Immediately after leaving Walden Farm on Saturday, Mommy wanted to stop by some “cute” antique shops in downtown Nolensville.
I spotted a creek behind the shops, so you and I did the guy thing and opted for the outdoor exploration adventure as opposed to looking at beautiful junk in stores.
Our original agenda was simply to find rocks and sticks to throw into the water.
However, after you realized the creek was swarming with what appeared to be tiny tadpoles, you decided to “catch a tadpole” instead.
First, you called them: “Here, tadpoles! Come to me!”
Then you used a stick as a fishing pole, hoping to catch a few of them. I joined you, of course.
It didn’t take long at all before you thought you caught one, and boy, were you proud!
Granted, it was just algae… as it was each time after that.
But in your mind, there was a real possibility of actually being able to catch tadpoles simply by placing a stick down into the water for just a few seconds at a time; with no bait attached.
I love your fascination with fishing. Never mind the irony in the fact our family doesn’t even eat fish or any kind of meat.
Still, it’s as if it’s ingrained in a little boy’s mind to want to go fishing with his Daddy. Likewise, I want to “go fishing” with you.
You and I could have stayed out there at the creek all day, but Mommy eventually came back from looking around at the shops; happy to see us doing “guy things.”
Our recent fishing trip has inspired me to already consider buying us a small 2-man tent to put out on the back patio of our new house once we move in.
This past weekend my family visited Walden Farm in Smyrna/Nolensville, Tennessee. (It’s a 30 minute drive from downtown Nashville, TN.)
I have a feeling I could pretty much type anything I wanted to and no one would notice, because obviously, the pictures really tell the story here.
In the process of seeing these 14 picture collages below, you’ll get a good idea of why your family would have a great time if you were to visit Walden Farm.
But in the event there’s actually anyone actually reading the words to this story, not just checking out the fun pictures, I’ll do a quick narrative.
Parking is free and so is admission, but you do pay a couple of bucks per activity. We spent a total of $18 on all you see below, including the pumpkins.
I think my son Jack’s favorite activity at Walden Farm is the hayride.
It’s sort of like a mobile scavenger hunt, as your family tries to find all the semi-hidden spooky objects; like an eyeball, Frankenstein, a spider, etc.
There is also Toddler Town, a place that I am convinced Jack could hang out at all day and never even think about food.
It’s basically like a backyard, equipped with a gravel-filled toy table. Jack enjoyed scooping up the rocks in bulldozers, alongside dinosaurs.
There is also a dirt hill that he enjoyed rolling the bulldozers up and down.
Like any good pumpkin patch/farm, there are animals to see and feed.
And a tractor pull…
And those cut-outs where your family can transform into farm-themed characters.
Don’t forget the hay maze!
Jack wanted some pumpkins, so we paid just $1 and he was able to choose 2 really strange-looking ones; which he used as “lasers” the whole ride home.
As we were loading up back into the car, I pointed out to Jack a hedgeapple tree.
In case you’re unfamiliar, hedge apples (also known as Osage oranges) are basically a prehistoric fruit that no longer serve as food for animals today.
Hope you enjoyed learning about Walden Farm. Maybe your family can check it out in person!
While my fellow journalists, writers, and bloggers alongside me enjoyed the finest steaks (and I’m genuinely happy for them, by the way!) I meanwhile enjoyed whatever the creative chef of the hotel’s restaurants prepared for me.
(I am pictured below in between new friend Chris Brewer and Malcom Hogan on Automotive Addicts.)
I hope to be the coolest vegan you know; not pretentious or judgmental. I chose this lifestyle not because of animal’s rights, but because my eczema (dshyodrosis, to be exact), my 22 years of constant sinus pressure and reoccurring sinusitis, my acne, and my allergies to animals all went away permanently, within 48 hours of me adopting a plants only diet; consistently of only vegetables, fruits, grains, beans, seeds, and nuts, what I call “The Big 6.”
For dinner at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, I had a veggie pasta dish and even a vegan sorbet dessert.
For lunch the next day they prepared a vegan burger patty for me, alongside an array of veggies and fruit.
Of course it was wonderful.
I know this may sound contradictory, but I’m not a picky eater…
It’s okay to laugh to yourself quietly on that one.
But really, I just love anything that’s vegan. And when someone goes the extra mile, like the crew at Ponte Vedra Inn & Club did for me, it really means a lot.
I never want to draw extra attention to myself in how I eat, but at the same time, I am passionate to share my story of natural healing with others who are open-minded to learning what might work for them as well.
So, with that being said, if you’re planning on visiting Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, just tell the waiter or waitress your about vegan needs, and they will be able to discreetly take care of you.
Thanks for reading Family Friendly Daddy Blog today, and please, if you have any curious questions about this plant-based lifestyle, please leave a comment.
I’ll be quick to respond!
Also, I invite you to read my other Vegan Friendly Reviews:
Last week I had the privilege, as a car reviewing daddy blogger, to be flown from my home in Nashville down to Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Pompano Beach; about 20 miles from Jacksonville, Florida. I was invited to the Toyota “Family Reunion” where the updated Sienna, Camry, and Yaris were featured and available for several hours of drive time.
There were 48 of us journalists, writers, and bloggers attending the 2 day event along with me.
