My family's house near Elmwood, Wis.

You might recall a few entries ago that I mentioned I went to kindergarten, first grade, and most of second grade in Elmwood, Wis. Well, I just found a picture of the house I lived in outside of Elmwood (see photo at right)!

The photo was taken from the living room and shows your Uncle Chris (on the left) and me sitting at the kitchen table. The front door is beyond us.

The house was very small - just a kitchen, living room, master bedroom, bathroom and bedroom with a half-basement. My family lived there from March 1971 to March 1974.

I shared a room with Uncle Chris. It was painted a light, turquoise blue. We also got very few television stations - two to be exact!

Where I went to kindergarten

Do you know where I went to kindergarten? When I was a little boy your age, my family lived on a small farm, and I went to kindergarten in Elmwood, Wis.!

Kindergarten was only a half-day, and I went in the morning. We had a class of 25 children, and there were two teachers. My best friend, Ronald Wolfe, who lived next to me, walso went to school there. Unfortunatley, I don't remember the name of my kindergarten teachers (Though I think my teacher was Mrs. Thompson.)! That's pretty bad, isn't it?!

I do remember my first grade teacher's name, though. It was Mrs. Rheil.

I liked going to school in Elmwood. My dad took me to lots of high school basketball games there. We had a very good team that won a lot of games. Our team name was the Raiders, and our school colors were red and white.

In second grade during March, my family moved to a new farm, outside of Knapp, Wis. (Grandma and Grandpa Bignell still live there!). At that time, I stopped going to Elmwood Elementary School and went to Knapp Elementary School!

Recall Charlie Brown Farm's dinosaurs?

Do you remember visiting the huge ceramic dinosaurs in Little Rock, Calif.? Three years today after a long hike, we stopped at the Charlie Brown Farms fruitstand in Little Rock to get a close look at the giants.

Each dino was nicely fenced in for our safety. Among the dinos was a nine-foot tall velociraptor, an apatosaurus, a flying pteranodon.

Charlie Brown Farms was a great place to go, as it was full of fun junk to look at it, lots of candy to pick out (and we always pigged out!), and all kinds of cool sodas to choose from. We usually grabbed a root beer!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from out visit to the roadside attraction!

Remember hiking Piute Butte?

Watching a bug cross the trail on Piute Butte.

Two years ago today we hiked the base of Piute Butte, the site of ancient Indian villages and the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, during the early afternoon. The butte is in the Mojave Desert, a few miles from where we used to live in Lancaster, Calif.

One of the neat things about the hike was the musuem, which was built into the side of the butte. So when we weent inside, we actually got to walk up and across boulders that were "inside" a building!

You were fascinated by all of the Indian artifacts that had been collected and were on display in the museum. During the hike, you looked for the numbered markers that told what was at specific viewpoints and made a game out of finding the next one!

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

Remember visiting the 'Star Trek' bridge?

Kieran takes command.

Three years today (Nov. 12, 2009), we visited the "Star Trek: The Exhibition" presentation in Hollywood, California. A traveling exhibition, the exhibition featured costumes, props, ship models, video footage and stage sets from the the show's various incarnations.

While I was really into the "Star Trek: The Original Series" displays of costumes and props, you were really into the mock-up sets of the Enterprise-D from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." How could you not be? It was like a cool playground! In fact, you didn't want to leave when we got to the Enterprise bridge set and wanted us to make up an adventure together.

You might recall that we got "Star Trek" shirts and hoodies there. Sometimes I wore the hoodie, and you always asked if you get one like that, too! Unfortunately, they didn't have a shirt that was small enough to fit you, so I bought one that you might later wear. Sure hope you still have it!

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

Recall visiting Museum of Man?

A year ago today we visited the Museum of Man in San Diego's Balboa Park. I admit, a month before I was a little concerned about taking you there, worried that you might not find it very interesting. Boy, was I wrong! You had a blast and literally begged me to take you back there!

We began the day with a trolley ride to the park's central square. Then we walked through the park's arcade to an open area at the art museum where we had lunch and looked at the sculpture garden. Then we went into the Museum of Man itself.

A good amount of time was spent at the Egyptian exhibit. You loved looking at the mummies and playing in the kids' learning area about Egypt.

The museum also had a neat exhibit on bones and a permanent exhibit on the evolution of man that you enjoyed. It was a long car ride there from Palmdale, though, plus you had a cold, so you were awful tired but still made the best of it!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our visit.

My email sent to you on Nov. 10, 2012

Here’s a copy of my email sent to you on Nov. 10, 2012, just in case you don’t receive it:

Hi Kieran,

I had fun seeing you, too, and am glad you liked the toys and candy. I will bring the Battleship game and some Christmas presents from Grandma and Grandpa Bignell the next time we get together.

I’m glad you got a chance to “vote”! Did you know that you actually voted for President Obama when he ran for office in 2008? I took you to vote with me and let you push the “buttons” on the screen for the candidates I wanted to vote for! Voting is very important and something we should do every election, so I’m glad you’re getting into the habit.

I can’t wait to see your Ninja costume pictures. I bet you looked cool! In the past, you’ve gone trick or treating as a Jedi knight, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, a doctor, Elmo and as Tigger (when you were a baby).

Speaking of Jedi Knights, I believe I mentioned that three new “Star Wars” movies will be coming out. The first one will be in movie theaters 2015, or three years from now. That’s a long time to wait, isn’t it?! A “Star Trek” movie comes out next year in 2013.

I’m glad Como Park Zoo has refurbished its kids’ area. When I was a little boy your age and went there, they had a cool kiddie roller coaster. My cousin Barry always got sick whenever he went on it, so his dad would take me instead. I always held my hands high up in the air when we went over bumps. In fact, I think your mommy and I went on that kiddie roller coaster together just before they closed it down.

I am a little concerned about this bully Logan you told me about. You should tell your mom about him so she can bring it up to the teacher or principal at your school, okay?

I had fun building and playing Bioncles with you on Friday. I hope you take them on lots of adventures! And I can’t wait to see your new skateboard. You always liked to watch the older kids do skateboard tricks when you were a toddler and we went to the park in Santa Clarita.

I love you and miss you very much! Have fun this weekend!

Dad