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Dear Jack: It’s Hard to Take a Normal Picture of You These Days

7 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

As I began looking through the more than a thousand pictures I took of our family’s recent trip to northern California, it didn’t take me long to notice a pattern: It was rare to see you just smiling normally in a photo.

Instead, the majority of the pictures show you making some kind of silly face.

Whether it’s a scary monster face, or an over-the-top smile, or just you simply photo-bombing someone else’s photo, you are all about being silly in photos.

Granted, I was able to get some normal pictures of you during our vacation. And that’s good enough for me.

I accept you, as you are, as a 7 and a half year-old boy. I want you to be able to express yourself that way.

So I accept that at this point in your life, you’ve had your picture taken enough to where it’s become a bit of a joke to you.

I don’t mind this. I completely realize that in a matter of about 5 years, I’ll be lucky to even get you to pose for a picture where you’re smiling- in any form. Because you’ll be in that teenage phrase where you are embarrassed by me.

This is actually something I’ve always wondered about: At what point will I no longer be able to include new photos of you in my letters to you? At what point can I no longer get away with including you in my blog?

I recognize that at some point, your need for privacy may override the fact that I love celebrating and documenting whatever is going on in your life each week.

So despite me having written about you at least once every week since Mommy and I knew you were going to be born, that may need to come to an end, some time in the future; or at least, maybe I’ll need to do it less frequently.

It’s very clear to me: Silly, happy pictures of you are much better than no pictures at all.

Love,

Daddy

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Hosting the Perfect Fourth of July Backyard Barbeque

Sponsored post by Rec Warehouse

Create a Fourth of July party with some flare this year with these helpful hosting tips.

The Fourth of July is one of the most anticipated summer holidays for adults and children alike. Fireworks, grills billowing with smoke and the scents of marinated cuts of meat, sparkles, and parades with plenty of waving flags are synonymous with the day marking America’s independence from Great Britain in 1776. Backyard barbeques decorate the suburbs, block parties fill urban spaces, and baseball stadiums across the nation fill with packed-out crowds who wait in anxious anticipation for the last pitch so the firework show can begin. Children stay up past their usual bedtimes and run wild, hyped up on sugary drinks and popsicle treats, embracing some of their final times with friends before they go back to school for another year.

If you want this year’s July Fourth to be one full of memories worth cherishing for years to come then a neighborhood backyard hangout is the simple, all-American solution. Creating the perfect Fourth of July backyard barbeque takes some planning but here are some tips to help you nail all the details:

Solidify the Guest List. Before the invitations are mailed, the campfire is lit, or the first beverage is opened, you need to come up with a guest list. Pulling together a group of people in the communal spirit of fun and entertainment is not an exact science, but it does take some thought and planning if you want to perfect it. First, you need to decide how many people you can comfortably host. From there take a mental inventory of family, friends, and neighbors who will positively contribute to the ambiance. Finally, make sure you adequately assess relationships between your intended attendees to ensure there is no underlying tension which should be addressed before the festivities begin.  

Have Food Suitable for All. Whether you have red, white, and blue sprinkle cookies, a litany of hot dogs, hamburgers, and brats with every conceivable condiment, or if you merely order pizzas, your primary concerns as the host or hostess should be having enough food for all your guests and addressing any of their dietary restrictions. If you are looking for some inspiration for your spread, check out these classics from Southern Living.

Fill the Coolers. At the height of summer the weather is sure to play a part in any outdoor event so you should cautiously stock plenty of water and other beverages for your guests. If you choose to serve adult-only drinks, make sure to separate them from the nonalcoholic options and clearly mark them to alleviate any confusion. Plan on getting extra ice before the party to guarantee everything stays chilled for the duration of the gathering.

Create an Atmosphere. Establish the mood of the backyard barbeque with music, decor, and ambiance. Sparkles, patriotic decorations like flags and streamers, and a timeless mix of Independence Day-inspired tunes like this list from Spotify, will give you and your guests a casual backyard barbeque feel.

Make a Splash. One of the best parts of celebrating Fourth of July is the festivities last all day long, from sun up to way past sundown. When you wake up you are abruptly greeted by fire trucks, decorated bicycles, and high school marching bands in the town’s local parade, then you move onto a phase of neighborhood hangouts where smokers and grills send delicious aromas throughout the hot summer air, and it all concludes with a firework spectacular to light up the night sky. What if you could add a refreshing element to the mix by turning the gathering into a neighborhood pool party?

