Tag Archives: dallas dads group

Jumping Dads and Beer With a Friend

April Fools’ Day was supposed to be a fun day at a nearby park with our Dallas Dads Group, but Nature wasted no time living up to the  term “April Showers”. Just hours after midnight, it rained, and continued with storms all throughout the day.

Luckily, when scheduling this meet up, I had an indoor backup plan for the bounce house we went to for my first scheduled Dallas Dads Group event. I was looking forward to being outside with other dads and our kids since Avery and I had a good time when we went last week. Avery even ran sprints across the soccer field with me!

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Soon, that awesome playground in the background will be more than just a giant mulch pit for her to throw wood pieces! The whole mulch thing is why I decided not to be too upset about our change of plans and figured some bouncing action would suit all of us just well.

Two other dads were able to attend, one with an almost 3 year old son, and the other with a 1 1/2 year old daughter. The father-son duo were making their way through all of the bounce houses like a tornado in a trailer park. Both were jumping and playing non-stop, and I’m not sure who had more fun; kid or adult.

Meanwhile, the other dad and I had to help our girls around, but they still had plenty of play time too. Well, after the initial shell-shock phase where the look on their face is saying “Where the hell am I?!”

04-01-15 Jump For Fun Avery Looking Lost

That soon passed and Avery was in a basketball bounce house doing her best to keep on her feet. Poor girl kept tumbling as you would expect from an already unstable toddler in an inflatable house. Not that I helped by jumping all around her. Just helping to work on her stability is all!

I tried lifting her to the rim so she could make a slam dunk, but Avery refused to let the ball go. Guess we still have some work to do on teaching her the game of basketball. Not that I know much more than trying to get the ball in the other team’s hoop.

What I loved most about our dads group was that all three of us dads were getting in there and jumping around with our kids while the moms that brought their kids were either sitting on a bench or standing outside watching or on their phone. Okay, moms reading this, don’t blow up on me! I’m not saying all moms do this, I know that’s not true, just the ones that were there while we were.

We good, caring mothers? Good. 🙂

Before we parted ways, we had an employee snap a shot of us dads with our quickly expiring toddlers.

04-01-15 Jump For Fun Meet-up (2)

Good times for sure.

Avery and I stopped at Sprouts on the way home to pick up a few groceries. I found a new kimchi I’ve never seen before and can’t wait to try it. Fermented food is packed full of gut healing goodness and it’s great as a topping on a variety of things.

Once home, I knocked out a quick tabata kettlebell workout with Avery and went for a walk with her and Abby (our Golden). I fed Avery lunch while making dinner for Going Mom and trying to eat something for myself. Kelley had a dentist appointment and was coming home early right after.

My wife was nice enough to let me out of the house alone so I could meet an old friend at a local pub for a few beers. I didn’t want to appear too eager to get out, but I left before nap time was over with good beer on my mind.

Don’t worry, I didn’t have a lot, and made it back just in time to sit down for dinner at our usual time; late. It’s always nice to catch up with an old friend and to have good beer while doing so, hopefully we’ll meet again sooner rather than later.

It was a long but fun-filled day, and can’t wait to go to our next meet up with our Dallas Dads Group. Maybe next time the weather will hold up and we can make it to the park!

I'm waiting on you.
I’m waiting on you.

If you had to choose, would you pick being outside or an indoor venue like a bounce house to be with your kids?

Have any long time friends you like to meet with every now and then to play catch up?

Expo Adventures with Dallas Dads and Britax

Last Saturday, our Dallas Dads Group had the honor of working with Britax to hold a car seat safety workshop at the DFW Family Expo. I’m not sure why, but I enjoy going to expos even though I’m not a big fan of crowds. Even more so when the crowds have crazy kids running all over the place. Oops, that was us!

