When I first told some non-parent friends about Tractorland, they assumed it was an amusement park like Disneyland or Legoland. And it is – in the mind of a toddler.

Tractorland is a Kubota dealership just outside of Calgary. We passed it on the way in to town and I made a mental note to bring Zacharie back. After all, when we took him to Hastings Park in Vancouver, he was most excited about the tractors grooming the track in between races instead of the horses in the paddock.

My son loves tractors. His favourite episode of Mighty Machines is the farm episode. He can name them all: combine harvester, plow, spreader, tractor, backhoe, baler, etc.

So can you imagine the thrill he gets when he goes to a parking lot filled with tractors?

“Daddy, I wanna drive this one!” He would scream before spotting a different one across the lot and waving “Hi Tractor Tom!”

For 30 minutes he scurried from rig to rig. Waving, giggling, explaining, naming and having a blast. You can spend whatever to get in to an amusement park for a day, but the smile wouldn’t have been bigger than the one my son had for free at a tractor dealership.

Got a Mighty Machines thrilled toddler?

Take a weekend day trip to your city works yard to see all the garbage trucks parked in a row. Get outside the city and find your neighborhood “tractorland” where the farmers go to get their machines. Heck, just go to your local pickup truck dealer and let him point and drool. It’s free to look around, the propreitors are used to the toddler attention and are friendly and your son will swear it was the best day ever.

For the first 3 or 4 years, your kids should easily be able to eat off your plate. Restaurants go overboard in portion sizing these days, and if you and your wife can cover off a couple of the kid’s faves you should be able to get the whole family fed.

Hint: one person orders rice, the other orders fries, or someone orders pasta. Easy peasy. (that’s Zacharie nibbling on a Cactus Club teri chicken bowl in the photo)

However, if you’ve got an older one that NEEDS to have their own plate at the table, then check out the list of restaurants where kids eat free in Canada.

Boston Pizza
Kids eat free any day of the week with an adult meal purchase of $10 or more at participating restaurants.

Denny’s
Kids eat free on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 4-10 pm at participating restaurants.

Joey’s Fish and Chips
Kids eat free on Sundays at participating restaurants.

Montana’s Cookhouse
Children eat free on Tuesdays at participating Montana’s restaurants.

Pizza Hut
Children eat free on Tuesdays at participating restaurants.

Swiss Chalet
Children eat free on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at participating restaurants.

Time it right and you might be able to have them “eat for free” every night of the week!

It’s jaw dropping when you thumb through the 2006 Bordeaux Release brochure and read the tasting notes that recommend wines not be opened until 2025, 2030 or even 2050. In 2050 I’ll be 80 years old, my sons will be 40 and 43, and that’s who you should be thinking of this weekend if you’re wanting to get some of the best wine in the world.

Bordeaux is meant to be cellared, rested and consumed well into the future. So buying a bottle from the year of your child’s birth and then resting til their 21st or 19th birthdays is a great way to celebrate. We’re eager for next year’s 2007 Bordeaux release to pick up a bottle for Zacharie, but if you have a son or daughter turning 3 this year, dropping in to the 2006 Bordeaux release lineup is not a bad idea.

Check out some of these great value picks:

Chateau Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Pauillac
drink 2013-2030, 95pts Wine Advocate $199

Chateau Montrose, Saint-Estephe
drink 2012-2037, 94pts Wine Advocate $139

Chateaux D’Issan, Margaux
drink 2007-2022, 94pts Wine Advocate $75

Clos de Sarpe, Saint-Emillion
drink 2020-2040, 94pts Wine Advocate $135

Chateau Pontet-Canet, Pauillac
drink 2018-2050, 95pts Wine Advocate $129

Of course if you really want to go nuts and spoil your son or daughter you could drop down for a bottle of Chateau Petrus, Pomerol [drink 2017-2047 93pts Wine Advocate ($2600)] or Chateau Ausone, Saint-Emilion [drink 2019-2069 98pts Wine Advocate ($1699)]

The 2006 Bordeaux Release is Saturday, October 3 at the BC Liquor Stores, the best one for selection is at 39th and Cambie. Other private re-sellers will be celebrating the release as well.

