Rollors

Recently we were looking to new lawn games for us to play when we are at the RV or at home.  One of the games I stumbled upon was Rollors which essentially is a game that will remind you of bocce and horseshoes. 

The game offers a unique alternative to regular lawn games that probably most of people know.   It includes oversized wooden disks (the rollors) as well as two wooden goal set 25 feet apart.  

The goal of the game is for one player (or team) to get the most points.    How do you do that?  Well quite easily actually because all you have to do is to roll the disk toward a goal.  The disks closest to the goal win. 

As you can see it is not always easy to be close to the goal.  But with time and practice it is feasible.   I personally found the best way for me to roll the disk is to hold it in my hand and flipped my hand toward the ground.   My disks often went close to the goal.   You can measure the distance of the disk by using the cord included in the package.

The set comes with six disks – 3 blues and 3 reds – as wel as two goals and the cord for measure the distance.

We were disappointed a bit to see that the game was only for two players at first but I have recently discovered that you can purchase expansion packs in order to have more players on your game.  I wish I had known this because I would have requested two sets of expansion packs for our family.  You see we are six people and when playing a lawn game it would be more fun to have enough rollors for everyone.

Still the game is fun.  I enjoyed playing with it.  Not everyone in my family enjoyed it as much as me but I suspect it is because some had difficulties to get their rollors near the goal.   But again – practice makes almost perfect.   With more playing time I think that this game will become quickly one that everyone will enjoy.

This game is perfect for the entire family and can be played everywhere – at camping, on the beach, in the park, in your yard (if it is big enough!)…

You can purchase the game online at their website or on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

The base game and expansion packs on Amazon.ca

  

The base game and expansion packs on Amazon.com

   

 

Disclaimer: I have received the base game of Rollors from Bolaball for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

360 Siphon Vent

The 360 Siphon RV holding tank vent cap eliminates odors from the source — the holding tanks — and exhausts them out the roof vent before they have a chance to invade the RV living space. By design, the patented 360 Siphon can only create an updraft, expelling odors and fostering an oxygen-rich environment to speed up waste breakdown. Even environmentally-friendly tank additives can take up to 48 hours after use to fully oxygenate a standard holding tank. The 360 Siphon acts immediately after installation in any wind condition (with or without a breeze) to provide the ideal environment for proper decomposition, so caustic chemicals and perfumed cover-ups are no longer needed.

The 360 Siphon can be refitted to any RV in less than 20 minutes with a screwdriver and a putty knife (to scrape off any old sealants). The 360 Siphon replaces factory-installed vent caps and is a permanent, one-time, maintenance-free application.

• Prevents odors and gasses from invading RV living space
• Speeds up waste breakdown, eliminating the need for chemicals
• Sophisticated, patented design with no moving parts
• Works in any wind condition
• Made in America of strong polycarbonate
• Available in black or white
• Easy installation and universal fit
• Built-in bug screen
• No maintenance

We have an RV for over 10 years now.   And this year we finally found a campground where we can put both the RV and our boat for a reasonable price.   But we started to notice something with our RV when we would come after a week away from it – the smell of the sewer.   It was bizarre because we never really experience this in the past.   It was really bad for my husband who had trouble sleeping the first night due to the smell.  Me?  I guess my nose is not as sensitive as his since I didn’t really smelled anything wrong.  On of our kids also smelled it – the others not so.   So obviously this child of ours inherited the sense of smell of dad.

After some research on the internet, my husband found a video explaining how the 350 siphon worked.   We wondered if it would be as fabulous as it sounded.  So I decided to approach the company in order to see if we could review two 360 siphon – one for the black tank pipe and one for the grey tank pipe.   Within a week I have received the package and we were looking forward in installing them.

Here’s picture of the tip of our RV before the installation which clearly show the two pipes.

Turns out that my in-laws were coming camping with us when we were planning to install these.   My father-in-law is a very handyman and loves doing that kind of jobs.   So both him and my husband climbed on the top of the RV in order to remove the older caps and install the 360 siphons.  The installation took about 40 minutes or so.  And the new 360 siphons were immediately put to the test.

Did we see a change?

