Don’t Miss Sunday’s Solar Eclipse

This Sunday, May 20th people in the Western United States and Eastern Asia will have the rare opportunity to view an annular solar eclipse.  What exactly is an annular solar eclipse?  It’s when the moon moves between the earth and the sun blocking out up to 94% of the sun’s light.  It creates an effect known as “the ring of fire” for obvious reasons.

Annular solar eclipse observed by HinodeImage source phys.org.

Yes, these type of eclipses are pretty uncommon.  While parts of the world will see all of the eclipse, most areas, like us in Denver, will see a partial eclipse.  For a list of times when you will be able to see it, check out this chart.

Now, as always, looking directly at the sun is extremely damaging to your eyes, even with sunglasses.  The simplest way to view this eclipse is with a pinhole projector.

Click here to see a larger image

These are incredibly easy to make and will protect your eyes while still being able to view what’s happening with the eclipse (I totally remember making one of these in second grade..).  Even though 94% od the sun is blocked out, it’s still 60,000 times brighter than the  full moon – now that’s impressive!  Make sure to share this with your kids, as it’s supposed to be one of the best annular eclipses in decades!

For more information on the eclipse, check out space.com and nasa.gov

Gardening: The Ultimate Family Project

Today I woke up absolutely giddy.  Well actually, I woke up several times during the night SO EXCITED!  The reason?  Our garden is officially planted.  I absolutely love gardening and this time of year gets me so excited about it.  I was worried that our garden wouldn’t happen this year, but we took advantage of a few days where I felt good and knocked it all out.  I love picking out seeds, digging in the dirt, laying out the hoses, and then eagerly anticipating watching the seedlings sprout.  Lucky for us, our cool season crops are doing great, so we won’t have too much longer to wait before we get to start enjoying all our work (peas, spinach, lettuce, kale, carrots).

My favorite flowers to grow – zinnias (so simple to start from seed)

As we were out digging, I began to get particularly nostalgic.  I remembered working out in the garden with my parents and brothers growing up, seemingly endless rows of weeding to tackle.  It was such a pain then, yet something I love doing with my kids.  As we worked, they happily played in the dirt with us, carefully inspecting each earthworm and dumping too many seeds into many of the holes.  With the promise of ice cream when the job was done, they were happy to help (mostly) and I was thrilled to have them working with us.  Mason was sharing all his gardening knowledge with Chloe, telling her what each plant would look like and which were going to be the best to eat (cherry tomatoes were the winner, squash the loser).  It made me realize that gardening really is the ULTIMATE family project (and we would know because we always seem to have some sort of project going on at our house).


The kids with their sunflower patch last summer – HUGE

Here’s why gardening is great for families:

1.  It’s a big job, and requires lots of working together.  There is no possible chance that   our garden would be successful if I did it all.

2.  It teaches kids how to work.  Not just the typical clean your room job, but a long-term stewardship.  We let each of our kids pick something to plant and they are responsible for taking care of it.  This years choice – pumpkins and sunflowers.

3.  It teaches kids about real life.  No, food does not magically appear at the grocery store – it’s a long process to get it there.  Our kids love watching their plants grow and showing them to their friends when they come over.  They understand more of their place in the world.

4.  It teaches patience.  Oh, this one is hard…but so good.  I feel like we all savor that first tomato more just because we’ve waited so long to eat it.  We’ve planted it, feed it, watered it, and because of all that care, the reward is even sweeter.

Okay, it’s true…I’m a total nerd about my garden (blame my mom), but this time of year is magical!  Everyone is happy and I’m looking forward to a great project we can all work together on for the summer!  Thinking of gardening?  Act fast!  In many areas, you need to plant within the next few weeks to make sure that your garden has enough time to grow before fall.


Mason showing off his freshly picked raspberries

If you want more tips on gardening with your kids, check out this post we wrote last year.

Also, here are a few tips that make our garden MUCH more successful.
1.  Automatic watering system.  We have zones on our sprinkler system set up to water our garden using soaker hoses.  There’s no way we would keep it alive with all our trips if we didn’t have this.  If you don’t have a sprinkler system, there are timers that you can set up  on your spigot to automatically turn on/off your water.

