car reviews

2 Comments Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, food reviews, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Jack: Our Day Trip to Pensacola (Ride the Lightning 2017 Toyota Prius Road Trip)

6 and a half years.

Dear Jack,

Mommy has 7 brothers, so that means you have 7 uncles on her side of the family. And since most of them live in different states scattered across America, it can be quite difficult for you to get to know them.

Fortunately, last week while our family was in Florida, you got to spend some great quality time with Uncle Joe and Aunt Rebecca. They recently moved to Pensacola, from northern California where Mommy grew up. (You remembered him from a couple of years ago when you swam at his pool).

Our condo was in Destin, which is just about an hour away from Pensacola.

So we took the 2017 Toyota Prius on a one hour drive to visit them, along with Grandma, for lunch at Jaco’s.

After we dined on pizza (mine had avocado instead of cheese to suit my vegan needs)…

We visited Uncle Joe and Aunt Rebecca’s new house, which is currently under construction.

You were less interested in the grand tour and more focused on putting yourself to work outside in the hot Florida sun.

Using a scrap piece of marble counter top, you smashed rocks into powder. Uncle Joe didn’t even pay you for your labor!

Well, actually, I take that back… He and Aunt Rebecca followed us back to Destin and stayed with us the rest of the week- and our first day there together in Destin, he took us out to lunch at a wonderful Mexican place called Don Pedros.

While we waited for the food to arrive, Uncle Joe and Aunt Rebecca helped you download fun dinosaur games on their phones for you to play.

As I sat across from the three of you, it became very obvious I was truly witnessing the dynamics of a young boy who was naturally enjoying getting to know his uncle and aunt.

But there was much more fun to come, as we then ventured over to the go-kart race track!

To be continued…

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Your Little Feet and Hands in the Sand for the 1st Time (“Ride the Lightning” 2017 Toyota Prius Road Trip)

1 year, 1 months.

Dear Holly,

It was everything I had hoped it would be, seeing your reaction to the ocean and the sand and waves.

As your Daddy, it was so rewarding to see your precious little toes in the sand. I got to see how you used both your hands at the same to pick up the sand then let it run through them.

It became very obvious to me that if you could, you would be perfectly happy spending all day out there on Miramar Beach.

But your favorite part was when I took you into the water. As you wore your “Sweetie” bathing suit that I adore on you, I stood with you in the shallow water and lifted you up as each new wave came to you.

You just loved it! You weren’t afraid of the waves at all.

There were a few times when, as I lifted you up as a bigger wave splashed, you would shake like you were crying. But each time I looked down and saw your face, you were laughing instead.

I know it was asking a lot of you, at just one year-old, that Mommy and I took you on a 7 hour road trip to Florida with your brother.

Fortunately though, you slept through most of the driving as we journeyed on in the 2017 Toyota Prius Three. Perhaps it’s not necessarily normal for parents to drive all that way to take such a young little girl to the beach… I don’t know.

What I do know is, I’m glad our family was able to make this trip happen. And because of how well you handed it, you’ve now got Mommy and me convinced that our next trip to Florida doesn’t have to be another year from now.

Hmmm… maybe this fall? Yeah, we might need to make that happen.

Love,

Daddy

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2017 Toyota Prius Three: Child Car Seat Space in the Back Seat/Putting the Car in Reverse and Park

As you may have recently read, my wife and I recently took our two young children on a 7 hour road trip from Spring Hill, TN to Destin, FL and back in a 2017 Toyota Prius Three. While I would definitely consider the Prius to be a compact vehicle, never once was space an issue for our family.

There even were times when my wife, who is 5’ 6” and 119 pounds, sat in the back seat between our 6 and a half year-old son in his front-facing booster seat and our 1 year-old daughter in her rear-facing car seat, as my wife needed to play with our daughter after she woke up from long naps.

 

While obviously, squeezing in between two kids’ seats wasn’t ideal or comfortable, it was possible. She made it work.

Out of curiosity, I tried sitting back there. I did it but it was quite a struggle. I’m 5’ 9” and 162 pounds, so I would say that a person any larger than me wouldn’t be able to accomplish this task.

Another thing that a 2017 Prius Three driver might need to know is how the gear shifter works. It’s different than what you’re likely used to, but once you get used to it, it’s almost simpler and more fun.

By default, the shifter is over to the right side. You have to slide it to the left, which places the car in neutral. From there, simply shift down to reverse or up to put the car in drive.

 

To place the vehicle in park, slide the shifter back to the right side, then simply press the “park” button which is right next to the shifter.

Hopefully my family’s recent road trip and vacation has been able to provide you today with useful information on the Toyota Prius Three.

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This is 36: Taking Shifts with My Wife, As the Baby Sleeps in the Car

As you know, our family recently spent a week down in Destin, Florida for a family vacation over Memorial Day weekend. As you can imagine, with a 1 year-old little girl in tow, we largely had to base our schedule and activities around her sleep schedule.

