Uncategorized

1 Comment Posted on September 24, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The New Dresser for Our Guest Room

4 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

Now that we’ve lived in our new house nearly 8 months, there’s not much new material to say about it other than we really enjoy our new lifestyle in the cul-de-sac.

But this weekend, our family checked out the store At Home as we were killing time, waiting for my car window to be repaired on my Honda Element.

We discovered a beautiful, sea foam colored, New England style dresser.

It seemed to be the perfect addition to our guest room, so we brought it home in the back of my Element. (Needless to say, we did pay for it first!)

Now that it’s in our guest room, it looks even better than I could have imagined.

We are purposely trying to keep the theme of our guest room neutral. We don’t want it looking too feminine or too masculine. But we want it to be fun and inviting.

The color blue of the dresser is muted enough to where I feel it’s not explicitly masculine.

Right above the dresser is a bird cage decoration that matches our gender neutral theme very well. And we may end up painting that part of the wall later on as an accent.

Then, across the room on one side of the bed is a small matching nightstand and clock. On the other side of the bed is the tree branch decal that Aunt Dana and I put up.

Our guest room has only been used a few times. It’s the one room of the house that we virtually never have a reason to walk in to. I actually tend to forget it exists.

So it’s been a lower priority to finish furnishing.

But now with our cool new dresser, the room is starting to feel complete for any new guests who may be stopping by in the future.

Love,

Daddy

2 Comments Posted on September 22, 2015September 22, 2015 Uncategorized

Peanuts Emmy Honored Collection: 11 Episode, 2 Disc Set

I have been waiting for quite a while for my nearly 5 year-old son and me to sit down and watch the new Ninja Turtles movie. He was a bit too young to see it when it came out in the theatre, but now that it’s available on Netflix streaming, I’ve been hyping it up to him.

However, we’ve still yet to watch it…

That’s because the same week Ninja Turtles hit Netflix streaming, we received the Peanuts Emmy Honored Collection in our mailbox, to review here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

With that being said, every night before bedtime, we’ve sat down as a family and watched an episode of Peanuts. This set contains more than 4 hours (265 minutes) of Charlie Brown and his friends.

I would have to say our favorite episode is “It’s Magic, Charlie Brown.” Produced the same year my wife and I were born, 1981, this hilarious episode features Snoopy trying out his newly acquired “magic tricks” on all the kids.

When Snoopy turns Charlie Brown invisible and but is unable to turn him back, Snoopy desperately tries to find ways to remedy the situation; including covering him in mud, as well as wrapping him up in a sheet and a necktie.

The most memorable episode is “Why, Charlie Brown, Why?” from 1990. Linus befriends a girl named Janice, who he soon discovers has leukemia.

It’s so heartfelt to watch Linus care for her, visit her in the hospital, comfort her as she loses her hair, defends her against a bully who teased her, and celebrate with her when she recovers from her cancer.

Needless to say, my son has thoroughly enjoyed watching Peanuts every night. And with a few more episodes left to go, we’ve still yet to watch the new Ninja Turtles movie.

PEANUTS: EMMY® HONORED COLLECTION

A COLLECTION SHOWCASING 11 CELEBRATED PEANUTS SPECIALS

IS SET FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015

FROM WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Two-Disc Collection Features Over Four Hours of Peanuts Specials

1 Comment Posted on September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park”

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

For our final stop of our Camry family road trip across northern California, we drove from Monterey to Santa Cruz, before ultimately heading back to Sacramento, where Mommy’s side of the family is from.

Mommy had told me that once before she had been to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach Amusement Park and thought our family would really love it.

So we put it on the agenda, following our trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Here’s my video I made about our trip there:

To get going, we stopped at Staff of Life’s Café Del Sol for some vegan donuts. I know that to an outsider that may not seem like that big of a deal, but for a vegan dad like me, it’s epic.

Where we live in Nashville, there is no easy access to vegan donuts; they definitely don’t sell them at our Whole Foods. It would be different if we lived in Portland, Oregon; which I hear is the “Vegan Donut Capitol of the World.”

But where we live, donuts made without eggs and milk basically cease to exist. Therefore, we enjoyed our breakfast!

When we arrived at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, we had about 45 minutes to walk there on the beach; since we had arrived before the amusement park itself had opened yet.

Our family budgeted $50 for the 2 hours we were there; and we based on the 2 hour time limit on how much we were willing to pay the parking meter.

You definitely wanted to play some games, so bought $50 worth of tickets so we could go on two rides with all 3 of us, then let you go on several rides by yourself, then spend the rest on games.

I loved how ambitious you were! You rode your very first roller coaster with Mommy and me: the Sea Serpent. It was pretty thrilling for a boy who’s not quite 5 years old yet.

But at 42 inches tall, you were just tall enough to be permitted to ride.

Our other family ride was the Cave Train Adventure, where we were able to “time travel” to the days of caveman and dinosaurs; it was completely dark in there, except for the black lights.

For your individual rides, you were able to fly a plane as well as a drive a monster SUV, a boat, an orca whale, and a big rig truck. You loved it all!

And then there were the carnival games…

I made sure you only played the games with the sign that read, “A winner every time!”

Your best venture was Bob’s Fishin’ Hole. On the first try, we accidently figured out that the blue fish, which flowed further away from the ledge nearest you, were the heavier fish, which were worth the biggest prizes.

So you caught 3 blue fish and one the biggest prize they had: A giant blue pirate fish stuffed animal. On the first try!

By the end our 2 hours, you had a prize in each of the 3 sizes.