2.  We lay black plastic down on our garden to help cut back on weeds.  Since our garden is very big, this is critical.  We over the whole thing in plastic, stake it down, and then cut holes or rows for where we plant.  This also helps facilitate our adventures because we know that we won’t come home from a trip to a weeks worth of weeding…just a full day!  If you don’t want to use plastic, you can always use your lawn clippings to mulch around the base of the plants, which not only reduces weeds, it helps the soil retain moisture.

3.  Automatic watering system…okay, this one is big!


Great Gear for Outdoor Babies

Yes, baby is totally on the brain around here.  We’re busy getting everything ready for #3.  Mostly, we’re overwhelmed by the massive amount of stuff that we have for him.  We’ve saved most of the “gear” type of items (strollers, swing, crib, etc.) as well as clothes.  Honestly, why do we have so much stuff for someone so little?  Andrew calls it Babies-R-Us syndrome.

Babies-R-Us Syndrome:  When a newly expecting couple walks into Babies-R-Us and is convinced that they NEED all of the insane amounts of baby items available.  This pheonomenon is mostly due to the massive amount of choices presented and “lists” sharing all of the things you NEED for a baby…

It really is quite insane.  However, I admit to being a little sucked into it.  I mean, if you had taken our swing away for those 2 months when it was the only thing to soothe Chloe, I would have killed you.  Likewise, it’s a little easy to get carried away because 1.  Everything is cuter when it’s small, and   2.  We want our kids to have the best of everything to it’s easy to get carried away with stuff.

Well, for the past few months, I’ve had a reminder staring me in the face everytime I open up the cupboard…

Stainless Steel Baby Bottle

Isn’t this bottle awesome?  Klean Kanteen sent us this bottle to review with our new baby and I’m so pumped about using it.  It wasn’t until last week that it hit me that I could actually review it before baby arrives (since he won’t really be giving me useful feedback).  Here are some awesome things about this bottle:

-BPA free
-Choices for slow, medium, or fast flow nipples (I would totally recommend slow for a newborn)
-Available in 5oz and 9 oz size.  (We prefer the bigger size because it feels like kids outgrow smaller sizes too quickly.)
-Doesn’t retain tastes/smells and doesn’t taste metalic
-Is marked with lines on the inside of the bottle for easy measuring.
-Nice contoured shape so baby can hold it easily.

Honestly, I’m so excited to start using this bottle.  While I almost exclusively breast-feed, I always work on getting my baby to learn to take a bottle early so that I can have a little more freedom and get away for a few hours.  How cool is it to think that this little guy gets a bottle as tough as everyone elses?  WAHOO!  It’s a little pricey, starting at $18.95, but I’m sure it will last great.  Is it totally necessary?  Of course not.  I’m sure that your baby will grow up just as happy without it.  However, if you’re looking for a sweet bottle to make you and your baby feel just a little tougher, get it!

While we’re at it, here are a few other fun splurges that have caught my eye recently:

1.     2.                                               3.  Celestial Blue Baby Snowsuit   4.  56. Patagonia Baby Sun Bucket Hat  7.                                                     8.     9.  Infant Boy Steens™ Hoodie

10. 

 

1.  KidCo Pea Pod   2.  Salus Bijoux Baby Life Vest  3.  MoleHill Mtn Baby Snowsuit  4.  Lucky Bums Serenity Sleeping Bag  5.  Beco Gemini Baby Carrier   6. Patagonia Baby Sun Bucket Hat  7.  Keen Coronado Shoes  8.  Mountain Mama Outdoor Alphabet Onesies  9.  Columbia Steens Hoodie  10. Baby Banz Sunglasses

No, you don’t really need any of these things, but it’s fun to get something “extra”… just because.  I mean if you’re going to buy something wouldn’t you rather it be something that you like?  Enjoy!

 

Klean Kanteen did provide us with this bottle to review, but these are all our own opinions.

