I don’t know who as enjoyed this Halloween more… you or me.
This is the most excited about “trick or treating” I’ve been since I can remember. I have been telling my coworkers all week how excited I have been for this day.
You were Batman, of course; dressed in $8 WalMart pajamas and a $4 Kroger mask.
I want to compliment you on the fact you actually said “trick or treat” before accepting candy from the dozen or so random households we accepted candy from tonight.
Mommy and I threw on random costume hats we had lying around the house so that our whole family could technically be dressed in costume for the night.
Going “trick or treating” really is so much fun… and so random.
I really like your choice of Batman. Your costume was very well respected among the houses we visited; as well as among other trick or treaters.
Today was also special in that I came to visit you at your school during your lunch. I enjoyed hanging out with you and seeing your friends dressed up. I truly appreciated the fact that your (girl) friend Eiley was dressed as a Power Ranger.
You even drew a special “Batman SUV monster truck” today for the occasion; which you insisted I cut out for you, to serve as a form of a toy.
Not to mention, you also have been making Play-Doh pumpkins, which you’ve been moving around with Lego bulldozers.
I was telling Mommy how much I enjoyed tonight and look forward to the Halloweens to come in the next several years. We had such a fun time together as a family.
Most of all, I loved seeing how excited you were to “be Batman.”
Love,
Daddy
P.S. Below is an inforgraph on the history of pumpkins; as I see relevant on Halloween.
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!
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.
Today as I was driving to pick you up from KinderCare, I noticed two hot air balloons on the lawn next to the road; about a block away from your school.
As soon as I walked out to the playground where you were, your teacher Ms. Michelle made a point to show me your amazing work of art.
Seriously, I’m so impressed by this monster truck you drew today after you woke up from your nap. Ms. Michelle assured me you received no help from anyone, nor did you use stencils or anything like that. This is all you.
So as we were walking back to the car, as I very carefully handled your drawing, I looked up into the sky, then yelled, “Jack! Hot air balloons!
We obviously took advantage of the moment and admired them together. When you see two hot air balloons flying overhead like that, it sort of forces you to just stop and take it all in.
Yet still, I was still in awe at the sight of hot air balloons; and of course you were too.
As we drove home, I kept thinking about how excited I was to show Mommy your picture of the monster truck. As your teacher Ms. Michelle had suggested, I was thinking we should frame it.
However, the moment we walked in the door, your top priority was having Mommy cut out the picture, like we do on the weekends when you have me draw pictures of your Disney Planes toys; to make it sort of like a toy, I suppose is the theory…
So while we can’t frame your magnificent work of art, at least we can still hang it on the fridge. Not to mention, I wrote this story for you so that it lives on as well.