We were all given around 6 hours during the 2 days to drive all versions of the updated Sienna, Camry, and Yaris; as Toyota provided dozens of the vehicles for us to choose from.
I admit, I took full advantage of every minute of drive time in the beautiful palm tree filled landscape of Pompano Beach.
Toyota provided multiple drive routes for us to tackle with our driving partners, but I often found myself and driving partner so caught up in conversation about the car, and admiring the sunny location, they we would get off course, then just use the navigation system to help us get back to the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club where we were staying.
From there, we would pair up with new partners and cars.
I guess you could say I was “professionally joyriding.”
As for the 3 vehicles being featured at the Toyota “Family Reunion” Press Preview, I’ll start with the Sienna.
It was the first Toyota vehicle I ever reviewed, back in September 2013; in fact, it’s what got me started regularly reviewing cars for my daddy blog here.
With the updated 2014.5 model, I noticed a lower dashboard, easier to access controls, and of course their new Driver Easy Speak feature which enables the driver to use the cars speakers to communicate with whoever is in the back seat.
The acoustics are designed in such a way that if you are in the backseat, it’s almost like the driver’s voice is inside your head, like your conscience or something. That’s the best way I can describe it.
Moving on the Camry; I had never been in one my entire life until this trip! That’s ironic, considering that it has been the best selling car in America; 12 years in a row! Since it’s introduction in 1983, more than 10.2 million have been sold. And there are currently 6.6 million on the road today.
Something else I want to point out about the Camry is how American made it truly is. The production of the Camry employs 7,000 U.S. workers and the vehicle contains 75% North American content.
I view Toyota as more of an American car company than many official “American” based car companies. I realized that back in the summer when I reviewed the Highlander and saw the sticker on the door, showing that it was built in Texas.
My last vehicle to drive was the new redesigned Toyota Yaris; which has adopted more of a European look. As expected, I really enjoyed it; especially because I got to choose between a stick shift or an automatic.
You better believe I chose the stick shift. It’s a lost art these days to drive a stick and I am just the classic gentleman for the job.
In fact, I’m interested in driving more stick shifts when I review cars from now on, but I get it that there are less of them out there.
I hope to review the Yaris, as well as the Camry, in upcoming months. I really enjoyed driving them both in Pompano Beach, but unlike the Sienna, I haven’t already reviewed them back in Nashville with my family.
It will be interesting to me to see how those vehicles mesh with my family. I can see my son Jack really liking the 5 door Yaris.
He would say, “Daddy, this car has 5 doors? I didn’t know cars could have 5 doors!”
My job here today has been introduce you to the newly updated Toyota Sienna, Camry, and Yaris. I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse, as I know I definitely enjoyed getting to be a part of this Toyota “family reunion.”
Stay tuned for more Lexus/Toyota/Scion reviews right here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog! I am reviewing a 2015 Scion FR-S the week of November 11-18 for my son’s 4th birthday.
They believe that the characters, like Walter White, who began selling meth to provide for his family after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, should have no place in a “kids’” toy store.
Appropriately, or should I say inappropriately, the Walter White action figure comes with a bag of meth as one of his accessories.
I get it that that’s not something I would want my nearly 4 year-old son playing with.
However, I wanted to explore the situation to make sure there’s not a double standard in place here…
In other words, if certain parents are concerned over Breaking Bad action figures, does that mean they’re okay with other toys that are currently being sold there and have been being sold there?
Let’s take a look at what I found…
Near the front of the store are the video games. As you can see, several of them have the “M for Mature” rating, containing profanity, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, drugs, gore, and violence.
As far as other action figures, Toys “R” Us also sells The Walking Dead (which is another popular show from AMC) in which you can run over a zombie with a motorcycle, Game of Thrones (which I hear is full of nudity), Chucky (a violent, possessed doll) and Friday the 13th (featuring the popular serial killer, Jason Voorhies).
Notice all the weapons here too; all currently for sale at Toys “R” Us. Granted, there is an indicator on each of these packages to tell you what age is appropriate for a child to have the toy.
But still, if we are to find these toys offensive anyway, I suppose the age indicator is slightly irrelevant.
Please note that these toys are in the same aisle as WWE wrestling action figures and Ninja Turtles.
Which, speaking of…
I quickly saw the slippery slope here…
The age indicator tells me that Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and GI Joe are all appropriate for children under the age of 10.
So I suppose the weapons are excusable because they are used to fight the bad guys… though you can just as easily buy them too, along with their weapons.
I feel like I’m definitely seeing some double standards here. This is my understanding:
There are people who are upset about Breaking Bad action figures being carried at Toys “R” Us because that glorifies drugs and violence.
However, Toys “R” Us has been selling video games that contain profanity, sexual content, nudity, alcohol, drugs and violence that is easily arguably much worse that what is featured in the series Breaking Bad.
An action figure is just a representation; whereas a video game actually shows the content on the TV screen.
You can’t buy the Breaking Bad DVD series at Toys “R” Us, but you can buy these video games show here.
Not to mention, our society quickly dismisses the toy weapons of characters which cater towards children, in the name of self-defense and military.
If we should be offended Breaking Bad, shouldn’t we also be offended by the other stuff too, to some degree? Where do we cross the line? Apparently, with a bag of meth as an accessory… but not all this other stuff.
