As parents, it's our job to make sure that our children grow up to be good people. We try to make sure that our kids' basic needs are met - food, clothing, shelter, safety. We set all kinds of boundaries that reflect our heritage, our parenting styles, and our children's abilities and personalities. We teach them how to survive in the world that we live in.
Then we hit the trails and our child...
Hiking has been a part of my life for more than fifteen years. I grew up on a farm outside of Eugene, Oregon. I spent countless hours of my childhood exploring the outdoors with my brother. I have so many amazing memories of playing at the small pond located behind my parent’s house. My brother and I built a raft that we used for our adventures on the pond. We spent lazy summer days catching sa...
The month before Mason was born I "grounded" my husband. I'll admit it, I was completely freaked out and convinced I was going to go into labor while he was out kayaking some remote river or climbing over some pass.
I had visions of calling a cab to get to the hospital and what I would say to him when he showed up and the baby was already born. How could I not be completely annoyed at him miss...
Bored one day, my two preschoolers and I visited our county’s historical society museum. The $5 admission fee was a steal for all three of us, and the kids loved looking at all the old tractors, wagons, and washing machines. But they spent most of their time in the newest addition, a beautiful exhibit on the natural history and biology of the area where we live.
Having worked briefly on visi...
Because it's providing us with both a meaningful quality time spent together as well as time outside which is so hard to fit in a full-time working parent's schedule sometimes. It's also bringing peace to mind, releases stress and anxiety from the daily life's happenings and re-centers my priorities when I get to spend a few hours a week hiking with my family. Only when deprived of these specia...
Leading hikes for Hike it Baby is such an incredible way to inspire other families to get outside! By submitting a hike to our calendar, you are automatically entered to win a prize in thanks for helping to motivate us all to get outdoors and into nature. It's that easy! This month, every time you submit and lead a hike, you are entered to win one of three prizes from our sponsors at My Outdoo...
My September Hike it Baby 30 challenge was so hard. It was one of those months where I was buried in so much office work and life stuff. Everyday I had good intentions of getting on a hike and doing things, but at the end of the day I was exhausted. At 5:30 I would jump in the car instead of walking to Mason’s daycare the half of a mile distance.
Then I would get home and beat myself up for ju...
Having a newborn baby suddenly changes so many aspects of your life. One of these is how to get out the door and back into some sort of exercise - like getting out with a hike after baby. You remember that after-workout glow from the gym or the adrenaline rush from white-water rafting and think, "Will I ever be able to get that post-exercise high now that I have a baby?"
You may not have been ...
Congratulations to everyone who competed in November’s HiB30 Challenge! All of the Challengers were entered to win some pretty amazing prizes and here are a few of the big winners this time around! Stay tuned for more posts throughout the month with other hiking winners and their stories. Thanks to our Hike it Baby Prize Partners at I Play Baby, Raise A Wild Child, My Freeloader, and The Shrunk...
The summer of 2010 I was on an all-time traveling high. I had just returned home to Texas from a month of backpacking Europe and attending a best friend’s wedding in Germany. I was home just long enough to do some laundry and pick up a few shifts at work to replenish my bank account before I set off for another adventure. The next adventure was to take a road trip to Michigan where my now husba...
