*Guest Post* Little Helpers Make Happy Campers

This week we welcome Tiffany AKA The Campy Mom to the blog.  She is the queen of camp (at least in the blogging world) and we are thrilled to have her here today.  Even better, she is sharing one of our very favorite camping recipes.  As always, please feel free to leave her some love in the comments and make sure to check out her bio below (and awesome blog too!)  

My kids are camping kids.  They love camping and all the outdoor activities that go along with it.  I love that they are spending time outdoors exercising and learning to appreciate nature.

Our kids love to help around the campsite.  They feel useful, needed and confident when they are allowed to get involved.  Of course, the level of a child’s involvement depends on their age and maturity level.

Ways to Allow Children to Help Around the Campsite

Allow children to carry their own gear to the campsite.  We allow each child to have their own backpack or duffle bag for their clothes.  They are proud to have their own bag.  Each child has a small personal lantern, their own fishing rod and bug habitats. They feel very independent with their own equipment.

Kids can help setup the campsite.  Older kids can help setup the tent.  Younger children may be allowed to setup the table with the vinyl tablecloth and plastic ware. My kids love to put together the foam floor tiles (like you see in preschools) which we use as flooring in our tent.  The older kids take turns deciding the pattern we will use for the floor tiles (such as red-blue-green-yellow or yellow-blue-red-green).

*Gear Review* Bogs Boots

I am always searching for a great pair of boots to keep my feet warm and dry.  I feel like you can definitely skimp with some gear, but boots and gloves are worth spending a little money for.  Bogs are certainly the rage right now in the outdoor world, and I was thrilled to have a chance to give them a try!


Truth be told, I have actually been putting off this review for a little bit because I was having troubles with my Bogs keeping my feet warm.  I wanted to be sure I tested them again and again before I posted my final results here (because that is only fair to you all AND to Bogs!)  Please note that this review is my own personal experience.  Your own experience could certainly be different (and I would LOVE to hear about it in the comments!) 

Classic High Tuscany Boots (retail $100)

What I love:
- Easy-on (I grab them and go!)
- The handle (makes carrying them and putting them on a cinch.)
- They have incredible arch support and are very comfortable (not something I was expecting.)
- The width: Bogs are made with four-way stretch Neo-Tech that accommodates all shapes of feet.  Perfect.
- The height.  Plenty of room around the calf for tucking pants in, leaving the ability for lots of high-snow-pile jumping!
- The colors/patterns available.  
- The traction (I feel comfortable wearing them, walking on ice/snow AND carrying my kids.)

Cross Country Skiing for Kids

We do a lot of different kinds of skiing in our family.

Cross country in the backcountry is my favorite.  I love the workout, the peace, the silence (well, usually anyway...), and the fact that the hills are a bit more of just that: hills (not mountains!)  Mtn Papa is the one more into the Backcountry alpine skiing (hiking up with skis on for traction and then skiing down) but it is certainly growing on me.

Lately, J has been going with Daddy every chance he gets to practice downhill (AKA Alpine skiing.)  Now we are trying to convince him that cross country is fun too!

Let me first be clear that this is our first time trying to teach a kid to ski.  Poor "Guinea Pig", J!  We are certainly not experts, but it is always nice to hear what others have done!

This Moment...

*No words necessary, just a precious moment!*

Bad Outdoor Days just HAPPEN!

Sometimes things don't go entirely as planned....even in the small adventures at home.  It is frustrating, discouraging and definitely just life.  Someone please tell me I am not the only one who deals with mornings like the following:

I wake up in not the best mood (AKA downright grumpy) and tired from a sleepless night (think teething baby!)  I find myself taking it out on my kids within minutes.  I decide that for the good of all involved throughout the day, a morning run is something that HAS to happen.  Stat.  

Mtn Papa had to go into work early that morning, which means that any run will involve 3 of us plus the dog.  Not a huge deal, something I am pretty used to.

Kids fed.  Check.

