Happy Birthday (and retirement) David Ortiz!

Well, this post has been a long time coming... 6.5 years ago I signed up for twitter, before becoming a father and before starting this blog. I chose the twitter handle RedSoxDad because I LOVE the Red Sox and I was going to become a father. Immediately upon grabbing the twitter handle, I thought of another Red Sox Dad also known as Big Papi - David Ortiz is one of my favorite sox players of all time!

Fast forward to this year and I was fortunate to attend some really neat games as part of being a Red Sox Moms/Dads blogger. Then, out of the blue and totally unrelated to blogging, I was totally shocked to find out that I was going to go the ALDS Game 3 at Fenway! I went with a close friend of mine and we had an amazing time! I couldn't believe that I was at Fenway to watch David Ortiz's last at-bat. The coolest part was after the game (we unfortunately lost) and the fans started chanting "We Want Papi" and then after 10 minutes he came back out to the field to thank Red Sox Nation. Such a professional!

DJ Rob Base with Dave

Well, my unbelievable streak of luck continued when again, out of the blue, I received an invitation to attend Big Papi's retirement party as part of the #PricelessBoston campaign of Mastercard in conjunction with Dunkin Donuts, Jet Blue and Bank of America. I couldn't believe that I was now in the same room and even within 10 feet of David Ortiz. He just seemed to be a chill individual and totally down to earth. I had to keep pinching myself to remind me that it wasn't a dream and I was in fact at his retirement party and having a really great time. That being said, the food was amazing and they even had Rob Base (from the 90's) as the DJ and Fabolous surprised everyone to sing a few songs.

One day I hope to meet David Ortiz and thank him for everything he has done for our city and how he has inspired me.

Happy 41st birthday to Big Papi, David Ortiz!

NOTE While I do participate in the Red Sox Blogger program, Red Sox Moms/Dads, I was not provided tickets for the ALDS Game 3 through that... It was just my pure luck. Same thing for David Ortiz's retirement party. Again, totally pure luck. I'm very thankful! No compensation was provided. I just think you would be interested in hearing about it, my dear readers.

Red #SoxWinterWeekend is back January 20-22, 2017 at Foxwoods

Photo © Boston Red Sox. Used with permission.

The 3rd Annual Red Sox Winter Weekend will take place at Foxwoods Resort Casino on January 20-22. Similar to last year, the Red Sox will host a Town Hall Meeting, autographs and photos with players, plus a baseball festival with a Red Sox pitching booth, play wiffle ball on the indoor field, and Red Sox VR.

Weekend passes, which include the option for hotel accommodations, are on sale now on redsox.com/winterweekend. Passes provide access for all three days and are $60 per adult and $20 for children 14 and under. Children under three are free. Season Ticket Holders’ prices (for adults) are reduced by $10. Their children’s price is $15.

Photo © Boston Red Sox. Used with permission.

The entire Red Sox roster, including coaches, has been invited to attend Winter Weekend. Red Sox alumni will also be in attendance along with Wally the Green Monster and his sister Tessie.

The weekend will begin Friday night with the introduction of the participating players, followed by a fan-interactive Town Hall Meeting with Red Sox owners and leaders. The event will be televised by NESN on Sunday, January 22, at 8 p.m.

Throughout the day on Saturday, fans will have an opportunity to get autographs and take photos with players, see the three World Series Trophies and Red Sox artifacts such as Silver Bats, Gold Gloves, MVPs, and Cy Young Awards.

Photo © Boston Red Sox. Used with permission.

Fans can test their fastball at the Red Sox pitching booth, play wiffle ball on the indoor field, meet Wally and Tessie, and attend hour-long panel discussions throughout the day on a variety of topics.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, fans can watch the live NESN broadcast from Baseball Winter Weekend throughout the day, which will include interviews with Red Sox players and leadership. NESN will also be hosting auditions for NESN Clubhouse and will be offering a VR experience at this year’s event.

Photo © Boston Red Sox. Used with permission.

Winter Weekend concludes Sunday with a Wally and Tessie-themed breakfast for children and families, and a series of baseball clinics for kids conducted by Red Sox coaches and alumni. Tickets for Wally and Tessie’s breakfast, which will also include their mascot friends, are available at redsox.com/winterweekend.

You should check redsox.com/winterweekend periodically for updates on participants and activities.

NOTE: I am providing this information since I think it would be of interest to my readers. No compensation was provided

Comcast Xfinity X1 now supports Netflix and your Home!

Netflix on Comcast Xfinity X1 service.
Photo courtesy of Comcast.

Hey guys! Glad to bring you some updates for Comcast Xfinity service here in Massachusetts. Their X1 service which is pretty cool now supports Netflix as well as your smart home! The Netflix service should now be supported on millions of X1 boxes across the country! We've been X1 customers for the better part of a year now and it's pretty great. Some new updates include faster internet service (by 33% at no cost) in addition to the Netflix service.

Netflix content will be fully integrated into Xfinity On Demand, enabling X1 customers to watch past and current seasons of shows available on Netflix. If you're a current Netflix customer you can just sign in through X1 to your Netflix account. It's super easy to use and you can just start it by pressing the voice command button on your X1 remote and say "Netflix". If you're new to Netflix, you can sign up through this partnership and the service will be added to your Comcast bill which will make things easier to pay since it will be on a single bill.