We did. On the day of the installation, my husband said that he had smelled a difference but the real test would be when we leave the RV for an extended period of time and see if there was a smell when we come back.  When I mention extended period of time, I mean closing the RV because we are going home and come back a week or two later.  So when we left on Tuesday and came back on the Friday, I was curious to see if my husband would smell the sewer or not.   Turns out that there were no smells whatsoever and he was very pleased with the results.   The next day he even pushed the test even more but keeping the toilet open for 5 to 10 minutes to see if the smell would bothered us.   Believe it or not nothing came out of the hole – NO SMELL AT ALL.  Complete success for the 350 siphons!

Consequently, we are highly recommending the 360 siphons for all RVers.  It will make a huge difference and make you stay more interesting whether you stay put at one place or travel through the country with your RV.

The 360 siphon has an universal fit 5 1/2” diameter by 2.5” height.  Installation is very easy to do with clear instructions included in the package.   I also recommend that you get one for the black tank and one for the grey one. 

Price 29.99$ US.

Disclaimer: Thanks to 360 Products North America for sending me the 360 siphons for the purpose of this review. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.  Products

Looking forward to a year of change

Today is the last day of the year. By the time you read this more than likely we will already have jumped into the new year of 2014.

As I reflect of our year and think of what the future holds, I can’t help to be somewhat emotional as we have made the decision of leaving the campground where we parked our RV for the past 10+ years or so and move on to new adventures.

We started out with a tent and quickly purchased a used pop-out trailer that my oldest son experience as a toddler. A few years later we got a travel trailer which our family of six still enjoys to this day. We love to discover new places and travel with it. But deep down, I think I will always have a soft spot from the place where we made friends through the years. The closest ones have also moved to NB this year. The years go by and changes happen.

As 2013 is slowly moving on and the New Year is just around the corner, I reflected on our time at Logo Land and how it was part of our family life for so many years.

• My kids learned to RV and take care of it.
• My kids learned to fish on the lake – caught many fish, got up close with turtles, saw loons every year (with their babies), caught frogs and even dissected one, discovered what fish eat by dissecting their stomach, explore the woods, learn to identify birds and plants. Lots of homeschooling done in nature as you can see.
• We have experienced three seasons each year with our RV there.
• We celebrated Father’s Day and Canada Day in the area a few times.
• We explored the area and discovered fun things to do with the kids.
• We went blueberry and raspberry picking.
• We visited a dairy farm with the owner of our campground.
• We tried out geocaching in the area.

Bottom line, we had numerous memories made while we camp there during these years.

 

As I write this post, I am a bit emotional of not going back there in 2014. Our RV is currently sleeping its last winter on the campground and in May we will leave the place knowing we had lot of pleasure and experience great things with our kids.

I think that Cobden and Logos Land will always have a special spot in our hearts simply because of the so many memories we have made there. But even though part of me is sad of leaving a more than familiar place I also look forward of what we will experience in the future and where our RV adventures will bring us. The plan for 2014 is to explore new campsites where we could place our RV – a place somewhere in between our home and Toronto so we can decide on a spur of a moment to go to the zoo, Canada’s Wonderland or go pick up peaches and nectarines near Niagara Falls. We will also do trips with the RV though these depend on the work my husband will have. Our dream will be to go to Florida either in 2014 or 2015. Our alternate trips might be Burlington, VT or around Cincinnati (near the border of KT).

Whatever our destination will be in 2014 I am sure that we will enjoy ourselves, discover new places, experience new adventures and have a great time with our kids. 2014 is a year of change for our family. Change is hard sometimes but it can also mean growth and new memories to make.

Happy New Year everyone!

Are you planning to do a change in your RV life in 2014? If so what is it? Please share with us what you are planning to do different.

Keeping the life in your RV Battery

If you are an RV owner and live in the northern part of North America, you know that you need to remove your battery from your RV when you are shutting it down for the winter. If you didn’t know – well you know now…

Since we had the RV we usually brought the battery home and stored it in our basement. But during the past summer, my husband got some marvelous tips from a support employee for the genius chargers. We had chargers before but we never really got some “education” on how to deal with RV batteries and such during the winter time. So after we purchased a G7200 NOCO charger during the summer (after the previous two chargers failed us in a short period of time), my husband called to ask a question and got great information from the person on the other side of the line.