Photo “Polly Hits The Bottle” by Rich Moffitt

If you want a book on fatherhood, go and read Be Prepared, these books are about getting out there and harnessing the power of the internet and the connections we can make to create greatness.

These are the kind of creative and modern parents that we love at DadCAMP. The books are exactly what we’re trying to do with this site: create a network of powerful people offering advice, lending a hand and stirring up the conversation just a little bit.

Trust Agents – Chris Brogan

Chris has 2 kids, Harold (3) and Violette (7). He’s a passionate father who started the Dad-O-Matic community as “a place for dads to share thoughts and ideas about parenting.”

Follow Chris on Twitter and you’ll quickly realize how plugged in and busy this dad is. So how does he balance his insane social media schedule with family? That’s tough. Here’s just a sample of what he’s dealing with from a tweet last weekend: Home for about 30 hours. Going to try and absorb some family time before the next volley.

Trust Agents is about using the web to build influence, improve reputation, and earn trust. Brogan’s a trustable figure to bring the message, the book quickly landed on or near the top of every important Best Sellers’ list the moment it was released.

Six Pixels of Separation- Mitch Joel

When it comes to bringing the social media noise, Mitch Joel is more connected than Kevin Bacon. Marketing Magazine dubbed him the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing.” In 2008, Mitch was named Canada’s Most Influential Male in Social Media, one of the top 100 online marketers in the world, and now he wants to connect with you.

Six Pixels of Separation is subtitled “Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone,” and that, along with his credentials, should be all you need to know about why this is on the lsit.

Crush It! – Gary Vaynerchuk

Gary Vee, as he’s known online, is the newest father in this fraternity – which, perhaps, make his accomplishments the greatest. His daughter, Misha, was born this spring and during those first 6 weeks of insanely sleepless nights, he still found time to Crush It.

Gary’s always been passionate about everything he does, and he seems to have dialled in to the core of what being a father is right away. Here’s a tweet he tossed up last weekend: Put yourself 2nd and you always…I mean ALWAYS…are you listening? ALWAYYYYZ! come in 1st! Isn’t that what being a Dad is all about?

Want to know what this book is about? As with the others, look at the subtitle: Why Now Is the Time to Cash in on Your Passion. A more motivated and motivating motivator one could not find to have in your corner.

You may cringe at the early trick-or-treating timing, but trust me – if you don’t act now there won’t be anything left for you come the last minute in October.

Want extra reason to get on ‘er this week? Old Navy has them on sale starting today for 25% off. When you consider the kids where the costumes once (maybe a few more times if they like to goof off around the house in it ahead of time) it’s a great deal. Have your Missus use her Craigslist Ninja skills and she’ll tell you that people are fencing them on there for basically the same as what you would pay for brand new on sale.

Sure, back in the day my mother used to make Halloween costumes for us when we were kids. She spend hours at the sewing machine using patterns to make princess, spaceman and vampire costumes for my brother, sister and I. Now, in this disposable generation, it’s much easier to buy the costume for $30 at Old Navy, wear it for the 30 minute trip around the block, and then flip it on Craigslist for $25 the next year.

Oh, and while you’re being Mr. Plan Ahead, why not drop by Costco and pick up some egg nog and tinsel?

Then someone mentioned the library to me – a place where books run free to borrow and read. The modern library is more than just books, it’s DVDs, videos, audiobooks and more. My in-laws are huge fans of the library visiting each week to borrow entire seasons of tv shows. 24, The Wire, Rome, and Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations were all sitting neatly on the shelf when I quickly cruised by this afternoon.

Downstairs there were Thomas videos galore along with Olivia and Tractor Tom.

Tired of the same old 7 children’s cd’s you were given at the birth and havent had the stomach to upgrade the collection? Well you could either get Children’s Music That Doesn’t Suck or you could check out the entire library wall filled with cd’s for the kids – and you. Now I’m not saying you’d go and borrow these cd’s and rip them into your iTunes collection, but I’m sure you could. Same goes for the movies.

The library is great! Who knew?