Mario Kart 8 for Wii U

If you've played any of the previous Mario Kart games then you know it is pretty much a sure bet. Mario Kart 8 for Wii U does not disappoint. Just like all the previous games bearing the title, this version is a fun and simple car racing game. 

In this version the karts go upside down, on walls, under water and do a bit more flying than in games past. There are more items to get to help thwart your enemies. There are several new courses and new spins on old ones. The kart customization are on a whole new level and there are new characters to use. All in all there is enough new material to make it different and fun, but not so much is new that the game has to be completely relearned.

It can be played using the Wii U Controller - you know, that big one that has a screen right on it, and regular Wii-motes with or without the nun chuck.

I've tested this version on several grown men, a 4 year old boy, a 5 year old girl, and a 7 year old boy. Oh, and also a mother of three. The guys all really loved it, and the girls all considered it good enough to play for a race or two. 

Mario Kart 8 makes a great gift for anyone who has a Wii U. And Wii U makes a great gift for anyone who doesn't have one but enjoys games once in awhile or all the time.

Cute Dad and Baby Gifts

For my husband's first Father's Day I bought matching shirts for him and the baby from Zoey's Attic.

There are some great designs. One of my favorites is this one. The nerdy people will get it, or at least the computer literate.

I really like this one because there is also a kids' shirt that is a little sprout for if we have more kids later.

I kept wanting to give him this one before Father's Day because he was playing Mario Kart 8 with Little Baby on his lap.

So check out Zoey's Attic either on her site or on Etsy for some really great gifts for Dads, Grandpas, and their kids and grand kids!

GunBox on Amazon

I previously wrote a GunBox Review about this great product to keep your family safe. At the time it wasn't available for purchase on Amazon. Now it is! So, I figured I better write an update in case people prefer to order from Amazon to get more rewards points on their card or anything.

So here it is on Amazon...

    

And be sure to check out the full review for all the details! Thank you.

The Hypnotic Light Cube - Named Correctly

The idea is simple enough. The Hypnotic Light Cube is a clear cube with LEDs inside that make beautiful color changing patterns. This silent light show truly is memorizing. I'm not quite sure why but it draws the eye and holds watchers captivated. It is quite relaxing to watch and zone out. 

Here is a short video with relaxing dryer noises in the background. Probably some classical piano or harp music would go better. 

My favorite thing about this cube is how much the baby likes it. He watches it and usually falls asleep or just lays there and giggles at it making his happy noises. 

This is a great gift for just about anyone on the list. From babies all the way through adults. Since it uses LEDs it will last a very long time. It is simple to use. (Plug it in and push the on/off button.) The colors are bright and vivid. I suggest it for just about anyone, especially that guy who has everything or is hard to shop for. 

Star Wars Microfighters Review Addition

I previously wrote a review about Star Wars Lego Microfighters. I just wanted to add some pictures now that my husband has four of them.

Here they are all attacking a bar of soap so you can see the scale.

X-Wing

TIE Interceptor

Happy Han Solo 

Cutest Star Destroyer ever

He has a lot of fun with these little guys. I think they are perfect for a little Father-Son gift for Father's Day or for party favors at a boy's birthday party.  What a cute surprise to bring home for a child or grown-up man-child when you are out shopping!

Tactical Diaper Bag

Suddenly changing diapers is manly. Women have known for decades how attractive it is when men help with the baby, but the guys still need a little convincing. My husband loves his Tactical Diaper Bag and I never have to ask for help with carrying all the baby stuff. 

Heavy duty clip on the shoulder strap. The sling goes over one shoulder and the bag can be carried on the back and easily moved to the front so that he has access to the contents without removing it or setting it down on a dirty bathroom floor.

One of the front pouches has interior pockets for various items, but we use it for diapers.

The front of the tactical diaper bag. Very manly. This bag is the Foliage Green color. On Amazon it looks sort of gray but this is what it looks like.

This side pocket is great for water bottles and tightens at the top to work with just about any size. Sometimes I shove dirty baby clothes in it.

Another handy front pocket to keep things organized.

He keeps hand sanitizer and bags for the dirty diapers in this pouch.

The main section has several dividers to keep things organized.

He keeps a burp cloth, extra outfit, the changing pad, and an extra blanket in the main pouch.

The most important section of a tactical diaper bag is the place for a gun. This pouch sits closest to the body when worn and can fit many different sized guns and has room for a holstered gun in some cases.

