. Because of that, we have to personally evolve or we will find ourselves isolated and left behind.

There are a lot of ways we can "self-develop" or "grow." For example, we should always keep learning about the world. We should always keep mastering new skills. We should always keep trying to understand ourselves and others (rather than limit ourselves to just being with a few people who we've known for a long time).

I know this is a heavy topic for a five year old! But I'm also writing these entries in case something ever should happen to me and we're unable to talk. When you're older, hopefully they will be useful guides and reminisces.

In what ways will you try to grow and evolve today and in the months ahead?

Halloween costumes you've worn

Halloween 2009

Do you remember all of the Halloween costumes you've worn through the years? I've made a list of them for you:
>2007 (8 months old) - Pumpkin
>2008 (1 year old) - Elmo
>2009 (2 years old) - Doctor
>2010 (3 years old) - Luke Skywalker
>2011 (4 years old) - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
>2012 (5 years old) - Fireman

Sometimes you wore different costumes in a year as we attended different Halloween celebrations during October. What's listed above is what you wore on Halloween itself while going trick or treating.

One year ago today: S.D. Safari Park

A year ago today we visited the San Diego Safari Park. It's a second "zoo" near San Diego, where they keep all of their large animals that there isn't enough space for at the main zoo in the city's heart.

I remember that you didn't want to go to the safari park, but once we arrived and walked through the cool main gates and you saw the park was landscaped like a lush semi-tropical African village, you went "Oooh!" and started having a good time.

Probably the two things you had the most fun doing was the pond we walked around in which you could feed the ducks (We spent a bundle on pellets!) and then feeding the lorikeets (We spent a bundle on lorikeet nectar!), which landed on your arm as they drank from your cup.

We also each had one really giant ice cream cone in a waffle cone that left us both super full!

Here are a bunch of photos from our time at the safari park.

One year ago today: Brick or Treat!

One year ago today we attended the Brick or Treat Halloween celebration at Legoland in Carlsbad, Calif. You went dressed up as a Jedi knight, and I let you carry a fabric sword as a light saber!

Among the highlights was going through the Legoland candy line, where you got to get all kinds of free goodies at different stations. At each station you had to say "Brick or treat!" We then looked through it all in the middle ages part of the park where you got to run about on the big wooded castle playground.

We arrived late in the afternoon, stopping along the way at the Barnes and Noble in Temecula, where we read a lot of Halloween books. That's because we stayed for the Halloween fireworks that were held that evening!

Here are a whole bunch of pictures from our visit to Brick or Treat.

Recall our hike at the dry lake bed?

Two years ago today, we hiked across the El Mirage Dry Lake Bed near Palmdale, Calif. It's a low point in the desert where water collects in spring as snow melts off the mountains, but it quickly evaporates in the heat and dry air. At one time, when the climate was more wet, it probably was a real lake.

There was a neat nature center at the dry lake bed that we went to before going on the the hike. I purchased a roadrunner stuffie for you there! You loved your roadrunner and often took it many places with you.

You were just getting old enough that you liked to walk on our hikes, so you went all the way out to the dry lake bed on your own. I was so proud! But alas, that really tired you out. I wore the child carrier on my back, however, so I hauled you back to the nature center (which we then went into to buy the roadrunner stuffie!)

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

My sixth email sent to you!

Here is a copy of my sixth email, sent to you today (Oct. 27, 2012), just in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran,

Hope you are doing well. I am doing fine, though I miss you like crazy and can’t wait to see you!
Which brings me to some good news: We should get to see each other in just a couple of weeks, the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 9! We will get to spend a couple of hours together. I have a fun afternoon of games and toys and books for us. Would you like me to bring anything special for you?

I did not receive your email responding to my last email (from Saturday, Oct. 27). Perhaps your mother sent it to the wrong address when she changed the email name. Hopefully you will be able to send the email to me Sunday (Oct. 28). Also, I have yet to receive your emails to my second and third emails to you. Perhaps you could resend those, too?

Have you decided if you will be Anakin or a firefighter for Halloween? Your cousin Rebekah is going as a witch for trick or treat. Your cousin Bryan, however, is in seventh grade and too old to go trick or treating, so he doesn’t have a costume. Is your school planning a Halloween party? What are some of the costumes your friends plan to wear?

I wish I could be with you this Halloween. Last year we had lots of fun at Halloween celebrations, going to Disneyland, Legoland, Sea World and the pumpkin festival in Santa Clarita. We even got to see the Halloween fireworks at Legoland! Here are a whole bunch of pictures from our Halloween celebrations we went to last year.

This afternoon I got to hear a Beatles radio program, “The Beatles Year,” that we sometimes listened to Sunday mornings last year on our way to various places. The program told how the Beatles came up with some of songs from their CD “With the Beatles” and then played those tracks. When we first got the CD and listened to in the car, you thought it was called “Breakfast with the Beatles” – which actually was the name of a radio program we sometimes listened to – and you would get frustrated with me because you asked to listen to “Breakfast with the Beatles” but I’d tell you the radio show wasn’t on. You’d say “It’s not a radio show!” Eventually we figured out you really wanted to her the CD “Meet the Beatles”!

Have you read any good books lately? This week I read “Oh No, Not Ghosts!” by Richard Michelson. It’s about a brother and sister who after going to bed at night keep hearing strange, scary sounds – like the floorboard going creeeeeak – and see something wriggling, sniggling, and slithering in the shadows. Except they don’t want to wake up their daddy, who is sleeping in the other room, because they don’t want him to know they’re scared. Guess what was making the sounds though? It was their daddy snoring!

Well, that is all for now. Be sure to have your mother recheck the email address and resend your emails! I love you!

Dad