Tre has the world figured out, in a quick 4 years on this earth, the boy is ready to take the world by storm and potentially in the words of Rick Ross “be Rich Forever”. Miraculously, he is willing to share his fool proof plan that is guaranteed to having you gaining financial stability in a mere 4 years flat. Does that sound interesting to you? Do want financial independence beyond your wildest dreams? Sure you do, who doesn’t!!! Well let Tre show you the way, let him guide you through his step by step plan that will have you saving money and spending it on the things that are important in life at the same time. To gain access to this once in a lifetime offer, simply write a check for $49.99 out to Tre and check the mail for your copy of “More At Four – Financial Stability Made Simple”.
I looked out my window last night & the Christmas lights were still blaring bright, therefore, the extremely late holiday recap will continue. Today, I’ll give you guys a quick rundown of Tre’s birthday, but more importantly, discuss the difficulties and pitfalls associated with having a birthday that falls in between Christmas and New Year’s.
A few days ago, a super enthusiastic Tre came running up to me to introduce me to his new friend, a lady friend at that. He was so excited and happy that this lady was now in his life, he kind of caught me off guard as I had just got out the shower. Believe me, meeting my son’s new friend, fresh out of the shower isn’t the way I want any relationship to begin. When I turned around and laid eyes on his new lady friend, I was shocked, it baffled me that a lady of this caliper had befriended my son. The shock quickly turned to concern, why is this lady a friend of my 4 year old son? Why is she in our house? Most importantly, why was she starring at me in my towel fresh out of the shower?
Toy Review: Okay, here we go again, another Hot Wheels review. Well let’s face it people, when it comes to little boys, Hot Wheels is the epitome of toy greatness. So yes, this is another Hot Wheels Toy Review, but gosh darn it, its a really good one.
Tre has loved all of his older brothers Hot Wheels race tracks, so recently we’ve been branching out and buying him some of his own, at 4 years old, we weren’t quite sure how well the new tracks would go over, but we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly he took the it and mastered the technique required to operate his new Criss Cross Crash Speed Track, which is one of the more complex tracks that Hot Wheels offers.
The basic premise of the toy is four separate loops that all come to a 4way intersection in the middle of the track. This is a motorized track so the action is pretty much guaranteed to be nonstop. I’ve dealt with my fair share of race car tracks in the past and the biggest complaint with motorized ones, is that the tracks wobble and its impossible to keep the cars going for more than a few sections. I’m hear to tell you first hand that when it comes to the Criss Cross Speed track, that is definitely not the case. Once the cars get going, the keep moving until a crash occurs, for the most part. It is quite refreshing to have a toy that allows a 4 year old to operate it flawlessly while keeping a 7 year old entertained as well.
So now that we know you can actually get a car on the track and keep it there, I know you’re wondering about the crashes? That’s where things get just a tad bit tricky. The cars are moving at such high speeds on the track that it can be a little difficult to add subsequent cars to the race. This was a huge concern for me when Tre first started playing with this toy. However, after a few short play sessions, he has actually mastered the timing to add cars, and has successfully added up to 4 at a time in some instances. This is an added bonus in my book because it further develops his fine motor skills and timing recognition. Something I’m quite sure Mattel wasn’t aiming for, but kudos to them for the success.
Now for the bad, as you can see, this toy didn’t get a 5 star rating. That’s because as much as Tre (and I) love this toy, I do have a few concerns. As with most Hot Wheels tracks, this one doesn’t work well with all cars, some perform better than others, while some cars don’t perform at all. They lack the structure and weight to handle the curves. It’s not a big deal if you have a wide variety of cars to chose from, but for those who do not, I can see it being a problem. In addition, the nature of the crashes sometimes cause the cars to fly off of the track at an alarming speed and for a curious pre-schooler who likes to get in close to monitor the action, I can foresee a potentially serious injury occurring. Lastly, this thing is a beast on batteries, 4 D batteries are required and you’ll definitely know when they start to lose juice. We’re on our second set in 3 weeks, but hey, Tre loves this thing and plays with it constantly, so maybe it’s the user and not the product in this case.
The Verdict: This toy is Tre tested and Daddy approved. But it now!!!
Well maybe sometimes it is. But seeing as how my neighbors still have their Christmas lights on, I figured what the hell; let’s do the annual end of the year holiday recap right now, today. Who cares that we’re a complete two weeks into the new year anyway? These stories are timeless right? Better late than never right? It’s better to finish the race last, than to not finish at all…right? Okay, so have I completely talked myself out of being a lazy bum and slacking on the holiday post? Yes you say, well great, let’s proceed with the recap of Christmas, Tre’s Bday, and New Year’s.
Happy New Year to all my DFB readers. It’s that time again, another new year for cheer, another new year for excitement and unlimited possibilities (until Dec 21st that is, joking). But most importantly, it’s another opportunity to recap the previous year hear at Daddy’s Fish Bowl. 2011 was a great year for us and what better way to get your new year pumping than revisiting some of the great posts that you loved during 2011. Take a moment to relive the magic of DFB, or if you’re a delinquent reader, think of this opportunity as a second chance at the DFB reader hall of fame. No matter your motivation, join us as we countdown the top 11 posts of 2011. What will be number one? Will it best the top post of 2010? You be the judge. Each entry will be listed with the title and a brief excerpt of the post, click the link to visit the post and memories, laughter, and sentimental moments that kept you coming back all year long.
If you missed part one of this troubled tale, head on over and read it so you’ll have some context for the funny part 2 of this post!
As if the shame of enacting the Santa ClausE wasn’t weighing heavily enough on my conscious, Tre decided to jump in and be my assistant authority figure. My assistant seemed to take much more pleasure in the naughty list punishment than I did however. Typically, I don’t let the kids get involved in repercussions of each others disciplinary actions, but when Tre decided to ensure that Ty knew exactly what was looming over his head, I let it go.
December is here and boy did it come around quick this year. As most of you may know, December is my month of the year; although, that may change now that I’m back in a cold climate area. But Christmas is in December and it’s my favorite holiday, there for December wins “Month Of The Year Award” time and time again. We usually kick off our holiday rituals by going to pick out our Christmas tree together, this year we were able to do something a little different. Instead of going to just pick out our tree, we actually picked it out and cut it down ourselves. What an adventure that was; luckily we all survived and no one injured any vital organs and came back with all limbs intact.
Now that Black Friday is behind us, let’s take a look at some gift ideas that are sure to win over the hearts of your loved ones. Our 3rd annual Holiday Gift Guide Week will feature separate guides for preschoolers, elementary schoolers and gadgets (courtesy of The Gallant). The gift guides will feature some items that the boys already own, as well as items that we plan to purchase for them this Christmas. The items are in no special order, they are all gifts that I find interesting and think the kids will enjoy playing with. Please feel free to add items to the list in the comment section, or if you already own a particular item, share your experience with it. I hope you enjoy, talk to you soon.
Well, here we after, still standing after a brutal (brutal meaning mild) snowstorm (snowstorm meaning snowfall). We survived, we made it thru and embraced the snow as if it were a long lost family member that we’ve only seen photos and videos of. When I say we, I should say they, Fefe and the kids. I’m no stranger to the snow and cold, growing up in Buffalo and all, but these guys are born and raised North Carolinians, so making it through the first snow fall deserves a round of applause. Even though we made it through, it wasn’t without a few casualties; so we’ll learn from our mistakes and continue on next time with a higher resolve.