We returned to the Camry with 7 minutes to spare, then he finished our day with dinner at Whole Foods, where we enjoyed more vegan donuts.

And finally, that’s it.

That’s our whole Camry family road trip. We had a blast. I look forward to next year when we travel to San Diego for your Uncle Jake’s wedding.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on September 21, 2015September 21, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Monterey Bay Aquarium”

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

Our family had so much fun road tripping in the 2015 Toyota Camry from Sacramento to Monterey, California. Of course, our main stop on that leg on our trip was the historic Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Here’s my video I made about our trip there, where you can also hear the jingle I wrote for them:

First though, we stopped at Ike’s Love and Sandwiches; a sandwich shop that openly welcomes vegans and vegetarians. I had a very manly vegan meatball sub; as the picture demonstrates.

Once we parked the Camry, we enjoyed our walk from the parking garage to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I liked taking the picture of you standing in front of the giant otter at one of the shops there near Monterey Canning Company.

Dear Jack: Family in a Camry- “Monterey Bay Aquarium”

The aquarium itself was everything we could have hoped for. I was snapping pictures the whole time as you pulled Mommy around, saying, “Hey, look at this fish!”

You seemed most excited by the sharks; as well as the station where we got to draw our own sea creatures, then “set them free”, by watching them swim across the giant screen in front of us.

I think my favorite part was how they presented the jellyfish; in colored lights which really showed off their translucent bodies.

Plus, an extra benefit of visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium is that our family got to check out the Pacific coast; as the aquarium is situated right there on it. Looking down from the pier, we were able to see some seals in their natural habitat; just chilling out on a rock.

I love it that you’re at such a perfect age now to truly appreciate such a fun and wondrous event. It was such a treat for our family to experience the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

Before heading to the hotel for the night, we drove to El Cantaro Vegan Mexican Restaurant for dinner, as we talked about our favorite parts about the aquarium.

Mommy got to drive the Camry from there; you fell asleep within a few minutes.

Our next and final stop for our Camry road trip took place the next morning, when we visited the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement Park…

So stay tuned!

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on September 21, 2015 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Why We Didn’t Buy a 2011 Suzuki SX4 This Past Weekend (& Trade in My 2004 Honda Element)

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Wednesday, as I was driving Mommy’s car back from a work trip in Kentucky, Mommy called me to explain that while she was driving you home from pre-K in my 2004 Honda Element, the passenger side window just rolled down by itself.

And it wouldn’t roll back up.

Knowing that this upcoming January makes 10 years I’ve owned this car, Mommy and I decided we should heavily consider trading in my car for a “new” used car.

So she starting emailing dealerships. Meanwhile, I went to one dealership in person last Thursday on my lunch break.

Because we are Dave Ramsey followers, we are refusing to “finance” a car; despite those natural temptations that we are exposed to. We will only pay cash for a car. If we don’t have enough cash to afford the car we want, we simply can’t afford it. So we walk away.

We found a 2011 Suzuki SX4 with less than 50,000 miles, in our “cash only” price range.

So I spent my Thursday lunch break to check out the car. It was everything I needed. However, I did some research that night and discovered Suzuki stopped production in America back in 2012, and they have no parent company.

In other words, it’s a great deal on a dependable car that ultimately I would have great difficulty trying to maintain, as there are no shops that readily have proper tools or parts available to fix it.

After that, Mommy and I realized it’s best we hold out until January, when we have that many more thousands of dollars (from ongoing monthly savings) to pay in cash.

Here’s the twist on this story: Over the weekend when we picked up my Element after they fixed the window, the guy that evaluates the worth of used Hondas there for trade-ins left me a message.

My 2004 Honda Element is worth $5,850, which is about $3,000 more than I had anticipated; nearly double!

That’s because, according to the elevator, “People aren’t trading in Elements- they’re keeping them. That’s why your Element is worth more than whatever it says online. You’re the first person to ever come back and tell me you’re actually interested in trading yours in.”

So in the end, it was totally worth it in the end to pay a few hundred dollars to fix my window.

It’s like instantly making $3,000! We’re still planning on holding out until January, when we can have that much more money to buy a “barely used” vehicle for our family, when we trade in my Element.

Something else this experience taught Mommy and me is just how boring and unattractive we are to used car salesmen the moment we begin the conversation with, “I’m a Dave Ramsey follower; I will only pay with cash.”

You can literally see the hope in their eyes disappear once you say that. Because most people are willing to “finance” the car. That means there’s virtually no real limit on price, since the focus becomes on the monthly payment, not what person can actually afford.

That’s something I equate with a magician distracting his audience by waving a pink handkerchief with one hand while he hides the “disappearing” object in the other.

I will make sure you always understand the true meaning of the phrase “affording a car.”

It’s this simple: If you can’t buy it on the spot in cash, you can’t truly afford it. That’s why dealerships are so eager to have you finance the “purchase.”

Similarly, an individual or a family is only as financially wealthy as their savings account in addition to having no debt other than their house; that’s because a home is considered an asset growing in value, not a depreciating liability like a vehicle.

So our family will wait. By January 2016, our savings should be that much higher if everything remains on course; meaning we can pay cash for the vehicle that we really want. And as I mentioned, coincidentally, this coming January will be exactly one decade since I purchased my 2004 Honda Element.

Ultimately, I’m not sure if I’m technically going to be downsizing or upsizing…

My Honda Element is a decent sized SUV, but it only has 4 seats. That’s never been a problem, but I think it would be a good idea to have 5 seats for the next car, even if the next vehicle is smaller over all.

Until then, I’ll keep driving my green toaster and saving green cash.

Love,

Daddy

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: