Remember playing 'Scary Monster"?

With today being Halloween, I thought I'd share my memories of playing "scary monster" with you! When we were in the green house in Lancaster, you would pretend to be taking a "nap" on the sofa and then say, "Dad, Dad, I think I hear something!"

I'd say, "There's nothing there!"

"There was, there was!" you'd say.

"I'll go check and show you that everything is okay!"

Then I'd go into the hallway where you couldn't quite see me, and I'd say really loud, "There's nothing here. Now you go back to taking your nap!" I'd start walking back to you and go, "Hey, what was that noise?" Turning around, I'd go, "Oh my God, what is that?"
Then I'd make loud monster growling noises and go "Aggh!" and pretend to slam myself into the wall and slide down it.

A second of silence would pass (You'd be peeking over the sofa to try to see what was happening.), and then I'd start walking with a limp like a zombie toward you, making monster growling noises and saying, "Now I can eat that little boy!"

You'd jump off the sofa and run screaming into the kitchen, where you'd break out in laughter!

Happy Halloween, Kieran!

Recall your B. Meowsic Keyboard?

Do you remember your B. Meowsic Keyboard you received one Christmas? I wanted to encourage your interest in music and so got it for you.

You really liked it - but not for the reason I purchased it! The keyboard had different tunes that could be played, and there was this one Spanish-lyric tune that you absolutley loved to play over and over, but it drove me nuts! You also liked to speak into the microphone, but not to sing along!

Still, I wanted you to keep the keyboard as I tried to interest you in the different sound that each key made so that I might show you how to play a tune. That either was a little advanced for your age, or I didn't quite know how to teach that skill (probably a little of both!).

I think, though, that the keyboard did contribute a little to your interest in understanding and playing music. As I got you other keyboards, your interest was piqued, and you seemed to remember skills learned on the B. Meowsic!

Your Lincoln Logs Frontier Junction set

Do you remember your Lincoln Logs Frontier Junction set? We used it to build a mini-fort/general store. It came with a cowboy and a horse.

The toy wasn't quite your cup of tea, mainly because it fell apart easily during construction and especially once you started playing with it! That was a bit frustrating for you!

I probably should have waited to get it for you until you were a bit older, but I loved Lincoln Logs so much as a kid, I was certain that you did, too! I probably was older than you though, when I got my set.

We still put the Lincoln Logs to good use. We'd use the pieces to build fences or walls for our army men and superhero action figures during their battles!

Remember hiking to the dry lake bed?

Celebrating that we've reached
the shore of the dry lake bed

Three years ago today we hiked the El Mirage Dry Lake Beds east of Lancaster, Calif. It's in the Mojave Desert below the back range of the San Gabriel Mountains.

The day we were there, the dry lake bed wasn't entirely dry, though! Rain had recently fallen, so there was an inch or two sheen of water across much of the lake bed.

At this point in your life, you were able to walk on your own during our hikes, but the amount of mileage you were willing do varied each time; we didn't walk very far on this one. I think you were fairly excited about going to the nature center, though, and so wanted to cut this hike a little short!

Here are a whole bunch of photos from our adventure to the dry lake bed!

Remember your Thomas the Train PJs?

Do you remember your Thomas the Train PJs? You had two sets of them - one red and the other blue - that you absolutley loved to wear!

The PJs certainly must have been comfortable and warm; the material had an almost felt-like feel. But I think you really liked to wear them because you loved Thomas the Train!

We had tons of Thomas the Train toys and Thomas the Trian DVDs. We went through a period when you were two or three years old of when treated to a toy you always wanted a Thomas the Train engine or car!

Above is a picture of you wearing the red PJ set on Christmas morning 2010!

Do you recall your Green Lantern plane?

Do you remember your Green Lantern plane? It was an Imaginext toy and went with the all of the superhero toys made by that company (like the Batcave and the Joker's hideout)!

Perhaps because green was your favorite color as a preschooler, you had a definite affection for the Green Lantern, though there wasn't much on the air about him. I do recall a couple of Batman cartoon episodes involving the Green Lantern, though.

In any case, we often used the Green Lantern plane when taking astronauts on adventures to other worlds (usually a table in another room!) rather than as a superhero toy! Our Imaginext astronauts fit perfect into the cockpit!

Where we were four years ago today

Four years ago today, we spent the afternoon at California Adventure!

You enjoyed the water play area near what used to be the Farmers Exposition area (Now it's the Cars section) and got absolutely soaked! Fortunately, it was a warm day, so after a change into dry clothes, you were all okay!

You'd actually discovered the water play area the day before (on a Saturday) in our two-day excursion to Disneyland. So you were very keen on going back there Sunday and kept asking me when we would get to the fountains! The morning was a bit too cool to let you get soaked (I didn't want you to get hypothermia!), but by afternoon, the sun had fully warmed the theme parks.

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from that weekend!