Go Karts!

Last weekend we took my 4 year old son to go bowling. We went to a new place and there happened to be a Go Kart place next door, so we walked in to see what they had to offer. It was your typical place that had mini golf and go karts, etc. We were going to turn around and go bowling, but we saw the dual seat go karts and my son was interested.

I opened my big mouth and asked him if he wanted to ride it, not thinking that he was too small or anything. At first, he wasn't sure. It was really loud and he thought it would be cool, but didn't know what to expect. Then after a conversation with my wife about safety, I decided to tell him that he was too small and that we would do it when he was older. The exact moment that I told him he could NOT do it, was when he said that he wanted to do it! Of course, when you tell a kid he can't do it, he wants to try it. Amazing. At that point, my wife said, well we have to do it now!

So, we did the go karts, I drove with him riding shot gun and my wife followed in a single behind us. At first he covered his ears and held on tight, but after the first lap, he was hootin' and hollerin' and wanted more! After the race, he wanted to do it again and I could see the adrenaline junkie wanted more.

We went again yesterday and he loved it. It was really cool to show him something new like that and see him go through the different emotions. I think my timid son might be breaking out of his shell and he may become a speed demon, with me behind the wheel of course.

The Green Lantern!

When I was a kid, I loved super hero's. Superman, Spiderman, The Hulk, The Green Lantern. Yes, the Green Lantern was a cool one, especially if you like the color green. I can't wait to see the movie coming out, and to no surprise, Mattel has come out with some very cool toys!

I gave this one to my 4 year old boy and he said, "Papa, he has a big hand." Amazing how observant 4 year olds are. Funny how he started pounding things with it. I think it was the barbaric caveman in him coming out.

I must say, that my favorite Green Lantern toy was this disc shooter. I had to demo it for my boy to show him how it worked. At first he was a little unsure due to the flashing colors and sounds. But after I loaded it and started shooting things in his room down with the discs he had to have it! He pointed it at me and wanted to fire, but luckily I told him to only aim at his toys.
We spent at least an hour playing with this toy, taking turns knocking down targets and shooting things down. A very good boy thing to do. If he was a bit older, I would get two of these and have a shoot out. We would have to do it on the sly so my wife wouldn't find out though. Good times!

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Mattel and received Green Lantern toys to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

My Review of DREAM JOURNAL

Originally submitted at UncommonGoods

It's time to start living the life you've imagined. - Henry James Where do you want to go? What do you want to become? Dream with your eyes wide open and a pen in hand with this inspiring journal full of over 100 quotations about seizing your dreams and seizing the day. Take note of your f...

DREAM JOURNAL

Journal your Dreams with Dream Journal!

By Proudtobeapoppa from Los Angeles, CA on 4/11/2011

 

5out of 5

Pros: Professional Quality, Durable Construction, The perfect gift

Best Uses: Essays, Personal log

Describe Yourself: Quality Oriented

Primary use: Personal

This is great to keep by your bedside and right down your dreams or thoughts before bed or when you wake up.

(legalese)

Live Eagle Cam from Decorah, Iowa Draws Internet's Attention

I was watching the ABC nightly news and I saw this. Pretty cool...

Here is a great video of some baby eaglets hatching. Amazing how they have captured this on camera.

Borders - Everything must Go!!!!

Here's a quick one that I thought I'd share. I found out yesterday, but didn't think anything of it. Many Borders book stores across the country are closing due to them filing Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and reorganization. It's a great time to go get some kids' books, videos, or music. Set a budget and stick to it!

Christmas Aftermath

I don't know about everyone else, but this Christmas came and went with some serious wrath. Our house is a mess with new gifts in every room of the house. To boot, today is my kids' 4th bday, so we have a even more gifts everywhere.

We tried to have a conversation with our toddler a few weeks ago talking about the true meaning of Christmas, but I don't think any of it really soaked in. We told him that he needed to give up some toys to donate to other children and that would make more room for the new ones. I don't think he understood what we were talking about. He didn't want to give away anything and started hiding his toys.

Oh well, I think it is important to purge during the holidays though. My wife and I got rid of some clothes and made a little room for new things. The next task (while my child is not looking) will be to take some of the old baby toys that he doesn't play with and donate them to Goodwill. He may not understand the meaning of giving yet, but we do.

Christmas Traditions

When our now three year old was born, my wife started a great Christmas tradition. Each year, we go out and my son gets to pick an ornmanet for the Christmas Tree. We put the date on the back and then let him hang it on the tree. This year, we each picked an ornament, so that was different.

The great idea my wife has about this is that when our boy is old enough to be on his own, we will give him the ornaments, so he has some to start with. My wife got this idea from her mom that started this tradition. To this day, we have little ornaments that my wife had on her tree when she was a little girl.

Share any traditions you may have!