 

Ups and Downs of the Piggyback Rider…

Although we love hiking as a family, Chloe is, well…ummmm…okay the kid’s pretty whimpy (yes, I really called my 2 year old whimpy).  She’s just much more of a “carry me” kind of kid.  The thing is, she’s really getting too big for our backpack carrier, and with another one on the way, we had no plans of always having two kids that we would have to carry – she’d have to suck it up and walk!  Then we learned about the Piggyback rider…

The Piggyback Rider is quickly making its way into the parenting world.  It’s commonly refered to as the next step after your child outgrows a traditional child carrier backpack.  We were thrilled to learn that it’s designed for kids ages 2 1/2 to 7 (or 60 pounds), so should work perfectly with Chloe (2 1/2 and 30 pounds) and Mason (5 and 43 pounds).  We first saw it at the Outdoor Retail Show in January.  It’s basically made up of shoulder straps with a bar hanging down below it for the child to ride on.  For safety, the child wears a harness that clips onto the pack and also holds onto handles on the adults pack.  We were mesmerized by the idea!

For us, we were thinking that this would serve the primary purpose of giving our kids a little break when out on longer hikes.  We figure that they should be able to go for a good amount of time on their own (Chloe…) so we were not looking for a permanent ride (since that just makes things harder on US).

First of all, our kids are crazy about it.  Every time they see that we have it with us, both of them are fighting begging to go for a ride on it.  Actually, I am too, because let’s face it – who wants to walk when you can get carried!  They also love to be so tall and be able to have a fantastic view of everything.  Also, it does all fit nicely into the storage bag that comes with it which makes it easy to contain and can quickly be thrown into an extra pack.  Learning to get the child strapped onto it takes a little bit of practice, but now, Mason can usually do it by himself.  It’s also a piece of gear that’s sure to draw attention to you, as nearly everyone we see comments on how cool it is.

However, as we started using our Piggyback Rider, we noticed that not everything was as great as we had imagined it would be.  For starters, it’s hard to carry it for a long time.  The straps are not padded very well and all of the child’s weight rests on your shoulders (as opposed to a regular child carrier that distributes the weight more evenly because of a hip strap).  Because of this, the straps can get uncomfortable and shoulders/back often get sore after wearing it.  Although both of our kids are well under the age and weight limits, we noticed that it was much more difficult to wear when Mason was riding on it.  Even though he doesn’t weigh too much more than Chloe, that extra weight and his height always made it more difficult to balance.

Another drawback of it is that there isn’t a way to really carry other things while wearing this.  Pretty much whenever we go anywhere, we take at a minimum snacks and water.  Although the storage case folds up to be carried on the bar, the size and structure of it make it pretty awkward with things inside of it.  However, this is no longer a problem if there is someone else with you to carry those “extra” things (this can also be remedied by purchasing this hydration pack).  It can also be difficult because although the child isn’t walking their legs don’t get a major rest since they have to stand the whole time on the bar.  This mostly comes into play on longer hikes when Chloe is so tired that she really needs to rest and it requires her to stand.  However, on shorter distances, the need to stand is quickly forgotten by the excitement that they get a ‘free ride’.

We really think you should keep your eyes out for the Piggyback Rider in the next couple of years because we think they will be making some great improvements.  (Watch for their newest pack coming out this year that features an integrated backpack making it much more hiker friendly.)

Overall, we think that the Piggyback Rider is an awesome idea, however it really needs some of its kinks worked out before we would strongly recommend it.

 

Piggyback Rider did provide us with a free carrier to review, and the opinions we shared are based on our own experiences and have not been influenced by any compensation.  

Gear Review – Switch Glasses

We’d like to tell you a little bit about a cool new product from Switch.  They are a sun glasses company that make sunglasses with magnetic interchangeable lenses.  Switch sent us a pair to review and we’re excited to tell you about them.

They describe their glasses as “the world’s first magnetic interchange sunglass collection created for – and by – active outdoor athletes.”  Actually, it’s a really cool twist on the already prevalent product of interchangeable lenses for glasses.

For our review, we wrote a little, but felt that doing a video review does the glasses much more justice.

There are a ton of options for sunglasses out there, so what makes these different and worth looking into?

If you wear prescription glasses you’ll appreciate the quick convenience of being able to use the same glasses to switch from your prescription lenses one day to another lens if you are wearing your contacts the next day.

