Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on July 8, 2014 parenting, Storytelling

Why I’m The Most Vanilla Dad My Son Knows

February 21, 2013 at 10:07 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

You love dads.

Sure, you love me, but I’myour dad. You’re used to me by now.

No matter how adventurous I am with you, you are still always fascinated by every other dad you meet.

A prime example is our friend Dave.

We went to visit him, his wife Karen, and their brand-new daughter Avery.

As the picture clearly demonstrates, you felt quite comfortable with Dave. Mommy held Avery and Dave held you.

(Just to be clear to anyone else reading this letter, I’m the guy in the green vest and Dave is the guy with the red shirt.)

Before we left their house, Dave gave you one of his business cards; he’s a Realtor in the Nashville area. You played with his business card all the way home.

Then once you got home, you placed his card in your little boy wallet with Mommy’s zeroed out gift cards. As I put you to bed that night, I asked you what your favorite part of the day was. Your response:

“When Leaf hold you.”

I should translate. Your refer to Dave as Leaf, and “you” means “me.” Your favorite part of the day was when Dave held you.

Even now, as I write this, you are upstairs asleep, with Dave’s business card underneath your pillow.

That’s right: You sleep with his card under your pillow. You really like Dave.

I think it’s cool to see how you gravitate towards other dads. It’s clear that to me that you find so much value in masculine role models.

As for the most part, you’re stuck with me. I’m familiar, predictable, safe, and normal. I’m vanilla.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on July 8, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting

The Generic Muppet Baby Version Of Yourself

February 20, 2013 at 11:32 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

As I look at this recent picture of you at The Good Cup coffee shop, I see a boy who is serious about his life ambitions.

If nothing else, I see a boy who is trying not to act too happy for the fact his parents are actually letting him consume a whole cup of whipped cream while they enjoy their coffee.

You look like a human being. I know that should technically be an understatement, but hopefully it makes slightly more sense when I show you older pictures of yourself.

The best way I can describe it is that you used to be the generic Muppet Baby version of your current self.

Your personality, your will, and your appearance were all much more basic back then.

And by back then, I’m especially referring to you before you were a year old. For example, I found this picture of our family from July 2011, at Little River Falls in Alabama.

Son, I’ve always adored you. I’ve always seen you as the most beautiful boy in the world.

However, when I see this picture, I think of the episode of The Family Guy where Peter Griffin carelessly uses his final wish from a genie to avoid being punched in the face:

“I wish I had no bones!”

At the time, you seemed as animated and detailed as you are now: You weren’t, though.

Maybe that’s something I’ve officially learned here recently; that in present tense, whatever age you happen to be, I will think you more progressed than you are.

In other words, a year from now when you’re 3 years old, I will look back at the picture of you above, at the coffee shop, and think, “What a Muppet Baby you were!”

Sure, alive is alive. But you come to life even more each day. You become more human.

It’s almost even freaky now that you and I have mostly legitimate conversations every day. You definitelyknow your first and last name now. You’re becoming a human citizen.

You really do have life ambitions. You shared one of them with me today:

“I drive an orange Jeep. I go to the parking lot. I wear my seat belt. I eat my crackers.”

As hilarious as it is for me to picture the 2 year-old version of you safely driving an orange Jeep to a parking lot to eat crackers, years from now that could be a reality.

I have to remember though, you’re technically the Muppet Baby version of your 16 year-old self.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on July 8, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting

May You Live In Interesting Times

February 19, 2013 at 10:55 pm , by Nick Shell

2 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

My biggest fear in life is not of public speaking or of heights; it’s that I’ll have to be bored for more than 30 minutes. Yes, that’s a giveaway sign that I’m part of Generation Y.

However, as long as I have you around, I don’t think that being bored will be a problem.

The clock does not generally seem to slow down when I am with you. You keep life interesting in your silly, weird, and challenging ways.

This morning I spent ten minutes wrestling you as you resisted me getting you dressed. I was actually sweating a little bit by the time we finally headed out the door. Seriously, you put up quite a fight.

While I generally don’t look forward to having to pin you down to get you dressed, it’s little things like that that keep life interesting.

I mean, the normal way to leave for work in the morning wouldn’t include such a physical and psychological challenge. But with you, it just might.

On the lighter side, your ideas of fun and passing time are much more different than mine.

For example, every night after your bath, you like to run into your closet and find a new treasure to carry to bed. Last night, it was a cow print cloth diaper.

This is especially funny to me because you never really wore your cloth diapers in the first place. But because you find entertainment in discovering random items stored in your closet, you selected the cow print cloth diaper.

I could tell you were slightly disappointed that your choice wasn’t as exciting as the one from the night before, which was one of your baby monitor speakers.

