Today, right as I was leaving for my lunch break, a coworker informed me that a car had just driven through the front wall of the Chuck E. Cheese a few blocks away from our office in Cool Springs; the business borough of Franklin, TN- about 20 miles south of Nashville.
As a blogger, I make a point to carry my camera with me wherever I go. By the time I got to the seen just a few minutes later, the vehicle had already been removed from the building.
News crew was wrapping up some stock footage for the story. In fact, the cameraman handed me his phone with the story pulled up:
To my surprise no one asked me to leave as I took pictures of the aftermath and wreckage of the Chuck E. Cheese building.
As you can see, that’s a pretty big hole.
I don’t understand how the vehicle gained enough speed to run over the curb, drive through the hedges, then crush right through the brick wall and windows.
It was right there in the parking lot, and that part of it was very small.
It is true, you are now a 4 year-old! And I can absolutely without a doubt tell you that you had an awesome 4th birthday and birthday party.
Knowing the relevance of Legos, given the fact you will spend hours at a time building Optimus Prime and Dinobots, we booked your party months ago at a place called Bricks 4 Kidz.
That was the best decision for your party. Not only did you and your friends have a great time playing with Legos, but the parents felt at ease, yet still involved, with all the action.
There were also optional peripheral activities going on for any of your friends who wanted to mix things up; like making a cool spiral design on a paper plate using a Lego-operated device.
This made the first birthday party you’ve had outside of our home; I quickly realized how stress-free it truly is when you don’t have to worry about anything.
Your birthday party was on autopilot; it flowed so well.
The only thing we were really responsible for was bringing the food, which, you know me… that’s a big deal.
I made sure that in addition to your party having a Lego theme, that it also had a “no artificial anything” theme as well.
These days, you really have to go out of your way to find “birthday food” that doesn’t have garbage ingredients in it, like artificial food dyes, animal bi-products, or mysterious chemicals.
Of course, for me, your vegan dad, I knew just where to look…
I reached out to Annie’s and GoGo Squeez and they helped donate the majority of the snacks for your party. They are just as passionate as I am about spreading the word about the importance of eating real food.
Obviously, your friends loved our Annie’s crackers & cookies and Go Go Squeez pouch buffet!
And that was in addition to your vegan birthday cake that I special ordered from Whole Foods. You said you wanted it to be chocolate with blue icing, so that’s exactly what you got.
It was so good…
No eggs, no dairy, no artificial dyes or flavors… no problem! We liked it so much that Mommy and I (jokingly?) talked about ordering another cake from Whole Foods to celebrate when we move into our new house in January.
So not only was there plenty of fun to be had at your 4th birthday party, but I was able to feel confident that I was serving you and your friends the best “birthday food” out there: Annie’s, Go Go Squeez, and Whole Foods vegan birthday cake.
Of course, there is that whole part about you opening the presents, but more on that in the next letter…
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!
This past weekend our family checked in on the progress of our new house being built in a ‘bedroom community” outside of Nashville.
As you can see from these pictures, the bricks are being put into place on the front. We had no idea which color the bricks would be, but I’m happy with the selection, which is obviously matched to the bluish-gray siding we also chose.
Our new home is also being insulated right now as well.
And as for the piles of dirt you see in our front yard, the pipes are being installed for the sewage drain.
Something that I was particularly happy about was to see how the sidewalk is being set for the wooded area around the neighborhood.
Just the thought of that makes me feel like I’m truly going to be a real American dad. I know that probably sounds weird, but seeing our new house built really makes me happy, as your Daddy.
I already envision that sidewalk is where I’ll be teaching you how to ride a bike.
It was also exciting to see you meet one of our future neighbors, a fellow 3 year-old boy, named Aiden.
You guys obviously got along just great, running around the lawn of the model home and sort of sword-fighting with balloons.
While we were there, Mommy and I also signed more paperwork with our real estate agent David Stanley, as we are currently in the process of selling our current home, a townhouse in Nashville.
As I should be, I’m not getting my hopes up too high that everything will go effortlessly and as scheduled: I’m keeping my expectations low where they should be, particularly in regards to the move out of our townhouse.
But so far, this has been a very enjoyable process.
I can only imagine what must be going through your mind right now. It’s pretty exciting times for our family right now, but I bet that’s especially the case for a nearly 4 year-old boy!
I think I’ve said before, but as your Daddy, Halloween is one my favorite times of the year. Getting to see you dress up and have fun “seeing monsters” is really cool for me to get to experience with you.
Part of my job and my role as your Daddy is to reinforce the fact that I’m here to protect you. So even when I lead you to a situation where you are afraid, you know that I’m right there to keep you safe.
Granted, I would never scare you to the point of you authentically crying and having nightmares. Instead, I carefully gage your response to the situation…
This past weekend on our fall road trip from Nashville to Asheville, as we reviewed the 4G capabilities of the 2015 Buick LaCrosse, we visited avery foggy (!) apple orchard near Asheville, NC.
I carried you most of the time, and as we walked through the misty orchard, I kept pretending to be the voice of an “apple monster” who was angry that you were there to “take my apples.”
With your hood up on your hoodie, I whispered into your ear, “Jaaaaaaaack… don’t take my apples… go back to the hotel, Jack. I’m the Apple Monster.”
Looking back on this short video of the event, I can see your childlike faith causing you to wonder if you truly were hearing an Apple Monster.
The paradox is that at the same time, you knew it was just me; especially for the fact I was holding you.
Another illustration of this is the fact you kept asking to play “Hide and Seek” in the hotel room.
You would stand on the air conditioning unit while looking out the window as you counted; meanwhile, I would hide on the other end of the suite.
I love your adventurous spirit, as you can see in this video, how you so joyfully run to go find me, knowing I’m just going to literally jump out and scare you! (I was standing on top of the couch.)
Yes, I scare you. But I know you love it. You indeed crave that from me. So I give you these “bravery lessons” accordingly.
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