ETERNAL HAPPINESS, AND YOU.

If you've been looking for a good present that will tide over your whole sweet family, don't sweat. One of my favorite artists of ever, Nathaniel Russell, just finished up a poster showing up at Mollusk Surf Shop in San Francisco. The aftermath is a good looking grip of prints available online from Mollusk direct.  I already own the "SIT" poster, which is a good reminder of what to do after coming home from a straining work day, unaware of how to proceed.  I've got my eye on this rad poster called "Skateboard People", as well as a few others of which I'm not going to tell you, fearing you might grab the last one and I'll be left empty handed. 

They've also got a great collection of clothes for the kids, so do some extra snooping around while you're there.

GIMMME MY BARK BOX!

We're a pretty lucky family to have our scruffy lil' pup Maggie Mae. Well shoot, she's not a puppy anymore, but given the "fountain of canine youth" that is being half Chihuahua, she's already 10 but looking like a tween in dog years.  We got her before we had any our little dudes, and she couldn't have welcomed them any more properly. She has to keep pace with the stroller at all times... never ahead, and never behind. She's always game to clean faces from sloppy yogurt eating, or drippy ice cream cones. And no matter how many times one of the dudes lays down on her on the couch, she'll gladly take the attention.

I was even luckier to get hooked up with a Bark Box by my friends over at Swiffer. They're teaming up to get a free Bark Box Welcome Kit to anyone who adopts a pup from a partnering shelter through the month of December (you can find a list here)! Swiffer and Bark Box are making sure that cleaning woes aren't gonna stop you from bringing a new furry pal into your home. The Bark Box comes packed with goodies including a sweet Bark Toy and bag of treats, as well as a Swiffer Duster, a coupon for a free Swiffer Sweeper Starter Kit, and a sweet Welcome Home Guide to help ease the transition for a pup into a house of children!

It's cool to see Swiffer and Bark Box working to make adopting pets even more of a no brainer :)
Thanks for making my dog smile (I can tell, I swear) and for helping others find sweet new homes!!

STRAIGHT SWAPPIN'

hey! it's been a while! All the dudes finished up the school, and around the same time, we moved! I mean, physically, we've been busy moving around what feels like every week of every month, but that's our pace. But we also moved into a new house a couple miles from our last one. It was a good lesson in procrastination and time management, but we're all settled, and the garage is only 30% filled with boxes now.  So let's get back to that body-moving, relentless pace that we're so accustomed to!

This past weekend was no exception. After I got back home from a quick (fun) work trip to Chicago, with bags full of Ugly Dolls and snow globes, we decided to hoof it over to the Long Beach Antique Market.  It had definitely been a while since we've last made it up there, and with a newfound interest in 1960's era Batman, we thought the kids might have some extra fun.  Although we battled some 90 degree humid heat, overpriced frozen lemonades, and some tired legs, we all made it out with something good. The dudes scored a couple of Beanie babies for 50 cents each... Remember when people were investing in those to save for their children's college tuition? WILD.  I grabbed a cool book on Tiki culture. Carolyn grabbed an army issue storage piece for the kitchen table (it sounds weird, but it totally rules).  Lastly, as pictured above, the kids found (another) 'toy heaven', where boxes and boxes of "dollar bins" were spread around for them to pick through and find the PERFECT car to add to their collection of what has to be at least 2 hundred thousand back at the house. I know, because I moved them all. HA. 

Definitely a great trip that we will do again, armed with some water filled squirt bottles, some oversized straw hats, and strollers... for all of us. 

til next time.  hope you find what you've been looking for. 

DAD-CORE

I know, right!?!?

Speaking of which, you can get your little one all the Gorilla Biscuits merch you/they need right here. 

#StayPosi

RADVENTURES AT THE AQUABATS SHOW

When our dudes' attention spans blossomed to the point of being able to stomach a full tv show, we were very ecstatic to introduce Yo Gabba Gabba.  Engaging story lines, amazing animation, and radical musical guests.. CHECK. Being able to show my kids how good Rocket From the Crypt and Dr. Dog are through a lens that they can really appreciate was truly magical.  

Fast forward a year or two, and those sweet dudes have grown to want more action packed adventure on their TV tasting palette. Enter, The Aquabats Super Show: a program with enough excitement, a dash of campy 60's Batman, and some over the top awesome tunes, created by the MC Bat Commander, AKA Christian Jacobs, AKA the Co-Creator of Yo Gabba Gabba. It seems like it's a natural evolutionary step to go from Yo Gabba to the Aquabats Super Show.  We were thrilled when the dudes jumped right aboard and became mega Aquabat fans. We've followed the show around on the now-defunct Hub channel, and have since downloaded every single episode via iTunes. 

The best part of all, is that our kids are now listening to the same music that my wife and I were glued to when we first met. Pretty dang rad.  And now, both of our older dudes have MULTIPLE real deal rock shows under their belts. If you have an opportunity to take your little one to an Aquabats show, I couldn't recommend it more.  Our kids especially dug the live show after listening to the cds in the car a bit and becoming familiar with a handful of songs. Some of our obvious faves are: "Super Rad", "Shark Fighter", "My Skateboard" and "Hey Homies". The Aquabats are very appreciative of the wide age range within their audience and take extra care that everyone is having the best time, especially the young ones.  

Get out and get to a show! Bring your kids!

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN

My little dudes and I love to adventure, whether that involves a hike out into the wilderness, or building lego cars and a real deal racetrack too. What follows most of these activities is a reckless tornado that storms through the house, leaving a chaotic path leading to the next project.  Since our number of juvenile tornados has grown to three, my wife and I have a pretty constant job of cleaning up that we've got to team up on. It's always been second nature to me to do whatever I can around the house to make things easier, but recently I got to be a part of the #SwifferDad campaign, and it opened my eyes to how important it is to spread those team vibes on to my kids.

It's crazy to think that stereotypes still exist out there about a dad's role around the house.  My wife and I both work, so we're in the same boat when we arrive back at home for the day.  In the mornings, I've got 2 of the dudes to get dressed, fed, in the car and off to school, but before we leave, I do my best to get the house looking pretty dang near perfect, so that when we get home at the end of the day, we both can relax a little bit and chill with the kids.  It's even better when the dudes can team up with me on the cleaning effort and get it done in record time. In fact, the challenge to be the "Fastest Cleaner", or "Most Spotless Floor Winner" is usually enough motivation to get the whole family involved.  Cleaning up around the house isn't just mom's job, it's everyone's responsibility. That's a reason being part of this video is so cool. It'll leave a lasting impression on my kids how crucial the teamwork element is around the house, and show how good it makes you feel to help out your crew and spread the positive vibes!

So check out this radical video that the dudes and I got to be a part of. Stoked that I could be a part of it; to represent as a proud, hands-on #SwifferDad, and meet some other rad dads in the same shoes! :)  Not to mention, I'm a religious user and fan of the Swiffer WetJet, so I was able to flex some of my cleaning steez in the video.

Lastly, the little dudes got to hang with Anthony Anderson, who you may know from the TV show Blackish, or one of my faves, Kangaroo Jack, on the big screen! Rad times!

I was compensated for participating in the Swiffer video campaign but all thoughts are my own, and I don't team up with stuff that I don't really dig. 

I DON'T WANNA GROW UP!

GUYS! The Descendants VANS shoes are back!!! Head over to their mercy site to grab some now, and while you're there, grab your little people an official "I Don't Want to Grow Up" shirt, cuz well.. to make it officially official!!