Happy back to school season, parents! Honestly, I have some mixed emotions about the whole affair. Maybe my inner child never really grew up because I love summer break as much as the kids do. We do a decent amount of biking, mostly around the neighborhood, often on dirt trails. And every year the risk…

Wilderness education has been something on my mind lately. My husband and I have recently taken up backcountry skiing, and safety is our primary goal, especially as parents. And so our winter has been and is full of Avalanche training, practice, and education.  Today, I’d like to introduce Logan Randolph, mountain guide and ski patroller,…

Every good adventure also needs boundaries. Something my kids aren’t necessarily fans of, but are quite used to. Below are our tips for ensuring a fun and safe day on the slopes as a family: 1. Set a meeting place. Families (or any large group) should set a meeting place in a centralized location just…

Every good summer adventure starts with a few good precautions.  For our family of fair-skinned explorers, sun protection is a must and so I am always on the lookout for good sun hats. Yes. There are good and bad sun hats. Sun hats with vents for hot days. Sun hats without… meaning my kids will overheat…

I do some “risky” things. Climbing. Backpacking. Some might even say skiing. But not that risky. I am that person who sits down after a fun multi-pitch 5.7/5.8 trad climb (for you non-climbers, 5.7 is easy) to read Climbing Magazine or Backpacker Magazine. I like absorbing other people treacherous tales and the lessons they’ve learned…

Recently I have been more aware of the harmful effects of the sun’s rays on our eyes. My friend Haley over at ClimbRunLiftMom, was diagnosed with UV Keratitis after a long day climbing at high elevation (and around snow). The sun actually burned her corneas! And she had sunglasses on, albeit cheap ones from the gas…

With the Fourth of July staring us in the face, I figured I would share some of our favorite camping items for family fun! These range in price and size but have each added tremendous value to our camping trips. 1. BugLit This little LED “buggy” looking light is my newest favorite piece of gear…for…

There isn’t a parent out there that doesn’t worry about their kids. Kid safety is something we all toss around inside our heads, but often do nothing about. Recently my husband received a RoadID Slim wrist bracelet for running. You know…running lots of miles in the early morning darkness? What if you keel over on…

Supposed to. I hate supposed tos. I am up early this morning, my last minute grab at a bag of coffee for my husband, Dead Point Blend, sitting warmly in my cup. I like it, a lot. Not too bad for a bag of coffee from a small coffee shop called Bongo Billy’s. I bought…

Well, we are off on a new type of adventure… an all church campout with a couple hundred people. A different type of camping for us indeed! But I wanted to leave you with some interesting information on sleep…since you know, I am horrible about getting to bed at a reasonable hour in the summer….

Happy hot summer days everyone! We are back today with the second half of our interview with Sara Kreymborg. If you missed us earlier this week, check out why she believes having a common sport has been beneficial for her family: Waterskiing, A Family Portrait. Today we are getting more practical. We are talking lifejackets,…

This whole “fear” series has invoked some interesting responses. But by and large, the biggest question we have received is this, “What if my kid is fearless? What about then?” And I get that. In fact, dealing with a fearless kid is often times alarming for all us adults. My daughter, as far as I can…

For the last week we’ve been doing a series on fear. What we fear, what we shouldn’t, and how to help our kids overcome their fears. Today, we are going a different direction: how to deal with things we SHOULD fear –  like extreme weather and the potential danger to our family. A few weeks…

Fear. I hate fear. When I became a mom, my day-to-day fearfulness went through the roof. It even hindered my desire to do anything somewhat adventurous. [I wrote an entire post on this here.] This post isn’t about those fears. But the physical, cascading effect of panic. As I mentioned in last weeks post, “Can’t…

Join us for our series called the Camping Chronicles, for more tips and information! There is a segment of the climbing [outdoor] population that sighs and rolls their eyes every time they see a family come around the corner. They are bitter when their peaceful silence is interrupted by a crying infant. Honestly, I think…