Adventures

Dad, Don’t Sign my Reading Log!

February 8, 2017 by Darren

Dads can’t sign their son’s school reading logs.

In the news today there is tons of talk about equal rights for women but nobody ever mentions equal rights for dads. This true story with my son and his school absolutely blew me away.

Every Friday, my son has to turn in a reading log showing what books he read during the week and how long he read them. These reading logs are then signed by a parent before they are turned in.

Last Thursday night, my wife was out of town so I told my son I could sign his reading log. He was very hesitant to give me the log but I quickly looked it over, signed it with his pencil, and told him to turn in in the next day.

Monday morning my son presented his reading log to my wife to sign with my signature erased.

It turns out his teacher had rejected his reading log and told him to go have his mom sign it instead. Her exact statement was “Only moms can sign it!”

I was absolutely flabbergasted!!! Why in the world can’t a dad sign his son’s reading log? Not only that, his teacher made him feel like it was wrong for him to have me sign it and made him “correct” it.

I would like to state that this was a strange isolated incident but I put this in the same class as the comments like, “Is your wife gone so you are babysitting?” or when I show up for a kids school event in the middle of the day “Don’t you work?”. Dads just are not perceived as being anything other than financial providers for their families.

Dads are so much more. Yes. Men and women often approach things differently but that doesn’t mean one way is wrong and one is right. I can cook a meal as well as my wife. I can support my kids at a school event. I can keep my kids my getting lost in public places. I even can calm my daughter when she cries. Dads are an important part of the family and we need to not forget it.

10 Things you Need to Know Before Going to Disneyland

January 25, 2017 by Darren

Planning a trip to Disneyland? Don’t go before checking out these Disneyland tips we have for you. As a family of 8 who are frequent Disneyland visitors, we’ve got all the inside tricks for you.

My kids love the magic of Disneyland! In my opinion, there are few things more amazing than seeing that magic light up your child’s eyes and giving them memories that will last a lifetime.

While my family has had the opportunity to visit numerous other amusement parks, nothing seems to compare with the experiences my family has a Disneyland.

But as my family has gotten larger, the costs have gone up exponentially. We have learned to get creative to get the most out of our time at the park and save money at the same time.

Here are my top 10 tips you need to know before visiting Disneyland

Ticket Prices – This is obviously the largest cost for anyone attending the park. Discounts are hard to come by but GetAwayToday and AAA do offer a few dollars off. Stay away from individuals selling tickets as Disneyland now photographs people entering the park and your resold passes will likely not work. Also, as kids under 3 years old are free, you can easily save $100 or more going before that 3rd birthday.

Crowds – Disneyland now adjusts their prices based on how crowded they predict the park to be that day. My recommendation is if you can avoid it, don’t ever go on a day when the costs are high. Not only will it cost you more money but you will ride less rides because of the crowds. IsItPacked.com is a good tool to help you estimate the crowds before you go.

FastPass – Take advantage of FastPass tickets as often as you can and get the tickets for the rides you most want to ride early in the morning. Right now, Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure usually gives out all their FastPass tickets for the entire day by around noon, earlier on busy days.

Rider Swaps – If you have members of your party that can’t ride a ride for any reason (kids aren’t tall enough, etc), ask for a rider swap when you get on the ride. This will enable up to 3 people to ride after you get off by going through the FastPass line.

Parking – Most of the time you will be directed to the Mickey and Friends parking structure. You then take a shuttle from the structure to Downtown Disney. There are several sections of the tram where you don’t have to empty and fold your stroller. Right now parking will cost $18 per vehicle. We actually prefer some of the other overflow lots better as you don’t have to fight the crowds to get on the tram at the end of the night. If you are staying at a hotel nearby, look for one that offers shuttle service or is walking distance to the park to save on parking costs.

Strollers – I recommend bringing a stroller even if you are not bringing young babies. Strollers work very well for carrying food, jackets, and tired kids at the end of the night. Just make sure you don’t leave valuables in them when you leave it to get on rides.

Food – There are lots of places in the park where you can now get meals for under $10 per person but that still adds up with a group, so we bring lots of snacks. Our favorite right now is the Uncrustables pre-made sandwiches. You can buy them frozen at any grocery store and they thaw throughout the day, keeping them from getting smashed. Bringing your own food means you can go the entire day without paying extra for food, or you can use your savings to splurge a bit for a nicer dinner. If it is in your budget, I highly recommend the character dining experience at Ariel’s Grotto. Check out our experience as a family of 8 at Ariel’s Grotto.

