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Dear Jack: The Mysterious Package- Puss in Boots Funko Vinyl Character

5 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack: The Mysterious Package- Puss in Boots Funko Vinyl Character

Dear Jack,

You are always so excited whenever a package is delivered to our front door. When I got home Tuesday afternoon from work, Mommy asked me, “Were you expecting a package for your blog or something?”

The only thing I have been waiting for to come in the mail was a much larger package; a Simply Fit Board I saw on Shark Tank.

So I was just as surprised as Mommy to see such a small box with my name on it. With much anticipation, I opened the mysterious brown box in front of you, Mommy, and Baby Holly.

It was as if time stood still. The anticipation…

I had received my first Funko Pop Vinyl character: It is Puss in Boots from the Shrek series, which is part of DreamWorks Animation, which is now part of Comcast and XFINITY.

Dear Jack: The Mysterious Package- Puss in Boots Funko Vinyl Character

It was only natural that you immediately asked me, “Daddy, can have that cat?” You immediately named him Quasi, and it appears “he” is your new favorite toy.

Coming up in a month from today, you and I are taking a special father and son road trip in an all-new 2016 Toyota Prius that Toyota is sending us to drive for a week; like our they recently sent us a 2016 Lexus IS 200t.

We have decided to take Quasi’s picture at each point in our trip, as a way to sort of document the chronological progression with the background of the photo illustrating our whereabouts.

So this new toy cat of yours will be showing up again in a few weeks.

The reason I received this gift from Comcast is because for the past 3 months, I’ve done a monthly sponsored post about the relationship between Comcast, XFINITY, and DreamWorks Animation:

April: XFINITY X1 DVR: Taking Entertainment on the Go for Road Trips

May: Comcast + DreamWorks Animation = Future of Family Entertainment

June: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

The folks at Comcast recognized that I’m one of the top findings when you do an Internet search on “Nashville Daddy Blogger”. So they hired me to spread the word about what’s going here in Nashville with Comcast.

Little did they know, they would be making you very happy!

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: The Mysterious Package- Puss in Boots Funko Vinyl Character

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Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show (Repticon)

5 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Dear Jack,

A year and a half ago your Pre-K teacher at the time, Ms. Aimee, got you interested in live reptiles, as she had them as pets in her classroom. She also informed you of Repticon, the Reptile and Exotic Animal Show that comes to Nashville every year.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

So not only did we take you last year when you got Snakey, your giant red snake, but we also took this year as well. Actually, it was this past weekend.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

It was a family affair; even Baby Holly came along… even though she slept through the entire event.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

While you definitely loved seeing all the live animals, your main incentive to go is knowing that Mommy and I are going to buy you a stuffed animal souvenir. As a family, we went there knowing that was the main agenda.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Though you had been planning on buying a spider and naming her Charlotte, you ended up getting swept away by a giant poison dart frog who you named, of course, Froggy.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Next, as any stereotypical vegan/vegetarian family would do, we had lunch at Whole Foods. Needless to say, Froggy accompanied you.

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Fortunately, there happened to be a special on the sorbet (vegan) and gelato (vegetarian)…

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

The afternoon, you and I went to the movies for “boy time” as Mommy puts it. We decided to dress up in our matching tuxedo t-shirts.

Obviously, you took Froggy with us to the movies. After the show, as we were walking out of the room where our movie was show, a lady approached me:

“Excuse me, my granddaughters are dying to know where your son got that frog. Would you mind telling me where you found that?”

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

Imagine that. You aren’t the only kid who that it would be cool to get a giant poison dart frog.

That night, you found a clear Tupperware container big enough to hold Froggy in, as you had seen the frogs at Repticon, and then attempted to place the whole thing in the bed with you.

But by the time I came to check on you later that night, you decided she was cozier to sleep with outside of her container.

I guess real poison dart frogs prefer a clear container, but the stuffed animal version prefers a soft bed and a young child.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Your Giant Poison Dart Frog from the Nashville Reptile Show

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Dear Holly: The Picture Mommy Secretly Took of Us Sleeping

7 weeks.

Dear Holly: The Picture Mommy Secretly Took of Us Sleeping

Dear Holly,

I did a particular household chore over the weekend that I never look forward to doing: the tedious and unforgiving task of uploading the hundreds of photos from both Mommy’s phone as well as mine; then making separate folders for them to upload to our external hard drive.

