Tim Burns

Tim Burns is the father of 8-year-old twins. He blogs about the adventures of parenting from a fun-loving dad's perspective at ageekdaddy.com. A connoisseur of comic books and remote control cars, he enjoys family road trips and is an avid Detroit Tigers fan.

Latest Article: MUSEUM SALUTES MICHIGAN’S ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY HISTORY


MUSEUM SALUTES MICHIGAN’S ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY HISTORY

MUSEUM SALUTES MICHIGAN’S ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY HISTORY

Posted by | May 28, 2018 | |

My son and I spent some of our Memorial Day weekend exploring a museum that chronicles the role Michigan played in manufacturing military equipment, vehicles and weaponry during the 20th Century.  Switching its numerous automotive assembly plants over to building machine guns, jeeps, tanks, and war planes earned Michigan the moniker “arsenal of democracy” during World War II.  Throughout the remainder of the century, the state continued to be an industrial center for supporting the nation’s military services.  Today, the United State’s Army Tank & Armaments Command is based in the Detroit suburb of Warren providing a 21st Century...

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FUEL EFFICIENCY TIPS FOR SUMMER ROAD TRIPS

FUEL EFFICIENCY TIPS FOR SUMMER ROAD TRIPS

Posted by | May 27, 2018 | |

Family road trips provide a lot of freedom when it comes to controlling and enjoying the course of a vacation.  These treks though can also be very liberating for your money when it comes to separating it from your wallet to pay for gasoline.  Of course, you need fuel to get your vehicle to and from where you want to go so filling up at the gas pump is a necessity.  Therefore traveling dads and moms need to be smart about fuel efficiency while traveling so they can have more money in their pockets for having fun on vacation...

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SPRING BREAK AT THE JOHN BALL ZOO

SPRING BREAK AT THE JOHN BALL ZOO

Posted by | Apr 22, 2018 | |

As any traveler knows even the best planned trips can be negatively impacted by that uncontrollable adversary known as Mother Nature. We had planned out a road trip to explore the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan during my children’s Spring Break from school. The weather forecasts had been showing a nice weekend full of sunny skies and fifty-degree days leading up to our visit. Alas the day our family headed over to the zoo we faced cloudy skies, blustery winds, below freezing temperatures and snow flurries. Because of other commitments in the area, we went ahead with...

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A MOMENT OF ZEN AT THE DIA

A MOMENT OF ZEN AT THE DIA

Posted by | Apr 10, 2018 | |

Give yourself a moment of Zen by taking a stroll through the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Japanese Gallery which showcases oriental treasures from the museum’s permanent collection. During a walkthrough of the space my family found the place to have a sense of peacefulness that radiated from the objects on display. The artwork has a commonality of sharing the complementary qualities of stillness and movement which are inherent in many Japanese works. Walking through the gallery the sight of magnificent folding screens and solemn statues provide the ambience of  being inside a tokonoma, an alcove in Japanese homes and...

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FLYING WITH PEANUT ALLERGIES

FLYING WITH PEANUT ALLERGIES

Posted by | Mar 30, 2018 | |

    When the topic of peanuts comes up the first thing many of us think of is enjoying them as a snack at baseball games or during an airline flight.  But for a growing number of families when it comes to this topic what comes to mind is food allergies.  According to the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA), more than 4 million children in the United States suffer from a food allergy. These allergies occur when the body’s immune system associates a certain food as harmful and becomes overstimulated to attack the threat causing a person...

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How To Plan Summer Vacations Without Wrecking Your Finances

How To Plan Summer Vacations Without Wrecking Your Finances

Posted by | Mar 28, 2018 | |

I admit it! I have a tendency to splurge on having fun with my family during summer vacations then come home to credit card bills and bank statements that tend to be more troublesome than initially expected.  Seems like I’m not alone though.  A survey by the consumer credit reporting agency Experian found that 68% of people overspend during their summer vacations. In fact 38% of those surveyed by Experian didn’t do any advance saving to prepare for their summer vacations plans and took on much of the expense as debt.  While everyone wants to have enjoyable, memorable vacations,...

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MAPLE SUGAR TIME

MAPLE SUGAR TIME

Posted by | Mar 11, 2018 | |

We stopped by the historic Van Raalte Farm while my family was in Holland, Michigan for a weekend road trip to learn about how the maple sugar that is used in candy and syrup is made. March is the ideal time of year in Michigan for creating maple sugar. The freezing temperatures at night combined with warm, sunny days stir trees to emerge from their winter dormancy producing flowing sap from which the maple sugar is made. While visiting Van Raalte Farm, my kids had the chance to learn how sugar is created from the sap of maple trees,...

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HOW TO AVOID SPRING BREAK INTESTINAL DISTRESS

HOW TO AVOID SPRING BREAK INTESTINAL DISTRESS

Posted by | Feb 26, 2018 | |

Spring Break is supposed to be about having fun in the sun. Unfortunately, numerous vacations are ruined when an upset stomach or intestinal distress caused by a foodborne illness leads to most of the trip being spent sick in the bathroom or stuck in a hospital bed instead of having fun on a beach or cruise deck. The United States’ Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million Americans get sick from foodborne illness causes by bacteria, viruses and parasites each year. While no time is ever ideal to get sick, I think we can all...

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STEP BACK IN HISTORY USING AUGMENTED REALITY

STEP BACK IN HISTORY USING AUGMENTED REALITY

Posted by | Feb 24, 2018 | , |

Remember the Alamo! Texas militia yelled out this famous battle cry as they battled Mexico’s army for the territory’s independence in honor of a fallen garrison of their comrades who were wiped out on March 6, 1836 trying to defend a fortified former Catholic mission. Roughly 200 men led by James Bowie, Davy Crockett and William Travis stood up against a Mexican force of 5,000 soldiers for 13-days at the Alamo Mission in a defeat that ultimately rallied support for a Texas revolutionary victory. The Alamo has since become one of the world’s most famous battlefields and hosts more...

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WINTER TRAVEL DESTINATIONS WITH OLYMPIC SPIRIT

WINTER TRAVEL DESTINATIONS WITH OLYMPIC SPIRIT

Posted by | Jan 13, 2018 | , |

The XXIII Olympic Winter Games are taking place in 2018 from February 9 through the 25th at Pyeonghang, South Korea.  Wouldn’t going in person to see some of the world’s best athletes compete in bobsleighing, figure skating, ice hockey, ski jumping and a number of other winter sports during the Olympic Games be an amazing experience?!  Attending the Olympics someday is definitely on my bucket list! Unfortunately, a trip to Asia for the Pyeonghang Olympic Games is impractical for most of us; but there are a number of great destinations within the United States and Canada that provide a...

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