Drinks – Especially if you go during a hot day, you have to stay hydrated. Many people don’t know that any restaurant in the park that serves fountain drinks will give you ice water cups for free and they typically already have them ready (no need to wait in line, just walk up to the counter. If you want some flavor, I like to bring some single serve Crystal Light packets to dump in the free waters. No where in the park does Disneyland offer free refills of fountain drinks.

Parades/Shows – There is no real way around this. If you want a seat, get there early. Main Street is always the most crowded for the parades but also has the most seats. I recommend trying up where the parade begins by Its a Small World. If you are not that interested in the parades or if you have already seen, this is an excellent time to go on the rides that typically have long lines.

Hotels – Staying at the Disneyland-owned hotels give you the advantage of Magic Mornings (you get into the park an hour before everyone else) but if you are not wanting to pay those prices there are lots of other options that are within walking distance so you don’t have to pay the $18 for parking at the park. Our favorite is the Convention Center Residence Inn. It opened in summer 2016, offers free breakfast and has huge suites that will sleep up to 8. The Fairfield Inn Anaheim Resort is the closest to the park and has Disney-themed rooms. The Courtyard Anaheim Theme Park Entrance has a cool Disney waterslide at opened in 2015.

Enjoy your time making magic memories at Disneyland with your kids.

Can you Make Money Driving for Uber?

August 1, 2016 by Darren

Have you been wondering if you can make a good side income driving for Uber? As a father of six, I’m always looking for a good side hustle so I set out to see if Uber was a valid way to make some extra money.

People claim that they can’t make enough money to make a career out of driving for Uber. I wanted to test it out for myself so I signed up as a driver. I love the idea of something flexible that parents can use to earn extra funds and still allow them to work around hectic family schedules.

Getting Started with Uber

The process to get setup with Uber was pretty simple. I signed up online then attended an in-person event to finish the process. They ran a background check, requested some documentation and a vehicle inspection. The entire process went fairly smoothly, despite the fact that I chose to use my electric car, a BMW i3 (more on that later).

Driving for the First Time

With the kids off to school, I put the Uber placard in my window, placed pepper spray in the driver’s door (just in case) and logged into the Uber Partners app on my smartphone to tell them I was ready to drive. Within minutes, I got a notification that someone wanted a ride. I accepted and used the GPS within the app to drive to the pickup location.

My first passenger was an older couple who wanted a ride to the train station, a short 14 minute ride of 7.63 miles and a fare of $14.06.

I can do this, I thought.

Safety

One of the biggest concerns people have about driving for Uber is safety. Will they be safe while driving? Since there have been a few high-profile news stories about Uber passengers getting violent, this seemed like a valid concern.

I didn’t find safety to be an issue. I met lots of very nice people and drove in areas I was familiar with.

I did take a few precautions. I kept mace in my door just in case and used a mount for my smartphone so I could stay handsfree.

I learned almost immediately that you MUST have some sort of mount to hold your smartphone in place. I honestly think Uber should make this part of the vehicle inspection. It is simply not safe to be looking at a phone for directions or where to pick someone up without a mount.

Proclip makesvehicle-specific mounts for just about any car and sent us one that was perfect for the i3 coupled with my iPhone 6S Plus. The mount even charges the phone and will accommodate a wide range of cases.

I always stopped driving by about 10pm so that I was taking people out for the night rather than bringing them home. So far I’ve avoided picking up an overly drunk passenger. I think this is a major part of the reason why I have never felt unsafe, but you do make more money if you are willing to drive later at night.

Flexibility

I loved the flexibility Uber offered. I was able to login to drive anytime I wanted and sign out anytime I was done. I found that demand is always highest in the evenings on the weekends here in San Diego. I did try and schedule my driving around those times as much as possible because I knew that I would make more money driving during those times, but I was free to set my own hour and adjust them to fit my schedule.

Demand

Demand while the kids are at school was a lot more sporadic. I might give several rides back to back and then have nothing for hours. I also found that even though Uber is completely flexible with when I can login and work, the end time is much more difficult to schedule as you never know where the next ride is going to take you. It might be right next to your kids’ school (which I had happen perfectly once) or your last ride might want you to drive them to the airport which could take hours so you want to make sure you aren’t on a tight time schedule while driving.

Overall, the experience was good and driving for Uber is something I think I’ll continue to do as my schedule allows time for it. I met some great people and it was a really interesting experience. I actually found that it was great for networking and as a work at home dad it was a great way to get out of the house.

Interested in driving for Uber? Sign up here.