Additionally, the whole purpose that the company started was to have one pair of glasses that were easy to change throughout your day as the light changes. With being able to change your lenses in 10 – 15 seconds, I’m going to be much more likely to do it. I do find myself using the darker lenses the most, but do find it convenient enough to not have any problem switching as the light adjusts.

Durable – As you see in the video, dropping the lenses, and using them for a few months hasn’t given me any noticeable scratches, so my clumsiness hasn’t hurt me with this pair.

If you are in the market for new sunglasses designed for active, outdoor enthusiasts, check them out at Switchvision.com

I Like to Move It Move It – 5 Tips for Keeping Families Active

Do you like to “move it, move it”?

We sure do!  Okay I just couldn’t resist putting up that clip.  I think this movie’s prettt annoying, but whenever that song comes on and Mason and Chloe jump off the couch and start shaking it, I can’t help but bust up!

Although it can sometimes be difficult, keeping our families active is one of the most important things we can do.  As easy as it is in theory, it can easily become a losing battle to the TV, computer, and video games.  Luckily, April 30th – May 6th is Screen Free Week.  It’s an awesome excuse to unplug the TV and enjoy some awesome time with your family (or if you’re me, go to bed earlier…sorry Andrew).  So, to help you have a fantastic week next week if you unplug (and always), we’re sharing 5 awesome tips to keep your family active.

1.  Do it together:  Don’t just send your kids out to play…go out with them.  Kids are much more likely to enjoy their time outside, if they feel like you’re invested in it too.  Chances are, if they see you surfing the net every time they head outside, soon they’ll be wanting to do the same and play on the computer.

2.  Develop interests together:  Find something that your family really enjoys doing together.  It doesn’t really matter what it is, as long as you can find something that everyone enjoys. It may take a while to find an activity that suits everyone, but once you do, it will be much easier to get everyone out and motivated to play together!  Here are a few ideas: running, bike riding, sports, hiking, fishing, swimming, kite flying, dancing, roller blading, climbing.  As I was growing up, our family all loved to raft, jet ski, and ski so most of our family activities revolved around those things and we all usually had a blast!

3.  Keep it simple:  Don’t wait for a family trip to get out and do something active with your family.  A walk around the block, a trip to the park, or a quick bike ride are all great ways to be active together that require no preparation.

4.  Get out regularly:  Make sure that our family is active on a regular basis, daily whenever possible.  Once you get in the habit of living a more active life, it’s much easier to continue doing it.  The Us Department of Health and Human Services recommends that children and adolescents get at least one hour of exercise a day (much less than Canada’s recommendations talked about here).  This exercise can be anything from walking the dog, to playing a game of basketball.

5.  Set goals:  Talk with your family about what they would like to accomplish while being active together and have a reward for when they accomplish it.  If your family likes to bike together, set a goal of achieving a set activity level and then go on a big ride together when everyone can do it.  If your family likes to play at the park, set a goal to go for a certain # of days without missing and then reward everyone with a fun treat.  Whatever you do, talk about it as a family and continue to discuss it as you progress towards your goal.

Remember that being active is different for everyone, so try not to compare your family.  While some families may enjoy running together, others may enjoy gardening, and still others will enjoy swimming.  It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you do it regularly and hopefully can find something you enjoy.  JUST DO IT!  Also, while we LOVE it when families are active together, we completely understand the need to do things on our own, like we talked about here.  I really enjoy running, but HATE doing it with my kids (ie. pushing them in the stroller).  For me, it’s my time for me and that’s fine, as long as I do other things to stay active with my family.  A challenge…YES…but totally worth it.  Active kids turn into active adults and that is one of the best lifestyle choices we can help out kids achieve!

Check out these other posts today on staying active with your families:

 A Little Campy: 9 Ways to Get Your Child Outdoors and Active

Tales of a Mountain Mama:  Move your Body!

Remember, screen free week is NEXT WEEK!  Will we be participating?  Honestly, I’m going to try.  Not that we think screens are bad, just that every now and then it’s good for everyone to unplug and simplify.  Sadly, I’m running a little short on patience and energy lately so it will be a real challenge to give up our afternoon hour of cartoons quiet time where I know that I can take a little nap…you know, without the kids trying to poke each others eyes out with sticks!  We’ll update you after next week and let you know how it goes!

