Birthday Cake for Moffat! #Blog365

 For years, my students have been asking me when Moffat's birthday is.  As a five or six-year-old, birthdays are a really big thing.  I have thought about it for a long time, not knowing what to tell my kids.  

The answer came to me very recently while I was organizing pictures.  I realized that it was ten years ago this Mother's Day weekend that Moffat took his first family trip to San Francisco. My, then, 9-year-old daughter, carried Moffat around for the entire trip in a backpack.

I have very fond memories of that Mother's Day, enjoying a nice, long walk along the beach of the Pacific Ocean.  We enjoyed a relaxing lunch at the Park and Beach Chalet, at the very west end of Golden Gate Park.  This trip marked the beginning of many trips that my family would take with Moffat in tow.  One reason I enjoyed having Moffat along, was that it gave me the opportunity to photograph the many spectacular settings on our travels without my kids making faces and not wanting mom to take pictures.  It also gave me the opportunity to take my travels back to my classroom to share with my students.

I would never have guessed at that time, that Moffat would be alive, and VERY well, ten years later. I am proud of the work that I have done in using him as a teaching tool.  To this day, there are over 10,000 pictures of Moffat across the country and a couple hundred students have adopted Moffat at home as part of our extended learning.

Outside of the classroom, it has been a joy to see Moffat being adopted by the next generation of young learners.  This weekend, Moffat enjoyed some birthday festivities with some of his younger fans.  Life is good when there is homemade birthday cake and sand castle cake to be had.  Moffat traveled safely in carseats as he went to the beach and then was later tucked into bed after a long weekend.  All the while, he was loved and well cared for.  My favorite picture is that of my own daughter, now grown, sharing Moffat with the next generation.

I dream of what Moffat might do in the next ten years.  He is something and he is part of the family.  Happy 10th birthday Moffat!!

Happy

10th

Birthday

​Moffat!!!