Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on December 17, 2014December 18, 2014 parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

It was important to Mommy and I that we had your 4^th birthday party (nearly a month ago now) at a unique place. Having it in Bricks 4 Kidz (a Lego play center) was definitely the right decision for us!

Turns out, your friend Jacob, who was very present in the letters I wrote to you about your own birthday party, had his 5^th birthday party this past weekend at the tractor store his Daddy owns.

Mommy stayed home and took care of some things back home, as you and I had a “dadventure” to his party.

You were able to take advantage of the DVD player on the Lexus RX 450h. Coincidently, you happened to be watching a birthday episode of the Berenstain Bears.

I am confident to say that it was one of the most unique birthday parties we’ve ever been to. Right when you came in the door, you got a Nerf dart gun as a party favor.

That’s right. Everyone who attended got their own dart gun, along with safety goggles. How cool!

The tractor store was set up as a shooting range for you and your friends.

However, your favorite part of Jacob’s party was the balloon room. Yes, just a small room full of 150 balloons.

You had a ball… literally!

Actually, you were the first one in the balloon room, but it didn’t take long before Jacob came in and joined the organized chaos, along with several other friends.

Even your teacher Ms. Michelle was there!

Towards the end of the party, Jacob’s daddy pulled up in a bulldozer and dropped off some snow for you and your friends to play in. Seriously, how awesome is that?

I loved watch you and all your friends run to the snow!

And nearby, there was also a tractor that showered bubbles into the air for you to pop.

You and I had a great time together on our dadventure. I can’t wait to test out that dart gun with you in our new house!

Love,

Daddy

Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!

2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review

Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

2 Comments Posted on December 17, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Lego Hospital You Built At Your School

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Yesterday when I walked in your classroom at KinderCare to pick you up, I noticed that a couple of your friends were helping you build the largest Lego project I’ve ever seen you do.

You showed me how the huge hospital only had one chair for the patients to sit on. I saw a Lego man leaned back; while a line of a dozen or so homemade Lego men (4 small blocks in a T-shape to represent a person) waited in line for the chair.

Another actual Lego man was hanging from the roof, though I’m not sure why.

It appeared as if you were the foreman of the construction project, as your friends Xavier, Jacob, and Joshua assisted you.

Turns out, that was the case.

When I dropped you off this morning, your school director Mrs. Tonya explained there was a slight disruption right before we walked in.

Apparently, one of your friends who was not part of your construction project tried to take a Lego piece off of it:

“No! That’s Jack’s! You can’t touch it! He’s still working on it!” your friend Joshua explained to other student; as Mrs. Tonya explained it to me.

It’s pretty cool to see you in this role of project manager among your friends. From what I’ve seen when I pick you up each day, you’re never the kid who is highly vocal; leading others in that way.

Instead, what I am seeing is you leading your friends through ideas and activities. I like that.

Anytime you receive a new Lego set, we build it together; only for you to take it apart a few hours later, using its unique parts to combine with other unique parts of other sets.

You love the wrecking ball you received with one of your birthday gifts from last months.

The way I feel, all these countless hours playing Legos at home are yielding the results in your play time at school.

I will gladly take pride in seeing you as a creative innovator.

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on December 16, 2014December 18, 2014 funny, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Two years ago, when you had just turned 2, Mommy and I took you to go meet Santa Claus for the first time at the Bass Pro Shop in Nashville.

Last year you expressed zero interest in seeing Santa again, so we let you off the hook.

But this year, your best friend Sophie just happened to be visiting Nashville again since she moved nearly a year ago, in February.

As expected, you brought your illuminating sword we had bought you the night before at Marvel Universe Live. Just as appropriate on her end, Sophie brought her Anna doll.

I enjoyed watching the two you play together in front of the fish tank with your gender-specific toys.

Having still an hour to go before your appointment with Santa, we decided to hang out at the Lexus RX 450h that our family was reviewing this week.

With Sophie’s 4^th birthday on December 21^st, we decided to give her both her birthday and Christmas gifts there in the back of the Lexus; which sort of transformed into a stage, as we parents watched the endearing entertainment.

Your birthday gift to Sophie was very special; a penguin from Whole Foods- the exact same one as you have, who you named Pingy.

We still had a solid 30 minutes or so after, so we headed back into Bass Pro Shop to check out the activities for kids; like coloring funny pictures, racing cars, engineering trains, and “hunting.”

When it came time to go see Santa, we learned that Sophie is troubled by gloves; she just doesn’t like them.

So I explained to Santa and he agreed to remove them for the picture, which he gladly agreed to as he did his best to hide the confused look in his eyes and as I tried not to laugh. Notice the picture below of him removing them…

As you can see from the picture at the very top, Santa was wearing no gloves for the picture of you and Sophie on his lap.

And of all random things, the one and only thing you asked Santa for was… a pinball machine.

Yes, a pinball machine. Granted, our new house is going to have more space than our town house that we’ve been living in all these years, but still, I don’t think you’re exactly sure of what a pinball machine really is.

Turns out, I learned that last week your teacher Ms. Michelle created a pinball machine concept for your class to play with. So that’s where you got the idea. Now to figure out how I’m going to arrange that with Santa. Time for me to start Googling “small pinball machines”…

Fun and unforgettable memories were made, that’s for sure. And if it all works out, we’ll be visiting Sophie again the day after Christmas, while reviewing another Lexus.

Love,

Daddy

Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!

2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review

Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

3 Comments Posted on December 16, 2014December 18, 2014 parenting, reviews, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

4 years.

Dear Jack,

Having visited the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con this past June in Atlanta and seen all the Marvel characters there, Mommy and I decided it would be a good decision for our family to drive the luxurious Lexus RX 450h to downtown Nashville this past weekend to see Marvel Universe Live!