He loves this Maxpedition Sitka Gearslinger. Sure, it isn't specifically designed to be a diaper bag but many guys use it as one and it seems just right for carrying around all the baby essentials and still looking like a tough guy doing it. It is very practical, durable and masculine. This tactical diaper bag comes in five different colors and is a perfect gift for any dad this Father's Day. 

Nest Review Three Month Update

My husband got a Nest Thermostat back in February and I made a quick post about it back then. We have had it for three months now so I figured it was time to make a status update.

Summer is just getting started in Tucson, there have only been a few 100 degree days so far, but here are the things I've noticed about the Nest so far.

• Our electric bill last month was negative three dollars. I think it is unrelated, but funny to note. Still, there is a little green leaf that shows up on the screen when you have your temperature set to use less energy than previously. It is sort of motivational!
• Every time I walk by the Nest it lights up and shows what the temperature is and what the heat or a/c is set to. This is fine and interesting but I always expect there to be a clock on it for some reason. 
• We can control it with our phones. Sometimes we leave the air conditioning off, check the home temperature while we are out, and then turn it on when we are on our way home. This works great to cool down the house efficiently.
• It shows humidity levels. I didn't expect that but it is handy.
• It keeps track of how often the air conditioning is used so we can track exactly how much we have used it and what temperature it is outside so we know how much more or less we use it according to outdoor temperatures. 
• It doesn't work with newer variable speed motor air conditioning units. Ours is an older model so it still works great, but if we upgrade we won't be able to use the Nest anymore. 

I hope this helps! I will update it again after a couple months of Summer usage and after we get a more realistic electric bill. Let me know if you have any other questions about how to use it or what it can do. 

Taking May the 4th Seriously

The folks at Think Geek agree that May the 4th is an important holiday.

Until May 5th everything Star Wars is 20% off. Now that's a deal! My husband is picking out his favorites right now...

When you buy your gift items don't forget to use the code PINDROID to get a free R2-D2 pin!

Have fun shopping all the fun Star Wars items, and May the Fourth be with you! 

Lego Star Wars Microfighters

When something is a small version of a big thing, that means that it is cute. The smaller it is compared to the big thing the cuter it is. (Aww baby otters!)

Lego has decided to take advantage of the power of shrinking things to make them cute by developing Star Wars Microfighters. These little sets have fewer than 100 pieces but are a whole ship from the movies.

My husband spotted them at Target one day and asked me if he could have one as if he was a small child. He was so excited. He even wanted to get me one...really it is his and he just wanted an excuse to buy more than one. (He did let me build it though!)

We got the cute little X-Wing and the Milennium Falcon. Each one comes with a mini-figure and has flick missiles to make playing more fun. 

There are several different adorable sets for Rebels or Imperials. 

The TIE Fighter and the Star Destroyer are probably next on the list for me to buy for my husband because then he can have epic tiny space battles.

Since these are under 10 dollars each, they make great gifts for just about any occasion and for anyone. They aren't too difficult for kids, but are a lot of fun once they are put together. Lego or Star Wars fans will really appreciate these. 

Star Wars Lego Set Reviews for May the Fourth

If you're looking for a great Star Wars gift for your guy for this coming May the Fourth celebration, or for any reason really, check out these sets!

The LEGO Star Wars Millennium Falcon 7965 is one of my husband's favorites. It was fun to put together and comes with some of his favorite mini-figures. It has all kinds of cool hiding places and different compartments. That's the best part about Lego right?

Another favorite is the LEGO Star Wars X-Wing Starfighter 9493. He keeps both of these displayed and sets up little scenes with the mini-figures doing different things. (Yes he's in his late 20's. Guys love toys forever.)

Which Star Wars Lego sets does your guy love the most? Are you ready for May the Fourth? Share with us in the comments below!

May the Fourth Be With You

May the 4th is a big important holiday for Star Wars fans.

If you don't get it say it out loud.



Amazon is having some really cool sales to celebrate the occasion! Shop Amazon - Celebrate May the Fourth with Star Wars Items

Lots of the Hasboro Lightsabers are on sale. I wrote a review about some really good lightsabers here.

The Jedi Path book I wrote a review about before is on sale!

I'm thinking about getting this book for my husband who is a new dad. It would make a great Father's Day gift!

Amazon even has some exclusive T-Shirts that look pretty cool. 

I'm excited to do some May the Fourth shopping. What a great holiday!

Best Gift Ever

Lately I've been busy giving the best gift ever to my husband--our first son.

Soon I will be back to review his Tactical Diaper Bag (he loves it) and a few more really great Daddy Gear items. I'm really excited!

