Getting out with the intent of seeing birds is a fabulous past time for families–I have many fond memories of making bird lists, arguing with my dad about the identity of tiny sparrows, and seeing much of Utah through my binoculars…

But birding in your backyard can be just as rewarding.  What’s more, building a bird paradise in your backyard is helpful to the little critters–especially in cities and urban areas where food isn’t as plentiful as it once was.  And it’s a great project for you and your kids.  Migration season is just getting started in some areas of the U.S., as birds from Mexico and South America make their way north, and food is scarce in areas inundated by winter.  Spend a weekend preparing a stop-over for weary birds.  Many bird feeders can be home-made; the same is true for nesting boxes and bird baths.  Involve your kids in making suet, hummingbird nectar, and fruit feeders.  Together, map out where to put different types of feeders for maximum visibility.

What’s more, ‘backyard birding’ is something that can be enjoyed by your kids when truly getting outside just isn’t in the cards. (more…)

I got to thinking the other day that I needed to update our ‘car kit’. I started making a list of all the things I would need if stranded in/near my car with my family (in any season). After pondering the list I quickly realized I should consult Olivia.

As I read her list I had to laugh.

Why? Because being that I’ve spent a lot of time in the backcountry and on the road with Olivia I’ve personally seen nearly every one of these items in use. I can also recall several personal experiences where I wish I had this stuff (see stuck on beach photo below).

It may seem like a lot, but Olivia assures me she has all her emergency stuff shoved into one box that always rides in the back of her car.  In the winter she also tosses in the duffle bag full of extra clothes and warmish things (her duffle bag, by the way, has a shoulder strap, so if she had to walk , she could use it to carry stuff).

It’s all great info, so I thought I’d share the list with other travelers. (more…)

If you saw my new years resolutions you already know of my quest for the perfect granola bar. What makes the perfect granola bar you ask?

• Easy to make: Yes, I want to make them, so I’m in search of a recipe. Preferably one that’s quick and easy.
• Healthy: A lot of whole grains, not a lot of sugar.
• Packability: I need to be able to individually wrap and store them (in the freezer). Also need them to hold up relatively well even if shoved at the bottom of a backpack.
• Chewiness: I don’t want them to fall apart when you pick them up (so they can be eaten in the van or a while walking on the trail), nor do I want something that turns into a jaw breaker after 4 days.
• Kid approved: My kids need to love them as much as they love Honey Graham Z-Bars and Quakers.

Over the weekend I tried this recipe for Kati’s Granola Bars (as suggested by Amelia from Tales of a Mt. Mama). The recipe involved: rolled oats, whole wheat flour, baking soda, vanilla, butter, honey and whatever else you want to mix in (I added craisins, sunflower seeds, almonds and coconut).

Overall I’d say these were great tasting chewy granola bars, but had a few kinks I’d need to work out:

1. They fell apart pretty easily when eaten by a small moving child.

2. My oldest thought were “too sweet”! But I have to admit, they were a bit sweet for me too.

3. I need to make them a little less dense. But how…?

HELP! As I try to create my own perfect adventure worthy granola bar, I want more suggestions. Do you have a favorite recipe I can try? Favorite ingredients? Tips? Thoughts? Ever added something like rice krispies?

In return I promise to share my recipe once I’ve created the perfect granola bar!

I sent the following email to my friend Amber the other day:

I’m thinking of doing a blog post about teaching kids to ski. I was wondering if you could help me out since my kids don’t really ski (yet). Will you send me your 5 best tips/advice when it comes to getting kids off on the right track? Please. Pretty please?

This was her original reply…

#1. snacks
#2. snacks
#3. snacks
#4. sun
#5. patience

I can see why our kids are such good friends, they both speak the (probably universal) kid language of ‘snacks’.

Then she sent me a few more ideas. I was thoroughly impressed, and think that a lot of her ideas could actually apply to teaching your kids pretty much any new outdoor sport.

Also, FYI: She has 3 kids. Ages: 0, 4 and 7.

_________________

So you want to teach your kid how to ski? Nothing else can provide so much outdoor enjoyment during the cold, and hopefully snowy, winter months. But how to begin? I had to consult the practical, organized one in the family (my husband, Alex) to make sure all of the bases were covered and we came up with the following list… (Listed in order of importance. According to me).

1. SNACKS

For our children, everything is more enjoyable when there are snacks involved. Actually, everything’s more enjoyable for me when there are snacks involved!

The adults are in charge of stuffing the pockets of their coats with snacks of various kinds. The key to choosing an appropriate snack is taking into consideration the “sticky when damp” factor. Fruit snacks hold up surprisingly well, candy cane pieces, not so well. It’s also best not to take along candy that is individually wrapped (ex. Starburst), It’s no fun explaining to your little skier that you can’t go pick up the litter that is fluttering down to rest on the steep cliff beneath you on the lift.

We’ve found that it is necessary to be strategic with where snacks are administered: Ski lift…yes, ski run…no (it makes the run interminably long). Lodge…maybe (depending on how cold the day is). The lodge can be a black hole, once you venture in, the likelihood of getting back out onto the slope is poor. Our kids are usually good for only 2-4 hours of skiing. We feed them a good breakfast then tide them over with snacks until lunch time. We usually save the lodge for hot chocolate and lunch after the skiing is over. Or, if they let us get away with it, lunch in the car on the way back home.

