I have a bunch of fond memories of being a kid. Each and every one of them have one or two elements that are always present. These positive memories all have either food and/or friendship as a major part of them. Help me raise $500 for the No Kid Hungry campaign this money and help kids get those happy and well fed memories this month!
Chicago is full of places for families to spend time together all year round. There are free outdoor movie nights put on by the city, lots of parks that are kid friendly, and a whole bevy of kid friendly stores. Out of all of the options three of our favorite places to spend time as a family include:
Fisher Nut Exactly® snack bites have been recently released by Fisher® nuts. They sent me a bag and I love them. Each snack bite is only 15 calories and includes chocolate, popcorn and almond. It has no artificial preservatives and comes in four varieties!
My wife, son and I met up with my wife's mom at the county fair for the day last weekend. It's an annual tradition that normally brings a larger group of family together, but was enjoyable just the same. I brought the new LG G4 Smartphone with me and shot a little video watching my son observe and interact with the world around him.
I'm a fan of Quentin Tarantino's work. Does it often include over the top violence and language? Yes, but it is super entertaining storytelling. Make sure to watch these films when you find the time. Just don't do it in front of the younger kids. They're not gonna like it.
I've been asked that question half a dozen times in the last two weeks. Everyone from coworkers to friends and family seem to be vocally curious if we are having unprotected sex or not. We've really enjoyed the first two plus years of having Mr. Dude around, but it has been a lot of work. Going from a childless couple to a couple with a child, as well you may already know if you are a parent or caretaker, causes a great change in your life. Those early months are wonderful and horrendous at the same time.
I love to spend quality time with my little family. I'd rather spend a Friday night at the drive-in or a Saturday at the park with them than get any gift. Physical gifts are great, but in the long run they wear out. Memories can last forever when written down and shared. I've always preferred experiences over things. They make me happiest. Its important for families to get moving and spend quality time together, especially during the sunny summer time. We don't get easy winters in Chicago often so those sunny summer months are key. Made from nutritious and wholesome ingredients, KIND snacks are a perfect fit for our family and help to fuel our journeys.
We took a family trip to visit the official restaurant partner of the new movie this week and had a nice breakfast for dinner night out. We just had to try Denny’s action-packed fare with the new limited time ‘Slamtastic 4’ menu in honor of the new Fantastic Four movie.
My favorite car has to be the first car I purchased after getting married. It was a 2005 Hyundai Accent. It was automatic and the color was light blue. Getting our first car as a married couple was an unforgettable milestone.
One of the choices I had to make early on as a Dad Blogger was how I would treat my writing and sharing of stories about my family. This isn’t a problem solely dealt with by parent bloggers. It is also an issue any parent who shares information online should think about.
There is a lot to see and do in the western suburbs of Chicago. Deep dish pizza, for example, isn't just found in the city's downtown. There are great pizza locations all over the suburbs. Fashionable shopping options are easy to come by in the suburbs when you consider the outlet malls. Nature can be found in abundance at local forest preserves and the family night out has met it's perfect partner in Chicago's only still operating drive-in theater. There are even some award winning breweries not to be missed.
There are many kids shows to chose from on Netflix, but my toddler can't currently get enough of his favorites. Listed in no particular order are his 5 favorites as of right now. Not all are kids shows, but when he's got screen time these are the shows he requests regularly.
I’ve found a laundry solution that saves me a lot of time and has forever banished the need for the clothing sniff test in this house.
I'm listing 5 movie classics up on Netflix that I've never seen and describing what I think they are about. How far off am I on these? Read this post to find out.
It has been a long time since I've owned a Windows PC. When Best Buy asked me to take a look at the new AMD FX APU – HP Envy Touchsmart Laptop I was genuinely interested to see how Windows was doing these days. I have to admit, I wasn't ready for what a great computer this thing has turned out to be for me.
My favorite place to eat with my dad as a kid was Denny's. I could have breakfast there anytime. That made me smile like nothing else could.
I grew up watching shows like Saved By The Bell, Star Trek: TNG and Godzilla among others. Thanks to Netflix I can rewatch most of it all over again!
Our floors have never looked so good. Seriously. The scheduling thing is a life saver. Life is busy and always full of things to do. The iRobot Roomba 870 has been able to take care of our floors when we can't take care of them ourselves. Its available for purchase at Best Buy right now. Now that we have one in our home I can't imagine ever giving it up.
I was clueless when I first became a dad. My childcare experience consisted of knowing that dropping a baby is bad and how to make peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. The first diaper I ever changed was Mr. Dude's on the day he was born. I'd "watched" my nephews once or twice, but never for over an hour and always with the assistance of a television.
I remember watching my son sleep when he was a newborn. Those moments were precious and often happened only in the afternoon in the early days of my fatherhood. Those sleepless nights were full of frustration, exhaustion and time that seemed to slow to a crawl. In a way and for some odd reason I miss it a little.