"12 Dads of Xmas" DAY 4: C.C. Chapman

1. Why don't you start by introducing yourself to our readers. (Name, Kids (How Many / Names), Occupation, Location?)

My name is C.C. Chapman and I'm an author, photographer and speaker. I live in the woods outside of Boston with my two awesome kids, amazing wife and several pets. I'm the Founder of The Cleon Foundation and the author of Amazing Things Will Happen. 

2. When does "the Holiday Season" start for you?

Thanksgiving is when it really starts for us because I have a house rule that no holiday music can be played until then. When I start baking pies the night before is when I'll pop up on the first Christmas tunes. I always start with the Tidings album from Allison Crowe. Once I hit play on that it is officially the holidays for me and will go until the new year.

3. What do you and your family do to keep the magic of Christmas alive? 

We all love Christmas and make sure to spend as much time as possible together during this time of year. We also have silly traditions like watching Elf together, making Christmas cookies with the grandparents  and eating pie for breakfast. It gets harder as the kids get older because there are more distractions, but so far it is working great.

4. What's your favorite holiday movie?

A Christmas Story is a classic that I can watch over and over. Elf is just as good and I giggle every time I watch it.

5. Is there anything you always wanted for Christmas as a child and never got?

Nothing that I can remember. I'm sure in the moment of opening presents there was something one year, but I've long since forgotten. 

6. Holiday Tree or Christmas Tree: Real of fake? Discuss. 

There is NO discussion on this point. Real forever and always.

7. Do you have any unique holiday traditions? 

Pork Pie is a Chapman Christmas tradition. One of the easiest things on the planet to cook, but we only make it and eat it at Christmas for some reason.

8. We've written about 'The Challenges of Being a Working Dad' and 'Balancing Work and Family' in the past and I know that you are a very busy guy between writing books, public speaking and flying all over for conferences so I was curious if you had any tips or tricks for our readers about how you balance your work load and being an awesome Dad.

It isn't about balancing. I wrote an article recently called You Can't Parentshift because I wanted people to realize that you choose which things are most important. The only reason I work so hard is to provide for my family. I talk about it a lot with my kids so that they realize being away isn't easy or fun for me because I love nothing better than being home with them, but it is part of the career I've chosen.

The key (as in all relationships) is blunt honesty. As a family we share everything. It isn't always easy to have your spouse or children come right out and say how they feel about something, but it works for us. This way I know just what is going on with the kids and they know what is going on with me. Helps keep us on track.

Pamper's Little Miracles Father's Day Cookout!

It's 5:30PM and the little one is down for a nap because she is so exhausted, we all are. We had a VERY busy morning! We were invited by our new friend C.C. Chapman to attend a exclusive Father's Day cookout being sponsored by Pamper's and their 50th Anniversary Little Miracles Campaign (which we wrote about here). It was a very fun day and we were honored to be among the 30 families invited.

We arrived a bit late due to the Bruins Parade taking place in Boston but got there just in time to partake in some Baby Yoga. Hendrix and Sierra were a bit nervous but with a little help from Dad and Dad we got our stretch on real quick.

Both hands to the toes!

Sierra looking at something, not sure what though. C.C. in the background working on his film which we are both going to be in and are very excited to see!

Here Hendrix is eating a fine delicacy: The Knuckle Sandwich.

Sierra pouting when we tried to get her to play the parachute game.

Sierra's beautiful mother, Lauren instagramming some photos.

I asked Michael and Henry to take a nice photo which they did. I asked Christian to do the same and did not get the same results (see next photo).

Whenever Christian is asked to take a photo you get a wonderful face like this, he's basically the most photogenic person I know, p.s. how awesome is the skull sweater?

After a bunch of fun games it was time to chow down on the meal provided by the NE Aquarium and Pampers.  Thanks guys!! Mmmmm.

The last activity before hitting the Aquarium was a raffle for some awesome prizes! Including a Tricycle, Movie Tickets and the Grand Prize of a Flip Ultra HD camcorder! When they asked for a child volunteer to pick the winners Sierra and I stepped right up. Guess who we picked to win the grand prize?

YEP! Michael and his family won the video camera! I assure you it was not rigged. Sierra is just a good picker I guess. She also picked some free IMAX movie tickets for mama and myself, who's babysitting?

After all the festivities outside it was time to head inside to check out the Aquarium. We have been before but it is always fun and the kids seem to enjoy it more and more each time. The first stop was the penguins which are always fun to watch swim and play. 

Here Sierra is enjoying a close up view of some tropical fish. She kept saying "FISH! FISH!" and making her fishy face which we've been practicing for weeks now.

The NE Aquarium located in the heart of Boston only steps from the TD Bank North Garden was in full support of our hometown Bruins winning the cup as you can see from their Stanely Cup on the bottom of the fish tank!  

Look everyone, Michael has crabs!

I kid you not this is a real picture. Michael uses "6 to 8" sugars in his coffee... I tried telling him if he needs that much sugar perhaps he should switch to chocolate milk or apple juice. YUCK.

Next we headed to the seal tank which Sierra LOVED. 

We all had a wonderful time and were very tired by the end of the day!