(It’s not the simple cut and dry process it should be, nor is the transfer as instant as I would like.)

In doing this, I finally saw a picture that Mommy secretly took of us; back from when you were just a few days old.

I had been sitting on the floor, holding you in attempt to help you get to sleep. Then as my back became sore from hunching over, I laid back on the carpet, while keeping you in a nest of blankets, with my legs crossed “Indian style”.

Dear Holly: The Picture Mommy Secretly Took of Us Sleeping

Apparently my method was quite efficient, because we both fell deep asleep. That’s how Mommy easily sneaked over and snapped a picture of us with her phone.

It happened in the midst of first days of having bringing a newborn home from the hospital that as a parent, I don’t really remember too many details surrounding the event. Everything was just a haze at the time.

After I saw the picture this weekend, I informed Mommy that my favorite radio station, WAY-FM, is holding a contest in which moms are sending in photos of their husbands with their kids, for a Father’s Day.

So obviously, this photo has now been sent. I’m sure we won’t win, but it’s worth a shot. (The prize is a $1,000.)

If nothing else, it’s fun to be able to see this picture. Though I really don’t like uploading the pictures from our phones, at least I was able to unearth this gem.

It was totally worth the work for that reason alone, if nothing else.

Love,

Daddy

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Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

DISCLOSURE LANGUAGE

XFINITY partnered with bloggers such as me for this program. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. XFINITY believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. XFINITY’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

In my third and final post of my XFINITY series, I am spotlighting XFINITY’s new share app.

While there are other photo sharing apps out there, XFINITY’s share app is the only one that allows you to share the image to the biggest screen in your house: your TV, of course.

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

You can also share photos from your phone and then save them in the app on your TV. Therefore, you can easily relive your summer beach vacation on the biggest screen in your house; not simply a computer or laptop screen.

I find myself taking so many pictures but never really looking through them after I take them. They’re just stuck in my phone unless they were specially chosen to be featured on Instagram or Facebook.

But with XFINITY’s share app, think of all the events you can now better appreciate viewing as a family; whether it’s your child’s soccer game, your nephew’s graduation, or even simply a beautiful sunset. Now you can see the finer details of that memory.

Because XFINITY’s share app is able to stream live, you could live stream an event for everyone back home if they are unable to see the event in person.

For example, this coming weekend for Father’s Day, I am taking both my own dad as well as my son to the Monster Jam monster truck show in downtown Nashville. Meanwhile, my mom, wife, and 7 week-old daughter will be home. By using XFINITY’s share app, we could share with them back home what’s going on at the truck show.

Like I mentioned, XFINITY’s share app is the only share app currently out there that allows you to help your family share their experiences via live stream on your TV.

Thanks for learning about XFINITY’s share app today!

Sponsored Post: XFINITY’s Share App Lets You Stream Live from Smartphone to TV

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No, I am Not Joel from The Last of Us

No, I am Not Joel from The Last of Us

Imagine this:

In addition to Family Friendly Daddy Blog, I have another following on my YouTube channel, where I do a weekly series for young men (age 15 to 22-ish) that focuses on masculinity. Therefore, about 80% of my YouTube subscribers are male. However, my readership of this blog is about 80% female.

Here’s the breakdown: I am better at creating videos for a male audience and I am better at creating blog content for a female audience.

That means most of my YouTube subscribers have never read any of my blog posts and most of my blog readers have never watched any of my videos on YouTube.

Today is one of the rare exceptions in which I tie the two together.

As I’m currently growing out my “postpartum beard”, I received a comment a one of my YouTube videos this week: “With the beard you look kinda like Joel from The Last of Us”.

I had no idea who that was- I figured it might be some new sitcom on CBS or something. Thanks to a quick Google search, I learned that Joel is the main character of a 2013 video game called The Last of Us, in which he must escort a young girl named Ellie across a post-apocalyptic United States.

Based on the fact he appears to be a rugged, masculine hero, I obviously take that comparison as a compliment.

Last week I was genuinely mistaken for Tai Lopez. Now today, I’m told I look like a video game character.

I think it’s fun to make these comparisons public. By default, I may create a new series here on my blog, based on when people tell me I look like someone else.

By the time I shave my postpartum beard in a couple weeks, I’m sure I will easily look like someone else I’ve never heard of, as was the case with Tai Lopez and Joel from The Last of Us.

No, I am Not Joel from The Last of Us