Buy One Get One Free Sale!

Hey I thought I'd just let you know that Think Geek is having a BOGO sale. A real one...not one of those lame Buy One Get One ... half off sales or something.

Some of the best gifts I see that qualify are the Pivot Power Genius - Wink App Enabled Power Supply. I did a Pivot Power Review previously, so check it out in case you missed it.

And, I thought that I reviewed the Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise D Pizza Cutter before but I don't see it now. It is a really cool pizza cutter that is shaped like the U.S.S. Enterprise. It is made of high quality materials, is easy to clean, works well, and is fun to use. This is a great gift for any nerdy guy.

There are lots of other fun items you can get buy one get one free right now, so check it out. This way you can buy a gift for your man and get one for yourself for free. Or, you can take care of gifts for two different guys at the same time. 

Sale goes until Easter Sunday so shop now!

Men Love Meat

As we learned from my Bacon Delivery Review men love eating. Specifically, they love eating delicious meat. And, they love it to be convenient.

Now here is a product that I haven't tried yet, but I think would be an excellent gift for someone since I know how loved the Bacon Subscription was for my husband and me.

The Chicago Steak Company offers home delivery of all different types of prime meats. They have individual orders or subscriptions available.

They have some gift ideas under $75 dollars. Click on one of the pictures to check out some of the items they offer, unless you're hungry then you'll probably buy everything. It all looks so delicious. 

They even have seafood available! I don't know about you, but this looks like a great gift for someone who likes getting mail, likes eating, lives far from you, typically eats cheap crappy food, is too lazy to go shopping, or who is a steak enthusiast. I love the idea of home delivery!

Let me know what you think or if you have tried something similar!

Pebble Smart Watch Faces

As you probably already know from my other Pebble Watch Reviews that you can find here, my husband is a huge fan of this watch. All his friends are as well and it is a really popular item.

One of the reasons people like it so much is because you can change the watch face as often as you like and there are always new ones coming out. Some folk are even clever enough to design their own!

Here are some different designs that are either meant for style or to display different amounts of information.

 Star Trek Design

 Progress bars with dates and time

Time, date and weather

Date, time, sunset, sunrise and moon phase

There is something for everyone! It is a lot of fun for him to change his watch face. In fact, once he liked a design but preferred the colors to be inverted. He emailed the designer and he had an update within hours. The Pebble Smart Watch community is really amazing sometimes. 

If you don't have one yet, or are looking for a gift idea for your guy, don't forget to check out my full review.

And read about how he can control the lights with this unique watch.

Don't forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments below! 

Lego Marvel Video Game Review

My husband has loved Legos since he was a kid. He has played several of the Lego console games that have come out, and even though they are pretty easy "button mashing" games as I like to call them, he still has fun.

We played the Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga game together and that was mostly fun. (I had trouble with the pod racing level.) 

He played the Lego City Undercover game, which is only single player, and he enjoyed that. I liked watching it sometimes because just like with all Lego games, it is really "punny." 

We started playing the Lego Marvel game together and enjoyed the combinations of different characters from all the movies. The funny puns were there, and the story line was cute. Basically, it is a Lego game. If you've played one before you kind of know what to expect. Smash things and collect blocks. Kill the bad guys, solve little problems to pass certain areas, use the right character to get through the right spots, and then go back and play it all over again on Free Play.

The only thing we didn't particularly like about the Lego Marvel game was the multi-player. I've never seen another Lego game do this before, but it has some really weird split screen action going on when the characters weren't right next to each other. Then when they were together it would rotate the split section so it was dizzying to follow. There is so much going on in these games that it is hard to do a split screen, and I think the way they did it wasn't very good. I soon quit and just let him complete the campaign alone.

But, this game is fun (for single player), it incorporates all the Marvel movie characters and stories really well and is entertaining both by way of dialogue and action. As mentioned above, this is a button mashing game, by that I mean that anyone can pick it up and not know what the buttons do but still have fun. Just keep pressing one over and over and you'll probably kill your fair share of bad guys. 

It is a kids game, and the ease of game play reflect that, but the jokes are probably lost on most youth. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this game if they have any interest in video games, Lego, comic book movies, or all of those. 

Oh! I linked the Wii console games for all of the links above, but if you need a different console you can select a different one when you click the same link. The buying options will all come up for X-Box, Playstation, DS, and all the rest.

Have you played this game? What did you think of the multi-player function? Share with us in the thoughts below.