Even though we live in Nashville, as a family we only visit downtown a few times per year. So I took advantage of using the GPS to remind myself how to get to the Bridgestone Arena, while we all listened to classic Christmas tunes on Sirius XM.

I am pleased to say that the show was completely appropriate and relevant for you; having just turned 4 years old a few weeks ago.

You have recently gained great interest in watching Power Rangers on Netflix. It was that same type of thrilling, over-the-top action in the Marvel Universe Live show that you were exposed to, only instead of on a laptop screen, you got to see it live in person, while sitting in between Mommy and Daddy.

I paid attention to all the families around us and they seemed to be as excited as we were to be there.

One of my favorite parts was the getting to see the nonstop motorcycle tricks. Conveniently, most of the Avengers (Captain America, Black Widow, Bruce Banner before he becomes the Hulk, Wolverine, Spiderman. etc.) all drive motorcycles while constantly “popping wheelies.”

I was so impressed when Captain America jumped up a ramp unto a ledge; it had to be at least 15 feet high!

And of course there were constantly explosions going on; one of the bad buys even “caught on fire” and ran around on flames.

Mommy’s favorite part was when Spiderman “stood upside-down” on the Green Goblin’s glider.

Speaking of flying, there was a lot of that going on the entire show!

I’m pretty sure your favorite part was when Bruce Banner turned into the Hulk.

How awesome!

The crowd went wild when that happened. It was awesome to see. Our seats happened to be right where that was taken place.

However, my warmest memory of Mommy and I taking you to see Marvel Universe Live was during intermission. Our friends the Van Dykes ended up winning the giveaway I did on the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

So as we were speaking to them, I happened to look down at you, as you were sitting on Mommy’s lap, looking to the aisle with your hand raised up in the air.

I then saw that a vendor was selling illuminating toy swords and you wanted one. It didn’t help that Jackson, the Van Dykes’ 3 year-old son, had gotten one at the beginning of the show.

I offered to buy you any $15 Transformer you wanted instead, knowing we were going to Target the next morning…

All I can say is you’re one lucky kid. It didn’t take much more than a frantic look from you, knowing that was your only chance to get one of those swords, and you had convinced Mommy and me to bascially beg the vendor to take our $25 so we could get you that sword.

And boy you were proud. Just as I expected, this sword was not simply an impulse buy.

The next morning, Mommy and I found you in bed, clutching the sword. From there, we went to go see Santa at Bass Pro Shop; and you guessed it, you took the sword!

We had a wonderful time as a family and I would recommend Marvel Universe Live to any families who would like to see non-stop action, explosions, fires, motorcycle stunts, martial arts, and “flying” Marvel characters.

I hope Marvel Universe Live returns to Nashville next year!

Love,

Daddy

Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!

2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review

Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

3 Comments Posted on December 15, 2014December 18, 2014 car reviews, parenting, Uncategorized

2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review

For the rest of this week, go ahead and expect to see several upcoming exciting stories about events that took place last week, while our family was fortunate to review the 2014 Lexus RX 450h from a family friendly perspective…

But first, I would like to highlight the features of this vehicle that stood out the most to our family of three.

In my “2 Minute Walk Around” video above, I mentioned that driving the Lexus RX 450 is like when Super Mario hops in the cloud and drives it. With this vehicle being hybrid, you can’t really hear the engine, providing for an extremely quiet ride and idle.

As you can expect from a Lexus luxury vehicle, the cabin itself is like a really classy lounge. My wife always loves it when we review a vehicle with heated and cooled seats.

This was the first time I actually used them myself. Obviously, as you can see from these photos, things got a bit frosty; so I definitely took advantage of the “bun warmers” feature.

I know this may sound like a peculiar feature to highlight, but I really loved the gear shifter. Granted, this was an automatic transmission. But ergonomically, the shifter handle is in the perfect place and I really liked how the handle was a bit longer than most; it somehow made it glide more naturally than most vehicles I have driven.

Like every Lexus SUV I have ever reviewed, all I have to do is just press the button on the “fifth door” and it closes by itself. That’s always fun.

As for my 4 year-old son Jack, it was very obvious what he liked most about the Lexus RX 450h; the DVD screens on the back of the front screens, with Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound (15 speakers.)

It was like Jack’s own private theatre in the back seat.

One of his aunts just happened to send him a Christmas present which included a Berenstain Bears DVD.

After I saw how special he felt back there, I decided to cash in some points at Best Buy and let him pick out another DVD.

He chose Disney’s Dinosaur, which is perfectly appropriate and relevant for him at this age.

There’s my quick overview. If you have $60,190 to spend on a new luxury SUV, I can’t imagine how the 2014 Lexus RX 450h would be a wrong choice for your family. I didn’t even mention that fact it averages 29 miles per gallon!

So stay tuned for upcoming posts this week involving the 2014 Lexus RX 450h; including going to see Marvel Universe Live, Santa Claus at Bass Pro Shop, and a Nerf birthday party where they shipped in snow for the kids to play in!

Catch up on the entire series of the Lexus RX 450h Weekend. A lot of exiciting things happened!

2014 Lexus RX 450h 5-DR SUV (DVD Player Equipped): Family Friendly Review

Dear Jack: Marvel Universe Live- Family Friendly Review (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Meeting Santa With Sophie At Bass Pro Shop (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Jacob’s 5th Birthday Party In A Tractor Store (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: The Old Abandoned Silo Tower On Main Street in Spring Hill, TN (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)

Dear Jack: Our New House’s Shutters, Mailbox, & Interior Paint (Lexus RX 450h Weekend)