In this park ranger interview series, I'm speaking with park rangers across the United States about their job and how to encourage kids to love the outdoors. Today's post features Laura Dvorák, U.S. National Park Ranger at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Eruption/Protection Division.
Is this the first National Park you've worked at?
This is the first park I have worked at. I have previously ...
The Hike it Baby community is rolling into spring and using our favorite wheeled-gear to get outside with our families. Whether you plan to walk around the park, run a 5k, or stroll along the trails, we've rounded up the best all terrain strollers out there and given you our thoughts.
We looked at a few different things with each of these strollers: price point, ease of set up, storage and off...
We can all agree that one of the amazing gifts young children give us is forcing us to slow down. If you’ve ever let a toddler lead a hike, you know what I’m talking about! But, there may also be times when distance simply must be covered. You might be encouraging your little hikers to lengthen their distance. Or perhaps you’re the one having to usually keep up with them, but on this particu...
We've had an update from Ellie and her parents - the family who is hiking on the Appalachian Trail (AT)! Read about their story here:
Where are you now?
We are about to be in Grayson Highland State Park, where the tallest peak in Virginia resides right along the AT! It's about 150 miles into our journey.
What does a typical day look like for you?
A typical day looks like this: We wake up about ...
We are a homeschooling family. This may lull you into a false sense of stereotyping where you assume we have all the time we need to prepare for a hike…or any outing for that matter. Well, you’d be mistaken. We have 2 problems working against us to be ready to get out the door in a timely manner.
Problem one: With 3 kids and 2 adults, we have TOO much stuff to keep organized, which means we fo...
This year for Mother's Day, we wanted to take it in a different direction. Last year we seamlessly provided sentiment and practicality with our list. Our goal this year, however, is to encourage you to help the Outdoor Mama in your life feel loved all year. One of Hike it Baby's core values is to "Inspire Self-Care". We firmly believe that parents can do their jobs better if their cup is full. ...
Hello! Hope you’re having lovely spring weather full of flowers and sunshine wherever you are. Spring is one of my favorite seasons. It starts to warm up, but isn’t too hot. The leaves are beginning to grow on the trees. Flowers are blooming. Rivers are rushing. It’s great! But for those plants to grow and those rivers to run, it takes rain. And there is plenty of it in the spring. But don’t be...
Hiking is just one of many things we do to be outside and commune with our natural world. Yes. I'm referring to Extreme Sports! But we're a baby wearing family so you know we kicked it up a notch.
There is nothing you cannot do with a child on your back!
We've been avid extreme sport participants since before it was a “thing”. Sky Diving? Of course. Surfing the Eddies on the North Shore? Every...
Hiking with kids is an adventure. Sometimes a fulfilling success, sometimes a complete failure. Kids are volatile and make everything more difficult, but they share with us the purest joy in discovering the natural world. Hiking is an ingrained part of my family and what we love to do. We hike very often and most of the time our hikes are wonderful family experiences. Those hikes are the o...
Another Hike it Baby 30 is on the horizon, and if you’re not feeling motivated by that thought, it may be more than just the decidedly un-spring like weather gracing your locale right now. Jumping on board for a HiB 30 is essentially forming a new habit. It involves setting expectations for ourselves for an entire month, then following through. That is easier for some of us than others, famil...
