Tag Archives: safety

Guest Post

Best Safety Gear For The Adventurous Motorcyclist

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For most motorcyclists, the experience of riding is more than enough, even if it’s a trip to the gym or work. However, plenty of bikers like to go outside of the beaten path and explore new places on the back of their ride.

If adventure is part of your motorcycling experience, then you want to make sure that you prepare yourself beforehand. Part of it is making sure that you have the best Yamaha accessories, and the rest is knowing your limits, so you don’t put yourself in danger.

Full Face Helmet

If you are a casual rider, then a half or three-quarters helmet is more than enough to protect your grey matter. However, to protect yourself on your wild adventures you will need an Arai full face helmet, just in case of a wipeout or collision while out on the road or trail.

All Weather Gloves

Part of being adventurous is heading out regardless of weather. While it’s nice to bike when the sun is shining, if you’re committed to getting the best experience, then rain or other weather shouldn’t prevent you from going out. Therefore, make sure your hands don’t freeze by giving them all-weather gloves.

Thick Riding Suit

Along with decent gloves, you need to have an all-weather suit to protect the rest of your body. You should already have something to keep you safe on the road, but when it comes to exploring the great unknown, you want an extra layer of comfort, so you don’t get too cold (or too hot).

Touring Bag

While most bikers ride for a few hours at a time, the most adventurous ones will take a long road trip and see where their bikes take them. If that’s something you’re interested in, then you will need a weatherproof touring bag to hold all of your stuff. Because you don’t have a trunk on your motorcycle, a bag will be the only way to stay prepared out on the road.

Overall, if adventure is what you seek, you have to make sure that you go about it in the right way. Be sure to upgrade your Yamaha accessories and bring all the proper gear for any eventuality. Just be sure to check your EBC brakes before you head out.

Food, Going Healthy, Parenting

My Top Healthy Summer Resources for the Family

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Father’s Day marks the official first day of summer this year. I don’t know about you, but we’re already feeling the heat in Texas and could go for some of that rain we had a few weeks ago.

With summer, comes heat, and a lot of it! Heat can be dangerous to all of us, but detrimental to our little ones. But that doesn’t mean they need to stay indoors sitting in the A/C all through the season. As long as we keep it smart, everyone can have a wonderful, healthy time under the sun.

I’ve gathered a few sites I find interesting and helpful with tips on how to stay safe and healthy this summer and wanted to share them with you. Most of these are geared towards the family, but I added a few not specifically meant for families that are packed with helpful nutrition and activity tips everyone can use.

First off, make sure you know what you’re rubbing all over your family’s skin. Our skin is highly porous and absorbs a lot of what you put on it, and many sunscreens do more harm than good with the amount of toxic chemicals they contain. This may seem like a minute detail to a full grown adult, but for a tiny baby or toddler, everything is much more concentrated and can post a serious threat. Read my post on sunscreen safety here. P.S. I also apologize to my wife in the post since I used to waive off the dangers of sunscreen myself.

15 Nutrition Tips For A Healthy Summer – Just a nice quick list to refer to for ways to eat smart but not be bored with a chicken and broccoli type meal. Which, by the way, I actually think is pretty good!

Keep Your Kids Happy and Healthy: Summer Tips For Parents – Hey, even the government has useful advice for a change! Make sure to check out the links provided in each tip for even more healthy ideas.

8 Summer Steps For Healthy Living – Some seemingly obvious tips from WebMD, but handy if you’re having a brain fog moment.

The Best Healthy Pantry Foods – This is a great list from Ben Greenfield and we have most of these in our pantry. Great to have year round!

Easy Meals For Busy Athletes – Another Ben Greenfield info bomb. Obviously, you don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy the benefits of these fast and healthy meals.

5 Fun Home Activities To Do With Your Kids – I love this list from The Good Dad Project! Some good ideas for indoor activities to help beat the heat and have fun as a family!

Keep The Kids Active All Summer Long – This list from Macaroni Kid is sure to have at least one or two ideas you haven’t considered for fun and productive activities your kids will learn from.

I like this list from the Macaroni Kid – Family Fitness site providing several simple foundations to keep your family fit and healthy all year. Print it and stick it on the fridge so it’s always fresh on your mind.

The Foundations of Family Fitness and Wellness

Hope you’re able to find some good tips and implement them in your home this summer. Please, just keep safe and well hydrated while having fun in the sun!