Tales Of A Mountain Mama is hosting some great interactions online throughout this week called Gearing Up Families To Go Screen-Free.

There will be lots of outdoor gear giveaways and lots of information and advice. So go check her out along with these other great outdoor bloggers:

3 Tips For An Adventure Filled Summer

I’ve learned that most often, the experiences that leave a strong impression on my kids are the ones that have been deliberately planned.  I feel like when I don’t make plans, my kids don’t really care too much about what we ended up doing.  I can ask them what their favorite thing was that they did during the day and the typical response would be “I don’t know”.  However, if I ask my son what was his favorite part of our recent rafting trip, he will be sure to regale me with stories of climbing on ‘Parrot Rock’, kayaking in the ducky, having water fights with grandpa, or the lizards that he chased.  Adventures undoubtably leave a lasting impression on our children.

Now how do you make sure that at the end of the summer, you have some awesome adventures to show for all those months?  Well, here are three tips that can make sure that this summer is full of greatness:

Dream.  Let your mind wander.  Think of all the fun and exciting places that you would like to go and things you want to do.  Talk to other people about where they like to go and see if anything sparks your interest.  Head over to an outdoor shop and talk to some experts.  Browse a bookstore or library for things to do in your area.

This is probably the easiest step for us.  Every winter as we are enveloped in cold, our thoughts start to drift towards summer and all the fabulous things that we will do when the weather warms.  We typically come up with a list of about 15-20 things that we would like to do during the summer.  Although it’s easy to get carried away with exotic or expensive trips, we try to keep things as local and simple as possible.  (if you make everything a HUGE deal, it can make it very hard or daunting to get out often).

Make a list and keep it specific and direct.

Plan.  Get it on the calendar and do it early.  We usually have our summer planned by March.  If we are inviting others, we let them know the plans and the dates early.  We also try not to overplan and to be flexible.  We try not to plan more than thee weekends a month as inevitably, things pop up.  Staying home always gives us a little break from our packed summer, yet always leaves us wanting to go play the next weekend.  There’s nothing like spending a whole weekend working in the yard to get you wanting to head out camping ASAP!  Get your adventures on your calender and make them happen.  This also means that you have to plan other things, such as lawn mowing, as well so that they don’t derail your plans!

Planning really is the key to our successful adventures.  Little things come up all the time, but by scheduling things on our calender in advance, we ensure that the activities that we fill our time with are the things that we are excited to do rather than an afterthought.  If something comes up, just choose which one you would rather do!

Do.  Make it happen.  Do your research early so that you can know what you are up against.  Many activities require reservations, special permits, or even specific gear.  Don’t wait until the last minute to research these details or your trip may not happen.  As you research and prepare, enjoy the mounting anticipation for your upcoming adventure!

Remember these are the things that you are excited about.  No one is making you go, but it is easy to let small things get in the way and not live your dreams.
Now it’s up to you to go and make it work.  You probably already have things you’re dreaming of doing, so get them on your calendar and make them happen.  Now get out and have some fun!

–Andrew

This is a re-post of an article we posted last summer, but thought that it was very applicable right now too!

Kids Grow Up Too Fast…So What?


If you have kids, you’ve doubtless heard the phrase “Enjoy it – they grow up so fast” countless times.  It’s one of those things we are constantly reminded of by those with grown children.  In fact, I hear it so much I sometimes tune it out.  Luckily, people keep saying it to me, because honestly it helps keep me in check.  My kids ARE growing up too fast.

5 years ago this week, Mason was born…now look at him

5 years old…the end of a major life stage.  In a few months, he’ll be headed off to kindergarten and I know that life will fly by once he gets there.  He’ll have a schedule, homework, and countless other things for us to worry about enjoy.