Kids dressed and diapers changed.  Check.

Meltdown #1 handled (J wants to put music on and dance, I convince him he can dance in the Chariot with the iPod touch tunes.)  Check.

Teeth brushed.  Check.

Mama dressed.  Check.

Meltdown #2 handled (J wants more breakfast, I hand him a granola bar.)  Check.

J dressed in his snow gear.  17 degrees and windy.  Lots of layers required.  Check.

P is tired and begins to fuss (because we have now been awake almost 2 hours.)  Dress him in his warm gear anyway.  Check.

Mama's warm gear on.  Check.

All accounted for in the garage ready to load Chariot.  Check.

Chariot apparently needs repairs and I cannot get the running attachment on for the life of me (I will save you the details.)  P crying, J still wanting to dance, dog whining, biting my tongue.  Fail.

*Guest Post* Get Your Kids Outside!

Please welcome James Garner, from Outdoor Gear TV.  He is a wealth of information when it comes to gear and families!  As always, please feel free to leave him comments and be sure to check out his great video reviews!

At a young age I was exposed to a healthy dose of spending time outdoors.   We grew up in the country and spent most of our waking hours outside.  I just did not know any better.  There were several things that geared my upbringing to this.  First we basically had access to acres of woods and terrain. Second, we had no TV or video games.  And finally, my brother and I probably drove my mom crazy and she made us stay outside until it was time to come in and eat dinner and go to bed.  As I grew up my parents would purposely plan a yearly vacation to Colorado.  We would spend 2 weeks together as a family in the mountains.  It was at a young age that I realized that I held the outdoors and especially the mountains dear to my heart.  I later went on to Guide for many years in Colorado. 

Here we are 10 years later.  Enter a wife and 3 kids.  My children’s ages are 7,4 and 5 months old.  Life changes fast and we better change with it or get run over!  So how do I make it a priority to get my children outside?  Everywhere I look kids are punching away at I pads and I Phones around every corner.  Here are 3 ways that I try to fight conformity and get my children outside. 

Staying Organized with all that GEAR! (Transpack Review + Giveaway)

With two young kids, a dog, our skis, our boots, our warm gear, extra layers, food, etc. etc. our car is bursting with stuff.

It drives me crazy (and I refuse to post a picture here of what it looks like in reality!)

We are usually pretty organized as we leave home, but by the time we are done with our adventure and heading back, a gear tornado has taken over our vehicle.

We usually finish our ski (or hike, etc.) and throw the kids into the car, quickly take off gloves and boots to make sure extremities are warm, and give them a snack (and dig through quickly-shed jackets to get there) before they start getting really fussy.  Two minutes of craziness means no organization what-so-ever.

However, we have gotten better, thanks to being more consistent about our packing and trying to enforce a system (despite the madness!)

What we do for the shorter trips (in the area):
- All P's clothing (hats, gloves, booties) are zipped into his snowsuit and then put into the community duffel bag.
- J wears his snow pants and boots to the trail.
- Mountain Papa and I also wear our ski pants and ski boots to the trail.
- All our extra gear is thrown into a big duffle.

When we're going a little further:
- Everyone's gear goes into separate bags (though for now the kids share one bag.)
- Mittens are paired and stuck into hats and then into coat sleeves.
- Boots have their own pockets in said bags (wait for it....) to keep them separate from other stuff (avoiding mud and snow/water on everything.)
- We bring a bag specifically for snacks and water bottles.  All empty containers and fruit peels return to that bag (we usually carry a reusable trash sack for the garbage.)
- The car does not move until all gear (wet or not) returns back to its spot.  Because we usually are going to need that stuff again (coats for dinner later or hats and gloves and snow pants for sledding, etc.) we want to know where it is.
- When we get home, our railing is full of the wet stuff to dry!

THE bag(s) that helps keep that organization a little better:

Transpack.

Edge Jr. and XTW in Gray/Lemongrass Multi Floral