Family

Post image for A Solid, Tech-Filled, All-Around Performer – 2011 Ford Explorer Test Drive

A few months ago, Sony and Ford Motors invited the Cast of Dads out to the East Coast to participate in a variety of events, one of them was driving a 2011 Ford Explorer (note, link is for the 2012 model) from Boston to NYC. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the event, and boy was I jealous. Part of my envy came from the fact that I couldn’t drive the Ford Explorer (you can read more about the excursion over at the Cast of Dads). Luckily, over the 2011 holidays, I did have the pleasure of getting behind the wheel of the 2011 Ford Explorer for a road trip to and from Los Angeles from the San Francisco Bay Area.

HTD-Ford-Explorer-2011-841

I’m pretty familiar with Ford and their push to enable technology behind the wheel. I have test driven the Ford Flex and the Lincoln MKX (which is essentially quite similar to the Ford Edge). But being able to experience the Explorer first hand was pretty important to me since it has been a long running model for Ford since 1990.

Explorergen1

Image source: Wikipedia.com

Well, we are already in 2012 now, so how does the 2011 Ford Explorer stack up? Pretty darn well. It has plenty of technology to make a gadget-drooling dad happy as I barreled down the super boring stretch of the I-5. (If you haven’t driving the I-5 ever, you definitely aren’t in for any type of treat. It’s really boring and at times your auto is filled with the lovely stench of cow manure as you pass the cattle farms – you can also almost take a nap without turning the wheel as the I-5 seems to stretch on indefinitely.)

[click to continue…]


{ 0 comments }

Post image for Parking Lot Personalities, New Law for Kid Giants & No Public Sporting Events – Babble.com Digest – 12/20-23/11
Here is the weekly round-up of some posts that I did over at Babble.com in the Dadding Section:

{ 0 comments }

Post image for A Quest for the Holidays – The 2012 Nissan Quest

I sit in a darkened cafe. About a block away, packs of people are streaming into the San Francisco Opera House as part of a holiday tradition that goes back decades. Dressed up with kids in tow, they are off to see the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. I have seen the Nutcracker ever since I was a small child. It was an event that symbolized the holidays for me. Now, it has a different meaning altogether for me, and this year, there has been a car that has really made the difference for me and my family – the 2012 Nissan Quest.

HTD-Nissan-HolidayQuest-15

A few weeks ago, I was given the 2012 Nissan Quest to drive for 2 weeks as part of an outreach program to bloggers around the country. We were ask to essentially embark on a “Holiday Quest” and we have been tagging our social activities with the hashtag #HolidayQuest. Nissan kindly donated not only the Quest for two week, but they also are donating $500 to a charity of our choice and provided us with $500 “holiday money” to help us take that hard edge off of the holiday season. And a few days ago, Nissan gave out 5 prizes of $1000 to some lucky Twitterers who participated in a Nissan Quest TweetUp!

For our family, the Quest became our transportation of choice, and boy did we have a lot of driving to do. When I checked the odometer at the end of my 2 weeks, it seems that we have gone almost 1000 miles just around the San Francisco Bay Area and most of the driving has been to holiday-related activities.

We used the Quest to go to holiday piano recitals as well as holiday dances for my younger two daughters. But probably most of the mileage has come from the back and forth from our home to San Francisco Ballet – the reason being, my oldest daughter, who is 12, is performing two roles in the SF Ballet’s Nutcracker, that of a dragonfly and also, the main role of Clara. Clara is the girl in the Nutcracker who receives the toy nutcracker and then has a dream sequence that spans the rest of the performance.

[click to continue…]


{ 0 comments }

Post image for Ice for Xmas, Kid Failure, Modern Holiday Songs, Santa Believer, Holiday Spam List, 12 Gifts Not to Give & More from Babble.com

As I mentioned earlier, I’m now doing a daily article on Babble.com’s new “Dadding” site. Since I feel that there is actually some of my better humorous content over there, I thought it would make sense to share the content with my HighTechDad readers.

babble-logo

I’m going to start these regular weekly recaps with a full monthly summary of all of my posts. From here forward, it will most likely just be a weekly recap. Below is a list from newest to oldest. If there are any that you particularly like, let me know and be sure to share them on Facebook, Twitter or Google+!

Here are the article titles and a quick summary:

I’m Giving My Kids “Nothing” for Christmas!
The best gift or present that you can give this Holiday Season is Nothing!

[click to continue…]


{ 0 comments }

Training Wheels without Training Wheels – The Gyrowheel

December 14, 2011
Thumbnail image for Training Wheels without Training Wheels – The Gyrowheel

I’m a bit of a slacker daddy. My kids seemed to be the only ones on the block who were last to learn how to ride their bikes. Chalk it up to me either being a bit lazy or them being extremely busy with a bunch of other activities (ballet, gymnastics, piano, acting, dance and [...]

Read the full article →

BCS Bowl, Super Bowl, and a Deuce NOT in a Bowl – Cast of Dads Podcast #47 “Deuce in the Dryer”

December 6, 2011
Thumbnail image for BCS Bowl, Super Bowl, and a Deuce NOT in a Bowl – Cast of Dads Podcast #47 “Deuce in the Dryer”

We almost dropped the deuce laughing during some of DaddyBrad’s stories in this episode of Cast of Dads called “Deuce in the Dryer“. It seems like we hit a low about mid podcast, revived ourselves a bit and then ended up back with our minds in the toilet, sort off, at the end of the [...]

Read the full article →

Giveaway and Review: Modernizing Monopoly with Electronic Banking

November 17, 2011
Thumbnail image for Giveaway and Review: Modernizing Monopoly with Electronic Banking

Show me a family who hasn’t played Monopoly before and I will let you see the dinosaur I keep in my back yard. I would hazard to guess that pretty much any family has, at one point of time or another, played Monopoly. It’s a rite of passage and part of growing up. You have [...]

Read the full article →

Getting Scruffy for Movember – “Real Men Will Grow a Mo” – Cast of Dads Podcast #46

November 15, 2011
Thumbnail image for Getting Scruffy for Movember – “Real Men Will Grow a Mo” – Cast of Dads Podcast #46

We are halfway through November, I mean “Movember,” and I’ve got this itchy feeling on my face, as do a few of the other dads on Cast of Dads. Why? Because we are donating our liplines and faces to the Movember effort. You can see my post about it here. While I definitely am not [...]

Read the full article →