The G7200 is a fully automatic switch-mode battery charger and maintainer. It restores batteries to their original capacity, recovers slightly sulfated batteries, charges batteries in cold climates, rescues drained batteries, and provides maintenance charging to increase the battery life.

The last point above is the golden advice that my husband has gleaned while talking to the support person from Noco. He explained in detail why a battery could lose life if it is not charge regularly during storage time. As you may know already, you must not put a battery directly on the cement floor. Ours are placed on a table in our basement in order to switch the charger from one to the other easily. But after spending 20 minutes or so on the phone with the guy my husband learned that it is very important to charger the battery on a regular basis when it isn’t used in order to prolong its life.

 

The battery charger that we have now – the G7200 – is very well used in our home at this point in time. We are currently alternating the charging time between three batteries that we owned (including the one for the Zodiac boat for our electric motor). The tidbit of information that the support person has given to my husband definitively helps us to save our batteries from losing life on the long run. We had to replace a battery in the past and now we know why it didn’t last as long as expected.

So if you have stored your RV for the winter – take the time to charge the battery regularly during the winter months so that it can be fully used when the spring season returns. You don’t want to have any issue during a future trip with your RV.

Do you have some tips and tricks on how to care for your battery when you are not traveling? Please do share it with me, we would like to know them.

A New Twist to Board Games

Board games is a fabulous way to occupy down times and rainy days. But we find that when you are traveling you need to think about what you pack in order to have place for all that you need. And with six people in the family it’s sometimes a tricky thing to do. Back in the day when I was younger and go camping with my parents, a board game or two would be brought as well as books to read. Fast Forward thirty-five years or so and you suddenly have a tablets that can contains numerous games and eBooks for your travels. Now please keep in mind that in this blog post I will not be talking about electronic games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope or Fruit Ninja. No I am seriously talking about board games like the ones I used to grow up with – Monopoly, Scrabbles, Yahtzee, Trivial Pursuit, Risk, Battleship, Boggle as well as more recent ones like Pandemic and Wits & Wagers. For the purpose of this blog post, I am concentrating on board game apps that can be found on iTunes for the iPod/iPhone/iPad which is the devices we have at home.

Games we are more familiar with!

Monopoly

As per its real life board game, the Monopoly has more than one version on the tablets. You can play the regular Monopoly, the Monopoly Millionaire or the Monopoly Here & Now edition. You can also opted to go with Monopoly Hotels Moguls, Monopoly Slots or Monopoly Bingo is you prefer free versions.

Game of Life

 Game of Life is a great game to introduce children to the cost of living through the years. Though a bit silly this game is great for family time I find.

 

Boggle

One of the word games I played while growing up is also available for the iPhone/iPod/iPad. I remember shaking the plastic container of Boggle when I was younger. Now no need to pack up the box because it’s right there at the tips of our fingers…

 

Scrabble

Scrabble is very popular for lover of words. Unfortunately, at this point in time nobody wants to play with me. But it doesn’t matter anymore because I can play against the computer on an iPad version. Though my oldest son is somewhat interested now to play against me…

 

Trivial Pursuit

Not everyone like trivia questions. I know my husband dislike these but with this version for the iPad he doesn’t mind it. Trivial Pursuit is a game where you can test your knowledge and compete to win. Various in-app purchases can also be made to make the game more challenging: Encyclopedia Pack, TV Pack, Movies Pack, General Knowledge Pack, The Master Edition Pack, and Sports Pack.

 

Clue

Clue is another popular game from when I grew up. Though we didn’t have it when I was younger, I did get it when I was a bit older. Two versions of the game is available for the iPad - the original which has a cartoon look and Clue Secrets and Spies which allow you to stop the evil forces of C.L.U.E. (Criminal League for Ultimate Espionage) from sowing destruction across the globe. Clue Secrets & Spies is a different version of the well-known game. It offers a different twist to an older game that could bring some fun memories while you play with your family.