Even still, you committed to it. You did your best to convince yourself that you actually wanted to sleep with a cow print cloth diaper.

My life is not boring, thanks to you. Needless to say, I live in interesting times.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on July 8, 2014 Uncategorized

Review Of Sunburst Adventures Whitewater Rafting, Ocoee River

These days, each year for your wedding anniversary, you’re evidently supposed to post a picture on Facebook of yourself with your spouse on your wedding today, with a caption reading something like this:

“Happy Anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been (insert number here) wonderful years of wedded bliss…”.

Meanwhile, my wife and I were too busy on the morning of our 6^th year anniversary (July 5^th) to update our Facebook statuses…

We left at 6:23 AM in the Toyota Highlander to go to Benton, Tennessee for our 9:30 departure from Sunburst Adventures for whitewater rafting! I had been rafting several times thoughout my high school years, but mainly on the tamer Nantahala River near North Carolina.

But on the Ocoee, the ride is wild enough to require a guide. My wife had never been at all. It had been 9 years for me.

Simply put, going whitewater rafting was the perfect way to celebrate our 6th year wedding anniversary. I was particularly pleased with the set-up of Sunburst Adventures, as compared to other companies I have gone with in the past.

The guides were fun, free-spirited, and great at communicating the directions. (We loved our guide, Abby.) I was also impressed with the facilities as well; not run down at all.

The family of four that my wife and I were placed with in the raft were a great fit for us. Turns out, randomly, that the dad of the family and I graduated from the same small high school, 12 years apart; in Fort Payne, Alabama. We had never met until this weekend and only learned what we had in common halfway through the trip!

Going whitewater rafting brings people together. It’s not scary, but it is thrilling. So it only makes sense that my wife and I chose whitewater rafting as a way to celebrate our anniversary.

Basically, it’s impossible to not talk about how fun the trip was afterwards. You just can’t be bored doing something like that.

Plus, you get to be outside enjoying God’s green Earth, breathing fresh air, and feeling the sunshine.

Our son is only 3 and a half, so he’s not quite old enough for an adventure this thrilling. Until then, my wife and I have sort of decided to make it a new tradition to go whitewater rafting each summer.

Thanks for reading my newest Family Friendly Daddy Blog review! You didn’t have to, but you did. I wonder what I’ll review next?

3 Comments Posted on July 7, 2014July 7, 2014 Uncategorized

2014 Toyota Highlander: Platinum Package Including Pre-Collision System With Dynamic Radar Cruise Control

Let me clear up any confusion… Yes, I did indeed review a 2014 Toyota Highlander while on vacation in Lake Tahoe two weeks ago.

But that was a different one. It was was black. This one today is silver…

Plus, reviewing a Highlander while back at home in Nashville gave me the opportunity to appreciate some features I didn’t notice the first time around.

For example, the air was low one day in the front passenger tire, but I didn’t realize that on my own. However, I was alerted on the dashboard what was wrong.

So using the built-in GPS, I was able to find the closest gas station where I could fill up the tire. Had I not been alerted by the vehicle itself, I could have ended up driving too far on that tire; it could have went flat on me.

Another interesting feature I want to point out is the “pre-collision system with dynamic radar cruise control.”

Say you’ve got the cruise control set on 70 mph and everything is going fine… until you get behind a slower vehicle going 68 mph.

The Highlander (Limited PLT V6 FWD with Platinum Package) automatically slows down to match the vehicle in front of you. Pretty clever, actually.

There’s also a setting called “lane departure alert” that lets you know anytime you veer over into another lane by accident.

I’m not a high-tech kind of guy, but I have to point out that for anyone is who is, this is a smart SUV.

My brother-in-law, who is the epitome of high tech, set it up to where I could use my “dumb phone” (which has no Internet) over the speakers of the car.

That was the first time I’ve ever got to sync my phone up to a car. I felt special.

I will close on this note. I want to remind you that just because a car company is “foreign owned,” it doesn’t mean the cars it makes aren’t made in America.

Take a look at these pictures in which I circled in blue the phrase “Made in U.S.A.”

Meanwhile, there are “American car companies” that have the majority of their parts made and assembled overseas. I quickly recognize the double standard.

I am now inspired to start promoting where the cars are actually made. As you can see, this 2014 Toyota Highlander was made here in America. In Princeton, Indiana, to be exact.

Thanks for reading this week’s Family Friendly Daddy Blog car review. I’ll finish off with some stats:

Fuel Economy: 21 MPG combined/19 city/25 highway

Annual fuel cost: $2,500

Manufacturer’s suggested retail price with optional equipment: $42,945.00.

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