The new family game night with Xbox One S – @XboxCanada #XboxTogether

January 3, 2018 by Wendy S

Xbox makes gaming fun for the entire family!

In October, we were invited to join Xbox Canada for a fun-filled day in Toronto.

Lauren spent lots of time at the Minecraft programming table or playing Minecraft. Craig loved Forza 7!

Programming and learning JavaScript with @minecraft! #XboxTogether @xboxcanada
A post shared by Wendy {mapsgirl} (@mapsgirl) on Oct 21, 2017 at 7:57am PDT

Even the big kids are having fun! #Forza7 #Xbox #XBoxTogether @xboxcanada
A post shared by Wendy {mapsgirl} (@mapsgirl) on Oct 21, 2017 at 8:07am PDT

Xbox Canada sent us a package!!

At the end of November, Christmas came early!

Lauren shared her excitement with everyone on Instagram:

Look what arrived in the mail!!!!!!!!!!! New Minecraft Xbox with a creeper and pig controller!!!!! I’m so excited to play with it!!!!!!!! Thank you so much @XboxCanada!!!
A post shared by Lauren Kreativ 💕🇨🇦💖 (@kreativcamper) on Nov 25, 2017 at 8:17am PST

What was in the box?

The Minecraft console is amazing! It has a slim design and can sit horizontally or vertically fitting well into any space.

The controllers are all Bluetooth enabled which means easy play from anywhere in the room. We were able to set up each controller to be connected to each of our Xbox profiles. Lauren chose the pink Minecraft Pig and Rachel‘s profile is connected to the Creeper. This allows each of us to automatically sign in when we connect our controller.

The girls’ profiles are part of our “Family“. Craig and I have administrative privileges and can control what the girls can do with their accounts. This helps keep them safe and minimizes unwanted downloads.

First up… Minecraft, of course!

It didn’t take long to download the Minecraft game and to get the girls signed in.

Family time is special

I love that Xbox has so many games that we can play as a family. Seeing the girls smile and hearing them laugh is great! They are having a great time trying to teach us how to play Minecraft. We love the multiplayer games like Monopoly and Scrabble.

Check out Xbox Canada’s website to see all of the family-focused games that you can play on your Xbox One S.

I love that we are now part of the Xbox Canada family! We are going to have a lot of fun!

Disclaimer: We were not paid to attend the Xbox event and I was not required to write this post in exchange for receiving the Xbox. We are really enjoying gaming together as a family and I wanted people to know about it.

Ready for some sand and sun! Tips for planning a family vacation #travel

April 18, 2017 by Wendy S

Life has been busy. Too busy. We need a break!

A post shared by Wendy {mapsgirl} (@mapsgirl) on Aug 31, 2016 at 7:03pm PDT

Craig and I have been talking about taking a trip and just getting away. This year will be our 15th Wedding Anniversary which is another great reason to put our feet in the sand and relax.

Picking a date

With 2 full-time jobs, a part-time job, various activities and other commitments, finding the time to go away is not easy.

We sat down with our calendars, figured out when activities would be winding down and when commitments wouldn’t be impacted and chose 2 potential times — a week in June or beginning of January.

Figuring out your budget

Yes, vacation is supposed to be fun and you don’t want to miss anything, but coming home to a mountain of debt is not the best way to end a vacation.

Craig and I have been putting some money away in a vacation fund. Plus we have some gift certificates to Flight Centre that we’re going to take advantage of.

A post shared by bigdaddykreativ (@bigdaddykreativ) on Jan 19, 2017 at 5:31am PST

We did a few searches on the internet to get a ballpark idea of what our options might be. Then we headed to Flight Centre, sat with an awesome travel advisor and, asked a ton of questions. Knowing the amenities at the different resorts, what the beaches are like, and activities for the girls is just as important as the cost. During the conversation, we decided to focus on the June dates as the prices for January were just too high (almost double?!?).

After the conversation, we walked away with 4 different resorts in 2 different places that were all within our budget.

Do your research

With the 4 locations in hand, our next step was to read reviews and talk to friends.

TripAdvisor.ca is one of our “go-to” sites for travel information. There are a lot of reviews on all 4 of the places we were looking at. It’s good to read the good and bad reviews to get a broad sense of people’s experiences.

A post shared by bigdaddykreativ (@bigdaddykreativ) on Apr 19, 2014 at 12:01pm PDT

Craig and I started a spreadsheet to keep track of the pros and cons of each place we were considering. We noted things like the cost, the number of stars, the number of pools, activities for the girls, types of restaurants and links to the resort’s website and Trip Advisor. Seeing all of the details in one place makes comparing so much easier!

With the magic of social media, we got lots of opinions from friends when Craig asked on Facebook. A few people had been to one of the resorts that we were looking at and we actually had one friend who had been to both! She gave us some great information as she was able to do a great comparison.

Making the final decision

With all of the options laid out in our spreadsheet, we started making the decision of exactly what we wanted. One resort has a waterslide. Another has more restaurants. And on it goes.

The girls were very excited about the idea of a kids club and teen activities. The waterslide is a must. And, of course, they liked the idea of free wifi.

The girls were all for free wifi, but truly that is not a deciding factor for us. Most resorts have free wifi in the lobby, some have wifi available for purchase in the rooms and a small number have free wifi everywhere. Craig and I have Roam Like Home with Rogers which is available in both countries that we are interested in which means that if we need to get in touch with family, we will be able to. Plus being able to share our memories with friends and family right away on social media is really nice too! They can see all the fun we are having. I like to back up my photos to Google Photos so having access to data is important to me.