Battleship

Battleship is a popular game for fighting against an opponent. I still have the game I played with my parents while growing up and we even had an electronic game at some point. This new version of the popular game is perfect for two children to play against each other while traveling.

 

Risk

Risk… What can I say about this game? My husband introduced me to this game after I met him. It was (and still is) one of his favourite games while growing up with his brother. Nowadays, he plays non-stop with our four kids with this very strategic and conquest of the world. All my kids love it – even my five year old daughter who recently beat all the boys in the family!

Pictureka!

A newer game on the market that will help you become more aware of the little things around you. The object of the game is to find something as fast as you can before someone yell Pictureka! My kids enjoy playing this at home but we also have a version on the iPad which allows you to find things as fast as you can in order to go to the next level.

 

Yahtzee

Who have not played Yahtzee? This game was part of my childhood as well and I really enjoyed trying to get the best score while matching the dice to complete a specific challenge. The iPad version is similar and yet different at the same time. It’s very addictive and you have to compete against other characters in order to advance in the game.

 

UNO -Skip-Bo-Phase 10

Card games don’t take much space when you travel but why bothering with finding them at home when you can have them on your portable device. Or why not let the kids use the app instead of the real card while you are driving to your destination? That way you can be certain that you won’t lose cards during the trip! We are more familiar with UNO but I know that other families prefers Skip-Bo or Phase 10. I just wish that there was a version for Mile Bornes or Ratuki as well…

 

Wits & Wagers

We discovered Wits & Wagers about two years ago when I got a copy to review. At first my husband wasn’t thrilled to have a trivia game but this one comes with a twist. To play this game you don’t need to have all the answers to win. All you have to do is guess the answer of a trivia question, bet who answered the best and then win some chips. In the end, the person with the most chips win. I recently discovered that they have a version on the iPad which is fabulous when you want to have a quick fun game with the family.

 

Pandemic

Pandemic is a cooperative game that we recently reviewed. The challenge is simple – work together in order to keep four deadly diseases at bay and prevent a pandemic throughout the world. The game was highly recommended by a friend of ours who is passionate about gaming. And after trying it we think it is a fabulous game. Recently, the game was released for iPad and I think it is great that they have thought about this. It’s an amazing game to have and it will allows you to work together as a family in order to save humanity!

 

Games I have never played yet but heard great things about them!

Carcassonne

I’ve never played Carcassonne but I have seen how many kids and adults love playing it. Essentially, you have to build a medieval landscape, tile by tile, while claiming landmarks. The game apparently allows for many play styles and strategies. It is another social game for the whole family (and friends as well!).

Catan

Catan is another strategy game that I have heard off. Two expansions are available for purchase as well: Seafarers as well as Cities and Knights.

 

Ticket to Ride

I’ve heard of Ticket to Ride after Christmas last year when someone I know posted picture of her family playing it. My attention was picked and I checked it out. Essentially, you have to build a rail track between two cities. Various versions of the board games exist. For the iPad edition, you can purchase the original edition and from there purchase in-apps to ride the USA, Europe, Switzerland, or Asia. For the iPod edition, you can also purchase the Ticket to Ride Europe separately which also offers the Switzerland pack as an in-app purchase.

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In conclusion, these games are perfect to have on your portable device as you can play them anywhere you are. They are also great to have as they will help your kids (and yourself!) to develop some skills while playing them – strategy, rapidity, and so on – as well as encourage you to think about the consequences before making a move. On a regular basis, my kids play Risk with their dad and we are amazed on how strategically they think before placing their men in order to conquer the world. Such games on a portable device are also great to entertain the kids while driving long distances when you are traveling.

Our only problem is how excited the kids can become while playing and try to control their enthusiasm while we drive. As a homeschooling family, we also see some hidden advantages in these games. Yes they will allow our kids to develop strategy, critical thinking and rapidity as I mentioned before but without knowing they can be exposed to geography, quick observations, investigations, trivia questions of various sorts, life skills, and vocabulary.

How are you entertaining your family on long drives or during rainy days? Do you play board games while traveling or at camping? If so, please share your favourite board games (or app games) that you like to play. I would love to discover new games for our future trips! Note: If you are interested in purchasing the games for your Apple device, simply click on the icons of the games throughout this post.