Tag Archives: adventure

Skid Steer Hunting On Her WOOM 1 Balance Bike

I have a feeling we’ll be skid steer hunting all summer long. Anyone following my social media accounts might’ve noticed our adventures to the new phase development in our neighborhood while riding her WOOM 1 Balance Bike. My favorite is when we spotted the butt hugging bobcats.

I have since taught her that Bobcats are a type of skid steer loader, and not all of them are Bobcats. She’s catching on quickly. Now she knows the white one is a Bobcat and the yellow one is CAT.

Our most recent adventure, however, was probably a little confusing for our construction loving tot. Under a clear blue sky, light breeze, me in my boot from a stress fracture that never fully healed, and riding her “Rocket”, we went on a hunt for the skid steer loaders busy at work in our expanding development.

skid steer loader hunting with boot

Might as well add it to the list of things to let heal after my shoulder surgery coming up this month! Keeping positive…..

The adventure started off a little dull since the first skid steer loader sighting was one not busy at all. Unless you count taking a nap, like Avery says, as being busy.

Waving in front of CAT Skid Steer Loader

Shhh, don’t tell, but I may or may not have let her sit inside empty cockpit. Hey, anything for a cute smile. Amiright?

With sounds of *beep* *beep* and *rrrrrrnnnrrrr*, we knew a busy Bobcat or other skid steer was nearby, so we carried on with the hunt. Me hobbling on a boot trying to keep up with our girl who puts the Rocket in…….ummmm – “Rocket”. After a little searching for the sound, we finally found a John Deere skid steer (yay, a rhyme!) loader hard at work scooping the earth with finesse.

Waving to John Deere Skid Steer Loader

The scooper moved up and down, which, obviously, meant he was waving back. We watched it move the dirt across the land for a minute and journeyed on in search of more skid steer prey. But this time, instead of Avery doing the hunting, a Bobcat came right up to us!

Waving to Bobcat Skidsteer loader on WOOM Balance Bike

Slightly confused, the driver gave a hesitant wave back to the little girl in pink as she said hi to the passerby. Oh man, I’m on a rhyming roll!

With more ground to cover, we hit the road in search of the next construction vehicle. In the distance, we saw another CAT hard at work and a couple dump trucks full of dirt. Finally, we stumbled upon another Bobcat working on new lots. It was a good time to stop for a minute to take a break and pose in front of the rigid-framed machine.

Posing in front of Skid Steer Loader on WOOM 1 Balance Bike

You can tell from the look on her face that having daddy ask her to turn around for the 50 millionth time is wearing on her. I just want to watch the skid steer loaders, dad!

Our loop through the new phase was nearing an end, so I promised to stop bugging her and just have fun exploring around the new construction. With a handy-dandy app on phone, I tracked our total time and distance for our hunting adventure which came out to just under 2 miles.

Distance Covered on WOOM Bike

With several stops to watch and wave and me in my boot, I’d say 43 minutes is pretty good. Now we have a goal to beat this time/distance, I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂

There’s nothing like rewarding yourself with a cool dip in the pool after a long hunting trip via bike and boot, and that’s exactly what we did.

Smiling Pool Selfie with Daddy

Just what we needed. Hopefully this trend continues as we’re both having fun in the sun and it doesn’t cost a ton. Okay, I’m done with the rhymes…..for now.

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.
Britax, car seat, safety
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?