Hiking volcanic area four years ago

Atop the northern dome on Red Island,
the Salton Sea visible in the distance

Four years ago yesterday (April 15, 2009), we went exploring the remains of volcanoes in the desert! We drove all the way to the south end of the Salton Sea in California and hiked through four different areas, picking up rocks on the way.

Several thousand years ago, lava flowed up out of small volcanoes in this part of the world. Obsidian and basalt still can be found on the ground.

There's still lava not far underground, and it causes the water there to boil and steam up. Sometimes that water escapes to the surface in what are called mudpots, and we walked through a whole field of them!

After our adventure, we went to nearby Palm Springs, where we ate at Ruby's Diner and shopped at the downtown stores. I bought you a captain's hat at the hat store!

Here are a whole bunch of photos from our adventure!

A baby picture of you at 12 weeks old

Here's another baby picture that Grandma Bignell gave me of you! You are 12 weeks old in the photo and laying in your crib in your nursery. At that time in 2007, we lived in Crescent City, Calif.

You had the most beautiful nursery. It was all Classic Pooh - pictures, calendar, bedding, decorative storage boxes, etc.

One of the Classic pooh items you liked a lot was a mobile that hung above your crib. When turning it on, it would slowly spin about with each of the classic Pooh characters hanging on it and play the Winnie the Pooh theme song. You loved to watch it go around and around!

It was during that time that you took to the classic Eyeore stuffie. Until your stuffie bunnies came along a couple of years later, you and your stuffie Eyeore were inseperable! And yes, I still have that stuffie Eyeore!

Our last trip to Disneyland together

Standing in line for Buzz Lightyear ride, April 15, 2012.

One year ago today was the last time we went to Disneyland together. You might recall that Jane and I had the condo in Palmdale, and the three of us went there as a family.

We showed Jane all of the cool places that we liked to go in Disneyland - like the Pinocchio restuarant, the tea cups, It's a Small World ride, and the Jedi Academy.

Then we went across the way to California Adventure. We tried to get onto the Monsters Inc. ride (Jane liked Sulley), but the line was too long, and we didn't have much time, so we instead went to the Toy Story ride. You and Jane went together in one car, and I went on the one behind you.

My one regret about the trip is that you asked to go to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, but it was getting late, so I said, "Next time." But there was no next time. How I wish I could take you there today to enjoy that playground...

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

Hiking the Waterfall Trail

Three years ago today we hiked to a waterfall on the Waterfall Trail in Placerita Canyon near Santa Clarita, Calif.

I was so very impressed by you - you walked the entire way to the waterfalls and back, which was about two miles! For the previous year or so, I'd mainly carried you on my back in a child carrier during our hikes. But you were having lots of fun exploring and didn't mind walking at all!

We had tried to reach the waterfall twice before but were stopped first by rain and then by me making the mistake of taking the long route, which was too far your little legs. But this time we took the "best" route.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our hike! The picture at above left is of you hiking down the trail alongside Placerita Creek.

My email sent to you on April 13, 2013

Here is my letter from April 13, 2013, in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran,

Grandma Bignell and I had a wonderful visiting with you yesterday! We both were so very happy to see you again and were so very glad that you had fun as well.

Both of us were very impressed with your math abilities. You are very advanced for you age! For as long as I can remember, you’ve been very good at math. When you were only two years old, you started counting. By the time you were three, you could count up to a 100, and by the time you were four, you could count by fives and tens.

Playing games was a lot of fun, too. The card game you taught us was very interesting. Your cousins Bryan and Rebekah like to play games as well. They play everything from Candy Land to Clue and lots of card games, like Go Fish, Old Maid, War and lots of others. Bryan also likes to play Battleship and Stratego. When we were together, I was just starting to teach you to play checkers and very basic chess. What games do you like to play with your friends?

The U.S. map puzzle was a good time, as well. You know a lot of states and where they’re located! Do you know that you’ve been to 1 out of every 5 states? The states you’ve visited or lived in are California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. I can tell you lots of stories of what you did in each state and have pictures of you in most of them. What states what you like to go to?

I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the books at school. I also read a good book recently. It was called “Being Rude” by Joy Berry. In the book, a young boy who’s in kindergarten/first grade goes around doing all kinds of rude things to other kids, like cutting in line and talking out of turn. He soon finds that no one wants to be his friend at all! Will the little boy start being nice to others so he can have friends again? You’ll have to read the book and find out! I bet you can find it in your school or city library in the children’s section.

Watching you discover how the piano works also was fun. I’ve enjoyed watching you discover and learn new things. That you were so fascinated by the piano was not surprising, for you’ve always been interested in music. When we lived in Lancaster, you used to play my guitar, and I even bought you a toy one to play with when we were in San Diego. You also had a recorder (a flute-like instrument), drums, tambourine, and harmonica. In my office, you’d line up all of your stuffies, give them each an instrument to play, and then taking the guitar would give me a concert in which you played Beatles songs!

Have a good time at your concert Sunday! I wish I could be there to watch you sing. I love and miss you very much and will see you on again on Friday, April 26. I look forward to receiving your email, maybe with a picture of you at the concert!

Love,

Dad

Can't wait to see you later today!

You with Grandpa Bignell, winter 2007-08

I'm very excited about getting to see you today, Kieran! It's been a long time since we were able to spend time together.

I have a surprise for you, today! I'm bringing Grandma Bignell with me.

You actually have met her, though you certainly don't remember it. She and Grandpa Bignell took care of you from Decmber 2007-September 2008 when you lived with them. Also, when we were together in San Diego/Palmdale, you spoke to her weekly on the telephone.

She's very excited to see you again after all of these years. We'll all have lots of fun together playing games, with toys, reading books and having snacks.

I love you!

Our many, many hikes together

Vasquez Rocks, April 2011

This week I released my third book about hiking, "Headin' to the Cabin" (It's all about hiking trails in northwest Wisconsin and is dedicated to you!)). I always enjoyed taking you hiking with you when we lived together in California, and hopefully soon we will go hiking together across Wisconsin, Minnesota and many other states!

The first hike we ever took was when you were four months old. We took a trail on a ridgeline behind our house through a redwood forest.

When we lived in Lancaster, we usually hiked in the desert during spring and autumn but then when the temperatures got hot in summer, we'd hike in the mountains of the Angeles National Forest near where we lived.

Your favorite place to hike was Vasquez Rocks (You called them the "Kirk Rocks"), and you often asked to go there. You also liked just about any place that had sign posts so you could find and count the numbers!