For example, on the way down to Florida, we left our home in Tennessee immediately after an early dinner so that we could get to our condo in Destin by 1:30 AM. This created an environment for our daughter to be able to sleep through the entire drive. Granted, we only stopped once during the 7 hour trip for a bathroom break; to help ensure she didn’t wake up.

Since this formula proved effective, we did the same thing for the drive back home from Florida. That’s right- just 2 bathroom breaks during the 14 hour round trip.

Uh… impressed much?

We continued to cater to our daughter’s slumber throughout the course of our vacation.

One day we took a day trip over to Pensacola where one of my brothers-in law and his wife have recently moved. After we toured their new home which is currently under construction, everyone decided to walk through some of the model homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.

So my mother-in-law and her husband (who were also in town for the weekend), my brother-in-law, his wife, my wife, our son, our daughter, and I successfully toured two model homes.

But as we drove to the next neighborhood, our daughter had fallen asleep in just a matter of minutes. I volunteered to stay in the driver’s seat of the 2017 Toyota Prius Three as our daughter took her afternoon nap behind me in her car seat.

There in the driveway of that model home, I pulled out the classic 1984 Ride the Lightning album by Metallica to enjoy for myself. Fortunately, the symphonic distorted electric guitars helped keep my little girl asleep. She’s not too picky when it comes to music, yet.

Even after my wife and son returned from the tour of that model home, they returned to the car, only to inform me that there was yet one more model home to visit before we made our way back to Destin.

Honestly, I didn’t mind one bit. It was peaceful and relaxing for me. It gave me not only a chance to think, but a chance to help my wife out by giving her some time to see something new and exciting and to take a break from constantly caring for a baby.

Of course, it was no surprise that less than 24 hours, my wife would be taking the next shift of “chill out in the car while the baby sleeps.” Because for lunch the following day, as went out for Mexican food for lunch, our daughter had fallen asleep in the car.

So I took my wife’s order, then eventually brought her food to her roadside, while the rest of us ate inside the restaurant.

This is just how it has to be right now. We’re used to it.

This is 36.

4 Comments Posted on car reviews, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

This is 36: We Took Our 2 Young Kids on a 7 Hour Road Trip to Florida (So You Don’t Have To!)

Brave. Ambitious. Heroic.

Those are buzz words that people like to throw around these days when referencing someone who dares to go against the norm; someone who is willing to take risks that others dare not.

If that’s the case, then my wife and I are soon to be famous…

Because during past week, we willingly took a 7 hour road trip from Spring Hill, Tennessee (where we live) to Destin, Florida and back… with our 1 year-old daughter and our 6 and a half year-old son.

Not in a minivan. Not in a big SUV. But in a small car.

As Jeb Bush muttered during last year’s campaign… Please clap.

Now I want to warn you, over the next week or so, you will be presented with several blog posts about our recent road trip and vacation to Destin. Riding on tubes at the beach, digging up buried treasure, racing go-karts…

At times, you may even think, “Lucky them! What a cool, fun family! Looks like they’ve got it made!”

If those thoughts cross your mind, think back to this blog post…

In the midst of all the glory and splendor of our trip, we were also caring our daughter who was still recovering from an ear infection.

We were there during a holiday weekend, meaning we were at one point stuck in traffic for 2 and a half hours (during a stretch that should have barely taken us an hour) with that little girl who we were desperately trying to keep asleep, as her older brother who hadn’t had a nap that day was getting way too antsy.

Keep in mind that as we were sharing a condo with family (which definitely saved us money), at one point we got locked outside for about an hour, which delayed our daughter getting to bed that night on schedule. And by the way, it took hours to get her to sleep each night in that new environment, compared to her falling asleep within a few minutes back home in Tennessee.

Consider that the 4 of us all slept in a small room with very squeaky beds, which at any moment my son or my wife or I could (and sometimes did) easily wake the baby.

Near the middle of the vacation, my wife mutually proclaimed we would not be taking another trip like this for years.

Funny though, because by the last day of our trip, we both recanted, asking each other, “Hmm… when can we come do this again?”

Despite the chaos, we truly had a blast.

And the fact that we were in a 2017 Toyota Prius Three, that meant we did the entire road trip on just two tanks of gas! Plus, we very easily stuffed the hatchback with all our stuff. We actually had plenty of room. My wife even rode in the back seat with the kids a few times, while I drove up front.

Our road trip not only produced awesome memories (and photos to prove it), but it helped build character for our family. And I’m all about character arc, because in my opinion, that’s what makes a good story.

I wouldn’t have had it any other way, actually. I think it’s obvious that my wife and I are wired for a good challenge.

We survived. We did it!

This is 36.