Hi there, I'm just keeping hydrated!
Hi there, I’m just keeping hydrated!

Do you have any plans for hanging out with the kids this summer?

Are you getting away and having someone else watch the kids?

Any tips you have for a safe, healthy summer that you’d like to share?

Baby Wearing, Life, Parenting

Expo Adventures with Dallas Dads and Britax

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Last Saturday, our Dallas Dads Group had the honor of working with Britax to hold a car seat safety workshop at the DFW Family Expo. I’m not sure why, but I enjoy going to expos even though I’m not a big fan of crowds. Even more so when the crowds have crazy kids running all over the place. Oops, that was us!

We went into the event with our crazy animal toddler safely contained in her Boba Baby Carrier nice a snug with Going Mom. Britax was setup in a prime location at the entrance for all to see and had their car seat safety workshop sign displayed for all to see. Britax is a major supporter of our nationwide City Dads Group, and it was exciting to be part of their event! DSC_2209 First, we rendezvoused with all of the dads and the Britax team who graciously provided lunch for our group, it was time to explore. DSC_2194 But, I think it was right after the picture with the abominable snow-dog that Avery could no longer be confined to staring up at and pushing Mommy’s chin. DSC_2188 With that, Kelley set Avery free into the wild, errr….expo. Avery wasted no time! DSC_2210 Even with the two of us, Kelley and I could hardly keep track of our little girl. How do those little legs get so far so fast?! Not that I ever want anything to do with Nesquick or the like, but we were thankful for their booth having these large dice. DSC_2229 Until, that is, she tried to run away with them. We took the dice away and returned them which obviously meant toddler meltdown. Using our brains, we tossed Avery in a nearby bounce house in hopes of cheering her up DSC_2267 Phew, I think it worked! DSC_2217 Silly kid had a ball dancing, clapping and even playing with other kids. Or getting pushed down by them, but she had fun and that’s what matters most! DSC_2270 The hard part was getting her back out, and then figuring out how to calm her down again. Thankfully, the force was with us when something strange caught her attention. DSC_2234 Storm Troops and Darth Vader?! Score! Obviously, we had to pose with the Dark Side, and Darth Vader was there too. 😉 DSC_2236

I wasn’t there, but some of the dads and their kids gathered for a (friendly?) group photo.

Dads with Dark Side
Pretty cool stuff, huh? Avery was getting very obnoxious and hungry, but she wasn’t nursing with Going Mom very well because so much was going on. I gave her some organic applesauce in a squeeze pouch, yes, like I once said I’d never do, which only helped for maybe 3.23 minutes.
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Then it was off on another rampant tour of the expo grounds.
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No fear, this child, no fear. It was almost time for the main event, Britax’s Car Seat Safety Workshop, so we made our way back to the front to join the rest of the crowd eager to learn about #BritaxSafety. The beautiful and kind Britax ladies, Kate and Sarah, put on an excellent workshop jam-packed with useful information.
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Did you know heavy jackets and other winter clothing should be removed before putting your kid in their car seat and that the chest clip on car seats should be at armpit level? Or that you should keep your child rear facing at least to 2 years old and longer if the weight limit of your car seat allows? Also, it’s better to tighten the straps until you think it’s good enough, and then pull some more since 60% of the harnesses are not tight enough.
When it comes to our kids and safety, Britax has us covered. We have their Boulevard ClickTight Car Seat, and Avery loves it. Not to mention we love all of it’s safety features and easy installation.
Britax, car seat, safety
Happy in her Britax Car Seat!
Unfortunately, Avery kept on getting more and more irritable, and Kelley had to put her back in the Boba and try her best to keep her calm.
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But it wasn’t long until all was lost and Going Mom gave “the look” letting me know we were already pushing our luck.
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She frantically went to the car in hopes that Avery would nurse better there, and I stayed until the workshop was over. Right after it ended, I had to bail. I know we were already pushing our luck, but I wish we could’ve stayed just a little longer since we missed out on the great group photo taken just minutes after we left.
Dads at DFW Fam Expo
Great group of dads and their families right there! Sorry we missed it, but at least we were able to get our photo with Kate from Britax. Thank you, Kate, for taking time to pose with us!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and despite Avery’s craziness, I’m glad she got to experience something new. Plus, she slept very good that night!

Are you part of any parenting groups?

Do you still have a kid in car seats? Do they still sit rear-facing?