So what will it be?

Rogers Roam Like Home keeps us all connected! #RoamOn #SilvaBulletRV

July 28, 2016 by Wendy S

Since the end of June, Craig and the girls have been away camping. I should probably say RVing since my friends like to remind me that camping is supposed to be in a tent. Either way, I only see them on the weekends.

We have a membership to a campground just across the US border between Lewiston, NY and Lockport, NY. So not only are they away, but they are in another country.

When we first got the membership a few years ago, we would keep in touch with our loved ones using the camp wifi. The campground does their best, but on a busy weekend, getting on the wifi is hard.

Last summer was the first summer that Craig and the girls were away all summer-long. They were gone for 68 days. Craig can work as long as he has an internet connection and can work from camp. I only get so many vacation days so I join them on the weekends.

Juggling SIM cards while going back and forth across the border and trying to get on the camp wifi gets really frustrating. Before I left I would need to log into the company’s website and add a plan to my account and set it up to start at a certain time. I would get to the Duty Free on the Canadian side, text Craig to let him know where I was, change the SIM card and head across the border. When I got across and the US signal was picked up, I would then stop and text Craig to let him know where I was.

This year traveling back and forth across the border is easy!

This year we have Rogers Roam Like Home. One SIM card, one account and no hassles.

Roam Like Home_TM now includes over 100 destinations around the world, so if you’re on a Share Everything_TM plan like Craig and I are, you can use your phone just like you do at home. If you’re not on a Share Everything plan, check out our Travel Packs, which cover you in over 230 destinations!

It uses the same calling minutes and data plan that we already have with our Share Everything plan, just no scary roaming charges that show up on your next bill. For $5 per day to a maximum of 10 days per bill, we get to use our phones in the US. It’s that easy.

Over 100 Destinations!

Rogers Roam Like Home is available in so many places!

Comfort in contact

It truly is comforting knowing that I can keep in contact with Craig and the girls while they are away. Craig and the girls will share photos on Instagram or Craig will comment on Facebook. The girls and I can text back and forth. I can’t be there during the week so this helps me make it until the weekends!

And over the next few weeks, we’ll be able to keep in contact with our families at home when we go on a big road trip! We’ll be using our Roam Like Home to the fullest extent!

Follow #SilvaBulletRV to see all of our fun adventures!

We’ll be sharing a lot of great photos of our journey and lots of info about Rogers Roam Like Home.

Follow these hashtags:

#RoamON
#100Days100Destinations
#SilvaBulletRV
#SilvaRoadTrip16

Follow us on all social networks:

@mapsgirl
@bigdaddykreativ

Please vote for @bigdaddykreativ to be the next @CanadianBeef Blogger Ambassador! #experienceCDNbeef

October 20, 2015 by Wendy S

There’s a lot of excitement in our house! Craig has entered to be the next Canadian Beef Blogger Ambassador!

Here is his submission:

He needs your votes!!

And you can vote every 24 hours!

Click the button above, sign up and submit your vote!

And be sure to follow his adventures on twitter — @bigdaddykreativ

Thanks!!

President’s Choice Guiding Stars makes choosing healthy foods so much easier! #GuidingStarsCA #PCStars

June 5, 2015 by Wendy S

We know that not all foods are good for you, and we also know that some foods are better than others. And if you watch the news, this information seems to change quite frequently.

Guiding Stars® makes choosing healthy foods so much easier!!

Guiding Stars is a nutrition program that rates foods based on its nutritional value and assigns 1, 2 or 3 stars; with three stars being the highest rating within the Guiding Stars® program. Guiding Stars® ultimately helps guide you to nutritious options on our store’s shelves.

Guiding Stars® scores foods based on a balance of credits and debits.

Foods are credited for vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, whole grains and omega-3s, and debited for saturated fats, trans fats, added sodium and added sugars. Items are rated impartially using an algorithm based on information from the food package or a Canadian nutrition database.

There is a whole scientific algorithm behind it all! And they explain it here — http://guidingstars.ca/science/

In-store info

When arriving at the store, on a mission to find stars, we found the Guiding Stars Kiosk of info. There is a book that explains the program and has an index so everyone can look up different foods to see how they are rated.

Stars are easy to find!

As we made our way around the store, the stars were easy to find.

And was a bit eye opening. Why were Rachel’s favourite melons only 2 stars versus blueberries which were 3 stars?

Food Finder – How is your favourites rated?

When we got home, I had to find out about blueberries vs melons. We could have looked in the book too!

Huh. Honeydew melon has more sodium. Blueberries have more fibre.

2 stars is better than no stars. But education is so important! Using the stars, we can make better choices when comparing products!

Your Personal Profile lets you know how you’re doing!

When you go to GuidingStars.ca, you can click on your Loblaws store to then log into your Guiding Stars profile.

This dashboard has so much information to show you how you and your family are doing!

I was amazed when I first logged in and immediately showed Craig how well we are doing!

We had been earning stars all along and didn’t know it.

Because your Guiding Stars profile is directly connected to your PC Plus account, the tracking happens automatically.

Look how we’re doing so far!

How did this happen?

A lot of our favourite foods are all 2 or 3 stars!

How is your family doing?

This really is an educational, eye-opening program that everyone should be a part of. You just have to go to http://guidingstars.ca/ to get started!

Or maybe, like us, you’ve already started with your PC Plus card and don’t know it!