We went into the event with our crazy animal toddler safely contained in her Boba Baby Carrier nice a snug with Going Mom. Britax was setup in a prime location at the entrance for all to see and had their car seat safety workshop sign displayed for all to see. Britax is a major supporter of our nationwide City Dads Group, and it was exciting to be part of their event! DSC_2209 First, we rendezvoused with all of the dads and the Britax team who graciously provided lunch for our group, it was time to explore. DSC_2194 But, I think it was right after the picture with the abominable snow-dog that Avery could no longer be confined to staring up at and pushing Mommy’s chin. DSC_2188 With that, Kelley set Avery free into the wild, errr….expo. Avery wasted no time! DSC_2210 Even with the two of us, Kelley and I could hardly keep track of our little girl. How do those little legs get so far so fast?! Not that I ever want anything to do with Nesquick or the like, but we were thankful for their booth having these large dice. DSC_2229 Until, that is, she tried to run away with them. We took the dice away and returned them which obviously meant toddler meltdown. Using our brains, we tossed Avery in a nearby bounce house in hopes of cheering her up DSC_2267 Phew, I think it worked! DSC_2217 Silly kid had a ball dancing, clapping and even playing with other kids. Or getting pushed down by them, but she had fun and that’s what matters most! DSC_2270 The hard part was getting her back out, and then figuring out how to calm her down again. Thankfully, the force was with us when something strange caught her attention. DSC_2234 Storm Troops and Darth Vader?! Score! Obviously, we had to pose with the Dark Side, and Darth Vader was there too. 😉 DSC_2236

I wasn’t there, but some of the dads and their kids gathered for a (friendly?) group photo.

Dads with Dark Side
Pretty cool stuff, huh? Avery was getting very obnoxious and hungry, but she wasn’t nursing with Going Mom very well because so much was going on. I gave her some organic applesauce in a squeeze pouch, yes, like I once said I’d never do, which only helped for maybe 3.23 minutes.
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Then it was off on another rampant tour of the expo grounds.
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No fear, this child, no fear. It was almost time for the main event, Britax’s Car Seat Safety Workshop, so we made our way back to the front to join the rest of the crowd eager to learn about #BritaxSafety. The beautiful and kind Britax ladies, Kate and Sarah, put on an excellent workshop jam-packed with useful information.
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Did you know heavy jackets and other winter clothing should be removed before putting your kid in their car seat and that the chest clip on car seats should be at armpit level? Or that you should keep your child rear facing at least to 2 years old and longer if the weight limit of your car seat allows? Also, it’s better to tighten the straps until you think it’s good enough, and then pull some more since 60% of the harnesses are not tight enough.
When it comes to our kids and safety, Britax has us covered. We have their Boulevard ClickTight Car Seat, and Avery loves it. Not to mention we love all of it’s safety features and easy installation.
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Happy in her Britax Car Seat!
Unfortunately, Avery kept on getting more and more irritable, and Kelley had to put her back in the Boba and try her best to keep her calm.
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But it wasn’t long until all was lost and Going Mom gave “the look” letting me know we were already pushing our luck.
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She frantically went to the car in hopes that Avery would nurse better there, and I stayed until the workshop was over. Right after it ended, I had to bail. I know we were already pushing our luck, but I wish we could’ve stayed just a little longer since we missed out on the great group photo taken just minutes after we left.
Dads at DFW Fam Expo
Great group of dads and their families right there! Sorry we missed it, but at least we were able to get our photo with Kate from Britax. Thank you, Kate, for taking time to pose with us!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and despite Avery’s craziness, I’m glad she got to experience something new. Plus, she slept very good that night!

Are you part of any parenting groups?

Do you still have a kid in car seats? Do they still sit rear-facing?

Babywearing at the Expo: #MySundayPhoto – 03.22.15

We went to the DFW Family Expo on Saturday to join our Dallas Dads Group and Britax for a great time. Kelley put her Boba Babywearing skills to the test while there, but it wasn’t long until Avery was out and running around everywhere!

boba, babywearing, family

Britax put on a very detailed and informative workshop on car seat safety and we all walked away with vital information on how to keep our kids safe in the car. Avery hasn’t been around large crowds before, so she was basically crazy the entire time.

Despite the craziness, I always enjoy hanging with our Dallas Dads Group, and when Going Mom and Avery can join, all the better! I’ll give the full story on our adventure soon.

Do you enjoy going to expos?

If so, what kind and do you bring the kids?


OneDad3Girls