Source: recwarehouse.com

Now the option to create a backyard your neighbors will actually want to hang out in is easier than ever with the help of Rec Warehouse. Rec Warehouse is an Atlanta-based business specializing in the sale of leisure and recreation equipment like hot tubs, pool tables, outdoor kitchens, patio furniture, misting fans, tanning bed, and of course, above ground pools. Rec Warehouse is a family owned and operated business with two gorgeous showroom locations in Norcross and Kennesaw. They also offer an e-commerce site with an abundance of options and a live chat feature so you can get all the help of an expert salesperson without ever having to leave your home.

Make this year’s Fourth of July backyard barbeque one for the history books and watch the twinkling fireworks in a pool of your own. To get the ball rolling, stop by Rec Warehouse today to talk to one of their professional and knowledgeable staff.  

2 Comments Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, Nostalgia, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

The Big 50 Foot Long Slide at Mission Hills Park in Pleasanton, California (Featuring the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport) by Nick Shell

As our family finished up our 2 week-long vacation road trip in northern California, we drove the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport from Walnut Grove to Pleasanton, where our kids got to enjoy the playgrounds at Mission Hills Park.

It was such a nice drive, as we saw the countless solar windmills for much of the way. There is so much beauty in the top half of the state of California, which often is not the region people tend to think of when they hear where my wife is from.

The kids also liked the fact that the entire roof of the Outlander was a giant window. It was almost like a ride at Disney, in a way.

The main attraction at the city park was the giant, 50 foot slide; the kind I remember from back in the 1980s when I was my son’s age. These days, it’s rare to see such a tall, metal slide like that.

(To put it into perspective, the standard length of a dry van trailer pulled by an 18 wheeler is 53 feet long.)

My son quickly learned the best way to go down the slide was to lay down, like it was a luge. The slide was up so high, we were up there with the trees!

Here’s a little video I made, in the moment:

To my amazement, my 2 year-old daughter even insisted she get to try out the slide. So I held her hand and walked alongside her as she slid down, quite slowly, with me moderating her speed.

Granted, the rest of the playground equipment was great, as well. There were actually two main playgrounds; one for older kids like my 7 and a half year-old son, including a climbing wall and ropes course.

For younger kids like my daughter, there was a separate playground across the park which was more appropriate for her age.

So if you happen to be driving anywhere near Pleasanton, California and have some adventurous children with restless energy, I definitely recommend you stopping by Mission Hills Park.

The big slide is so cool!

Have you read all 3 of my blog posts featuring my family’s road trip to Lake Tahoe in the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport? Here’s a table of contents just to be sure. Click on the title of the blog post you would like to see:

Family Reunion in Lodi, California 
Family Road Trip to Lost Worlds Adventures in Livermore, California
The Big 50 Foot Long Slide at Mission Hills Park in Pleasanton, California
1 Comment Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, marriage, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Family Road Trip to Lost Worlds Adventures in Livermore, California (Featuring the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport) by Nick Shell

Sometimes as a parent, you end up having to settle for the back-up plan; or even the back-up plan of the back-up plan, but as long as you’re with the people you love, you just might have a great time anyway. You may even get more than you expected, in a good way!

That is exactly what happened last week while I was out in northern California with my family. My wife and I had planned a trip to the Santa Cruz boardwalk, where we had taken our son nearly 3 years ago.

But after learning from our experience the week before that our 2 year-old daughter was getting burned out on so much travel (after all, we had flown in from Tennessee), we decided to find a closer carnival destination; as Santa Cruz is nearly 2 and a half hours away from where we were staying with my mother-in-law in Walnut Grove.

It just so happened that there was a County Fair going on in Pleasanton, just about an hour and 20 minutes away; which would shave an hour or so off of our originally planned travel time.

That way, our kids could still get their fill of games and rides, like at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. But after my wife bought the tickets to the County Fair on Groupon and we actually drove there, we learned that the fair didn’t actually open until Wednesday: We were there on Monday.

After getting a refund on our tickets online, my wife found a place called Lost Worlds Adventures. So we drove the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport just 6 miles down to the road to the neighboring town of Livermore.