The other cool thing about this product is that when you use the Last button on your X1 remote you will see Netflix shows and movies as well as regular TV shows and on-demand items in the last viewed list.

As for Comcast Xfinity Home service, this service can be added to your existing subscription as a bundle and you will get the peace of mind home security along with your TV, internet and phone subscription. You can add different devices like cameras, Nest thermostats and other items. You get 24/7 professional home monitoring that can be armed and disarmed remotely, live video monitoring, and remote control of the entire system through your Xfinity apps on your iOS and Android device.

NOTE: We were provided with a Nest thermostat as well as a gift card for this review. No other compensation was provided.

Gather Chocolates from Harbor Sweets and a giveaway!

Gather chocolate is a new type of chocolate created by Harbor Sweets in Salem, MA. It’s inspired by bees and is dark chocolate and honey. It is 6 different types of chocolates that will speak to people’s passions, especially people’s concern for the environment and honey bees.

They will raise funds (2.5% of proceeds) to give back to Pollinator Partnership that will protect honeybees.

Harbor Sweets chocolate also has another line called Salt & Ayre, which are inspired by flavors and salts gathered from all corners of the earth: Thai ginger, caramel, chai and Himalayan sea salt.

We are giving away some of the delicious chocolate to one of our readers! Enter via the rafflecopter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NOTE: We were provided with some of the delicious chocolate from Harbor Sweets for review and giveaway. All opinions, as always, are our own.

Wally and Tessie's Halloween Party at Fenway recap

This past Sunday, we went to check out Wally and Tessie's Halloween Party at Fenway Park. This was a unique experience to visit our storied, local ballpark with a spooky feeling to it!

We arrived at 10:30 and there was already a line forming. It was cool to see all of the Red Sox fans decked out in various costumes. It was easy to find a parking spot and we joined the line and didn't wait long until the party started.

As always entering Fenway, you had to pass through a metal detector which just seemed normal and we were happy that it was a secure place to trick or treat with the kids. The kids were given a Red Sox Kid Nation iron on patch and then we went to decorate mini pumpkins. Oh my gourd, were they cute! We could use pipe cleaners, puffy glitter paint and stickers to make each pumpkin as unique as each kid's imagination.

We then trick or treated around different stations that were set up with various staff from Fenway dressed up as their favorite characters. What was really nice was that everyone was so nice and welcoming - adding to the great family feel of #MyFenway.

The team ownership has really made great strides to make the fan experience at Fenway easy for families and we just absolutely love it!

After getting our fill of candy, we took some pictures with Wally and his little sister Tessie and even played some halloween-themed games.

We had an amazing time and the weather couldn't have been more cooperative. Can't wait for next year!

NOTE: We were not provided with any compensation for this post. I was just providing it as information since I know you guys love the Red Sox and Fenway as much as I do. I am, however, posting it as part of the #RedSoxMoms, #RedSoxDads and #RedSoxParents blogger initiative. As always all opinions are our own.

Red Sox will host Halloween Party at Fenway 10/30

image courtesy Boston Red Sox ©Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox are inviting fans to attend “Wally and Tessie’s Halloween Party” at Fenway Park on Sunday, October 30! You will have a chance to trick-or-treat at the ballpark, paint mini pumpkins, and enjoy other kid-friendly activities.

 

The Halloween party will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Kids Concourse at Fenway Park which will be adorned with Halloween decorations as costumed staff hand out candy. 

 

Wally and Tessie will host the event and will be accompanied by Curious Creatures, a balloon artist, face painter, and Big Joe the Storyteller (12:30-1:30 p.m.).

 

Attendees may enter the ballpark through Gate B/K located near the corner of Ipswich and Van Ness Street. The event is free and open to the public. Costumes are encouraged. 

NOTE: I am posting this because I'm part of the #RedSoxMoms, #RedSoxDads and #RedSoxParents blogger initiative. No compensation was provided. All opinions are my own.

The Ringling Bros Circus came to town!

The Ringling Brothers Circus came to town and we had an absolutely amazing time! We arrived early to be able to go down onto the show floor and walk around. Our daughter loved being able to meet the clowns and see the sights up close. Although, I don't know who had more fun, her or me! It was pretty cool. Apparently they do this one-hour pre-show for all of their shows and you don't need a special ticket to participate - it's open to everyone!

This is a new show that's different from what I remembered as a kid. It's produced by Feld Entertainment and as of last year, no longer includes elephants roaming around performing various tricks. They still have other animals (dogs, tigers, horses, etc.) with their trainers but they also have lots of clowning around and some pretty neat acrobatics! I think our favorite was the trampoline guys.

The only downside was the light up toys that they sold were SUPER bright. I don't know if they used some new LED lights in there but it was quite distracting and actually painful at times. So much so that I tweeted it out and the president of Feld promptly wrote back to me - how's that for customer service! I was pretty impressed.

On a totally random note, when we walked in to the TD Garden arena and were going to our seats, we happened to pass a room that had signs that said Nursery and School - pretty neat to think that the program is providing school for the families while they are on tour!

Next time they are in town, we strongly recommend you go! We went on a friday night and it was a nice time to go right after work but there was a little bit of traffic. It was nice though, since the arena wasn't as full as a weekend daytime performance.

You can watch a video I made about the circus:

Here's some photos that we took from our seats.

NOTE: We were provided with tickets and some fun swag in exchange for some promotion before the event as well as this blog recap. No other compensation was provided and as always all opinions are our own.