Having a 5 year old has made me think a lot about my role as a mother, and what I’m doing to make the most of the time I have with my kids.  Here are 5 ideas I came up with to make the most of your kids childhood:

1.  Spend TIME with them:  Really, lots and lots of time.  This is one of the reasons that I chose to be a stay at home Mom.  It gives me a chance to spend lots and lots of time with my kids without always having to worry about another job.  They are my job!  There is no substitute for time.  Don’t fool yourself into thinking that even though you don’t spend a lot of time with your kids, the time you do spend is quality time – kids need both quality and quantity.

2.  Enjoy each phase:  the more kids I have, the more I have learned to appreciate each phase that they’re in.  I know that before long, that phase will be over and in its place a whole new round of excitement and trials await us.  I probably didn’t really understand this until Mason was about 2.  Before that I was always thinking “things will be so much better when he can ___________”.  Before I knew it my baby was a toddler and Chloe was on the way.

3.  View life from their eyes:  Take some time to get down on their level.  It’s amazing how much of the world around us we miss as adults.  Go outside and play with your kids and discover all the ants, worms, and roly-poly bugs all over again.  Not only will your kids love doing it with you, but you will gain a whole new appreciation for the world and your family.

4.  Simplify Life:  Make a conscious choice to live a simpler life.  By simplifying life, you gain more opportunities to really enjoy your kids.  Instead of always running from one thing to another with kids in tow, find ways to let some things go.  Instead, look for opportunities to go for walks, play at the park, or dig in the dirt with your kids.  If this is hard for you, schedule it.  Your kids will never know the difference, but it will help you make time for them and put them first.  It’s unlikely that your kids will ever remember another trip to the grocery store, but the bike ride you take them on may stay with them forever.

5.  Keep it all in perspective:  Remind yourself that they really do grow up so so fast.  The little kids that we have now really will be grown before we know it.  I’m glad to know that they grow up in the blink of an eye, so that I can enjoy each stage they go through, starting all over again with our new baby next month.  Just like we talked about here, having new experiences helps to slow our perception of time down, so take advantage of that and learn with your kids.  Go for a hike, read a book, color a picture…whatever it takes, just make the most of it!


Friday Fun Video: Ready for Whitewater

With spring now fully upon us, we know that the runoff isn’t far away now (probably quite soon since it’s been so warm).  We’re ready to get out on the water and take our kids to do some playing.  Doesn’t this look like a great way to spend a day?

By the way, Mason’s birthday is next week and if anyone wants to surprise him, this is what he would really love. (hint, hint Devon and David…)

Everyday Adventure: Full Moon Hike

Remember this guy?

Well, he’s been a rare sight around here these days.  See, he’s an accountant, so this time of year has him working like a crazy person.  No one around here likes it.  He’s on the verge of going crazy from too many tax returns, the kids are in some serious need of a little Dad time, and I’m feeling like a single Mom.  YUCK!  A family adventure was what we all needed, but time was our major issue, so we had to get creative.  Andrew was able to sneak away from work a little early and get home to join us just as the sun was going down.  Normally, that would be a problem, but did you notice the beautiful full moon last week?  It was gorgeous!  We quickly headed over to Red Rocks for a quick hike.

Although we went on a trail that the kids and I had done several times before, it felt completely new as we were doing it at night.  Since we knew that the moon would take a while to get up over the foothills, the kids where thrilled to use their headlamps.  It took the first half of our hike before we saw the moon, but once we did, it was amazing.  The kids were fascinated by their “moon shadows” and by how bright the moon was making the trail.  It was great.

A nice simple adventure to recharge all of our batteries.

Next time I think I’ll be a little better at planning and somehow get the kids to take naps before we do this again.  Chloe wanted to be picked up on our way back, and was asleep in an instant.  By the end of the hike, Mason had turned on the whining pretty good because he was totally exhausted from the day.  Thankfully, Andrew was great and carried Chloe to the car and kept spurring Mason on.  Can you imagine how crazy it would have looked for me to be trudging up the trail at night being super pregnant, carrying a sleeping 2 year old with a whiny 4 year old in tow?  HA!

Planning:  Almost none – we picked the trail as we were driving there

Gear:  Headlamps for everyone (or flashlights), a water bottle, and a camera

Time:  1 1/2 hours

Everyday adventures is a series of quick little adventures to do together with your family that all require little to no preparation.