Showing posts with label activity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label activity. Show all posts

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Keep the kids entertained with Carrera slot car toys!

Looking for a way to keep the kids engaged on something that doesn't have a screen? We got into slot car racing and the kids love it! I remember playing with a slot car set when I was a kid and don't know what happened to that set. Fast forward to 2020 when everyone is spending copious amounts of time at home, we decided to try slot car racing and it was so fun.

We got a set thanks to the great folks at Carrera Toys of America, which had cars that were modeled after two cars in Disney's movie Cars and of course my little guy wanted to be Lightning McQueen. It was so fun. 

We worked together to set the track up, which was a little more involved than I remember. The cool part about the track that we got is that it included a full loop-de-loop circle and also track raisers so that one piece of the track could go over another piece of track. We quickly learned that you have to install the track guides because if don't do that, the cars will most likely run right off of the track.

At the beginning of the pandemic in the US, the 55-year-old slot car company blew through its U.S. inventory in a month as families realized they could spend quality time building their track setup, learning how to use hand controllers to operate the miniature cars, mastering the art of taking the curves at top speed without losing the cars’ grip on the track’s guide-slots, and competing against each other for braggers’ rights.

If you've never played slot-car racing before, it's simple: you have to run your car around the track using a hand controller and be faster than your opponent without running the car off of the track! That is quite hard since the controllers are quite sensitive. Somehow my little guy was able to use the hand controller at full speed without running the car off of the track - something I was not able to do.

We played a lot with the set and one thing that my dad said would be a good thing to do would be to build the set on a piece of plywood so you don't need to keep assembling and disassembling it. We've played it a handful of times so far and it's a lot of fun - one thing to watch out for is that the track connections are very brittle and we've already broken a few of them.

If you're looking to spend some quality time with the family without being in front of any screens, we recommend that you check out slot car racing with sets from Carrera Toys of America!


NOTE: We were provided with a sample set to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided and all opinions, as always, are our own.

Friday, October 23, 2015

Foxboro 5k recap

On October 4, Emily and I participated in the Foxboro 5k which benefitted the Hockomock YMCA in Foxboro. This was a great run that was preceded by a kids Fun Run in the morning. Preregistration was a breeze as it was all handled online. We got a really nice tech-dry-fit shirt that was included with registration (the kids got a kids t-shirt). We received email notifications telling us the details and the folks at the Y were great to deal with! They had an inspiration station where you could decorate signs to hold up as your friends were running by.

The kids race was at 9 am and Lily had a great time. The 1 mile course was around the grounds of the Y and in the parking lot so we didn’t need to be concerned that the kids were running in the street. Additionally, Foxboro Police were stationed at the main crossroads at Mechanic Street and had closed off traffic so we didn’t need to worry about any cars zipping by.

The adult 5k started at 10 am and Emily and I actually ran for the entire first mile of the 5k. This was a personal record for us. Then we kept walking/running for the rest of the it and there were really nice volunteers at Y staff that directed us at each turn. This was SUPER helpful because for all of the other 5k’s that we have done this year, while there have been people directing runners, there have certainly been times when we have been wondering whether or not we were going in the right direction. With the Foxboro 5k these guys had thought of everything and we knew that we were going the right way. Also at each mile, they had someone with a stop watch who was telling us exactly what our time was. I thought that was also super helpful and encouraging!



When we finished we got Finishers Medals which was nice so that we could add them to our collection! The kids also got a finisher medal which Lily really enjoyed…

After the race, there were some snacks that we got and the nice people at Peapod/Stop and Shop had tons of water to give out so we stocked up! We also got a massage from the great people at Tiger Lilly spa in Foxboro. There were some bouncy houses for the kids and huge bubbles so they could play around with them. I also got some stretching technique hints from the people at Baystate Physical Therapy which was cool because I didn’t know the proper way to stretch before/after a run. They also gave some t-shirts and towels as cool swag.

Overall, the race was a huge success and we look forward to running next year!














NOTE: We were provided bibs to run the 5k and kids fun run. There was no promise made of a positive review. All opinions are our own.

Thursday, September 3, 2015

Withings Pulse Activity Tracker

I’ve had the chance to review the Withings Pulse Ox activity tracker since last fall and I’m happy to say that this little gem is a great way to keep track of your daily activity and their app has come a long way in development since then.

When we received the Pulse, the box displayed the tracker and included wrist band or belt clip which you could use. We found that it’s a bit small which is both nice as it’s unobtrusive but also a little dangerous since we certainly have misplaced it a few times.

What’s great is that it has an embedded lithium-ion battery which will last just under 7 days, so we don’t need to charge it every night. Setup was a breeze as you download the app from the iTunes App Store on your iOS device and then it will prompt you right away to pair the iPhone with the Pulse. There have been a few software and firmware updates for the tracker which are delivered through the iOS app.


What really sets this device apart from its competitors is that it is actually a Pulse Oximeter which measures the oxygen saturation in your blood as well as heart rate. It’s something that you don’t usually see in an activity tracker and is a pretty neat feature!

The iOS app will integrate with other online tools, like Apple's Health app using the HealthKit technology and RunKeeper, which is an activity tracking app as well.

It will track your steps and calories burned, minutes of activity, elevation and will even track your sleep if you choose to wear it to bed! You can take it off to track heart rate or blood oxygen level. Such a useful tool!












NOTE: We were provided with a complimentary tracker for the purposes of reviewing it. There was no promise made of a positive review. All opinions are our own.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Going to get back to it!

So... you may have noticed a little bit of a lull in blog posts and exercise posts as well. As it turns out after the last 5k I ran, I may have outdone myself and the recovery time of 1 week was more of an excuse than anything. I found that the 1 week time led to some additional lack of tracking foods for weight watchers, less exercise and next thing you know, when I tried to do the next exercise day in Couch to 5k, I could barely jog 5 minutes, let alone the 35 minutes that the app expected me to jog.

So another week passed and this morning I started to get back to it and went for a really nice jog/walk around Lake Massapoag. It was also the same time as the Sharon Triathlon so it was really cool to cheer on the runners and bikers as they passed by!

Here's to a better upswing in exercise!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Dave is on a journey... of health and wellness.

Well, I woke up a week ago and decided right after watching runners in the Boston Marathon that I would use this year as a year of health and wellness. I am trying to become more mindful in my approach to life and why not put that towards eating as well. I also found that it really helped getting a few samples of healthy food at the Marathon as I have been having a smoothie every morning!

In any event, I committed myself to starting to eat healthier, getting more exercise, and being more present. To that end, I joined WeightWatchers at the suggestion of a friend of mine. I joined last Wednesday (4/22) and my starting weight was 227 lbs. I saw that number and was shocked but said to myself "hey... we all have to start somewhere."

I then went to my first meeting on Thursday morning 4/23 and it was great! I found out that it was led by a blogger whom I have been following for about a year and she is really energetic and fun! It's crazy when worlds collide like that!

I committed to walking every day and trying to reach my goal of 10,000 steps using my Withings Pulse activity monitor (more on that later). I am happy to report that over the past week I have walked 63,773 steps! That is the most I've walked in a week!!!!

  • Sun 4/26: 12,656
  • Sat 4/25 13,610
  • Fri 4/24 12,130
  • Thu 4/23 13,470
  • Wed 4/22 10,162
  • Tue 4/21 7,629
  • Mon 4/20 10,121
  • Sun 4/19 9,714

I also didn't realize but I would be missing my second meeting this coming Thursday so after an amazing week of walking I went to weight in this morning and weighed 224.2 lbs. I had lost 2.8 lbs after my first week. Pretty proud of that one... Hopefully I can start a trend here...