Fate would have it, our family had just as much fun at Lost Worlds Adventures as we would have had at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, or the County Fair… if not more.

Not to mention, it was actually less expensive than both of those plans, as well!

Fortunately, the whole place was dinosaur themed. For a 7 and a year-old boy who’s currently very excited about seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, that served as the perfect ambiance.

We started things off with a fun game of glow-in-the-dark miniature golf. I’m pretty sure our son won, though we weren’t keeping score.

Then we gave our son $20 to spend on games; in which points were earned to earn prizes at the end. I am amazed by how much we got for that amount of money.

Not only did our 2 year-old daughter enjoy playing the games for free on demo mode, as she didn’t know the difference anyway, she also got to help her brother roll the ball for the Milk Jug Toss and Skee-Ball.

However, our son had to explain to her, “Holly, you can’t just crawl up and drop the ball in…”

And speaking of our son Jack, he made out quite well as far as earning points for prizes. He stumbled upon a game called Big Bass Wheel Pro, where the concept was that the harder you pulled the lever down, the harder the wheel spun, and therefore the more points you earned.

But we realized pretty quickly that A) what value the spinner landed on was completely random, and B) the game seemed to just keep giving my son bonus spins for no reason. So in the likeness of pushing the button in the Swan station on the TV show LOST, my son and I starting taking turns pulling the lever, to keep the game going, and therefore, the points racking up.

So with the 2,240 points my son earned (most of which were from the same game), he was able to get his very first Care Bear, along with a couple of planes and balls and squishy toys. In addition to a pig whose eyes popped out when it is squeezed and some stickers, my daughter was very proud of her poop emoji purse and matching plush poop emoji key chain.

Yep, that’s what she chose, so we didn’t turn her down.

Yes, sometimes life is about the back-up plan of a back-up plan. And great times were had by all!

Have you read all 3 of my blog posts featuring my family’s road trip to Lake Tahoe in the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport? Here’s a table of contents just to be sure. Click on the title of the blog post you would like to see:

Family Reunion in Lodi, California 
Family Road Trip to Lost Worlds Adventures in Livermore, California
The Big 50 Foot Long Slide at Mission Hills Park in Pleasanton, California
2 Comments Posted on car reviews, fatherhood, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Family Reunion in Lodi, California (Featuring the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport) by Nick Shell

My wife is the 9th of 10 kids. That means that nearly 10 years ago when we got married, I instantly became an uncle to more nephews and nieces than I can count; even still today!

Every summer, we take a trip out to northern California where my wife is from, which ultimately leads to a family gathering or two.

This year, it was an all-out official family reunion; which happened to take place in a city made famous by a 1969 Creedence Clearwater Revival song, “Lodi”.

The town is just a 30 minute drive from where we were staying with my mother-in-law in Walnut Grove. This made our first outing in the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport we had for our 2nd week in California.

What was most interesting to me about the family reunion was how independent our 7 and a half year-old son was. I toted around our 2 year-old daughter most of the time, while keeping watch on our son, who was constantly migrating with his older teenage cousins.

In fact, at the end of our 2 week trip to California, I asked my son what his favorite part of the entire vacation was. His instant response: “Probably the park with all the family.”

I can appreciate that he enjoyed sort of tagging along with the older kids and that they totally engaged him the entire time.

Whereas I have one child who is still understandably in need of constant attention and direction, my other child is finding his identity in spending time with other people. This is a good challenge for him; I can clearly see this as part of his character development.

It was also great that one of my sister-in-law’s family was staying with us at my mother-in-law’s house. Therefore, it was almost like my wife and I had two free baby babysitters the whole time: a 15 year-old and a 19 year-old.

Whether it was the old bouncy house in my mother-in-law’s backyard, or the hot tub, or just playing with retro toys leftover from the 1980s, both of my kids had some awesome cousins to entertain them.

Needless to say, every summer vacation we have out in California is a family reunion; by default.

Have you read all 3 of my blog posts featuring my family’s road trip to Lake Tahoe in the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport? Here’s a table of contents just to be sure. Click on the title of the blog post you would like to see:

Family Reunion in Lodi, California 
Family Road Trip to Lost Worlds Adventures in Livermore, California
The Big 50 Foot Long Slide at Mission Hills Park in Pleasanton, California