Timing of snacks is key. Too many snacks and you have no leverage to encourage your tike to take one more run. Our system is to give 2 pieces of candy on the “baby lift”, 3-4 on the “big kid” lift.  It’s amazing what kids will do for 1 or 2 more pieces of candy!

2. PATIENCE

As with any new activity you start with your child, patience is key to success (success in skiing = your child has fun and makes it home in 1 piece, you keep your sanity). (more…)

To be totally honest, I wasn’t going to make resolutions this year. With ‘low mobility’ already here and ‘bed rest’ on the horizon (my body had problems holding in small life forms), a newborn to grow accustomed to, and a potential move in the near future, I thought survive seemed like all the resolution I needed.

Then I got to thinking… In order to survive this year, and more importantly, in order for my family to survive this year, I better set some goals. I need to set my sights on things that get us out of the house. In other words, things that help us maintain a sense of normalcy. The logistics may be tricky for us this year, but it’s doable.

While I’m still working out the specifics (numbers, ways to measure my goals, etc), here are the kinds of things I’m toying around with this year… And I’d love to hear what your outdoor goals are, if your willing to share.

Get outside every day
Even if it’s just a few minutes. The weather, no matter what it is, does us wonders.

More spontaneous ‘adventures’
The kind where one minute my kids think we’re going to sit down and have dinner, and the next minute we’re packing up that dinner and heading out for a picnic. The kind where I pick my child up from school in a van all packed and ready for a camp out.

Play more ultimate frisbee
Enough said.

Identify 5 new places to explore
I’m going to mull over my maps. If you don’t have a good map of your area/state make it a resolution to get one (I’d recommend the DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer they make one for just about every state, make sure you get the most current version). You’ll be surprised at all the new areas you’ll find flipping through topo maps. (more…)

A few weeks ago I attended a GreenTeacher webinar by Brad Daniel, Professor of Outdoor Education and Environmental Studies at Montreat College. The webinar was entitled Outdoor Teaching Mistakes. The aim was to help participants become better outdoor educators by presenting and discussing a variety of mistakes made by those who teach in the outdoors.

It was a good refresher for me as an educator… and yet I couldn’t help but start to apply this to me as a parent. What mistakes do I make while trying to ‘teach’ my kids in the outdoors? And by ‘teaching’ I mostly mean ‘being’ in the outdoors, and trying not to miss those teachable moments.

Note: Not all of these suggestions for fixing common mistakes have to be incorporated in every outdoor outing, but they are certainly things we should consider in varying degrees as we try to teach our kids the importance of being outside.

1. Silence your cell phone
It’s hard to resist the urge to answer every call or text, even when outside. But each one you respond to represents time in which you pull yourself in and away from the outdoor world–each one represents time missed in the outdoors with your kids; time that would be perfect for showing them the wonders that exist without the use of technology. When I see a status update declaring ”out for a hike with my kids”, it makes me wonder… If you’re on your smart phone, what are you showing your kids that you value? How many teachable moments are you missing? (more…)

I often feel the impulse to head out for an evening picnic dinner, ever since Melissa first suggested it on her blog back in May. Last week I was feeling a bit more picnic-adventurous than usual… My plan was to pull the kids in the sled up the Tahoe Rim Trail, watch the sunset over Lake Tahoe while we cooked dinner, and hike back down with headlamps. The first part of my plan went beautifully. We got there in time to see the sunset, we cooked a delicious pot of mac’n’cheese, followed by a couple cups of hot cocoa, and the kids had a ball crawling all over the rocks. Soon after dark we decided to head back down the trail. Well, let me rephrase that, we headed back down ‘a trail’. (more…)

Christmas is coming up (I know, duh). And while I’m sure most of you have all your holiday gifts squared away (wink wink), for those who don’t, this post may help. All are gifts that will encourage you and your family to be outside. Note that they are also realistic, I refrained from listing a Sportsmobile and the entire inventory at Jacks Plastic Welding.

Let’s get right to it, here are my top 10 picks. 5 Things you can make and 5 things you can buy. Plus links to other outdoor Mom bloggers who are posting about outdoor family gifts today as well.

I’d also be interested to know what your’re giving this holiday…

5 Things You Can Make/Assemble

(more…)

Olivia Bag /uh-LIV-ee-uh • ˈbāg/: a flexible container of random items compiled by Olivia for jimmy rigging anything (and just about any body) that breaks while out on an adventure.

The idea behind the Olivia bag (known to some as a ‘survival kit’) is that whether you’re hiking, backpacking, river-rafting, biking, or doing some other outdoor activity, the emergencies will generally fall into three categories:

1) Your equipment breaks.
2) You hurt yourself.
3) Something is inconvenient and annoying and needs an inventive remedy.

In all categories, the point is to fix the problem as best you can on the spot, making something that is ‘good enough’, and will get you back to the real world for a proper fix. I know it seems crazy, but I’ve used darned near every item in these bags at one time or another!

I assure you that all these items fit into a small (5×6 or so) zipper pouch. You can use a make-up bag (found at most stores in the beauty isle, or at thrift stores), or something like a Pack-It Sac available at most outdoor stores.  You can even put all the small items into their own little baggies, purchased in the hobby section of your favorite “mart”.

My Olivia bag is actually divided up into two bags (pictured above). The first (larger bag) has all the non-medical essentials (known as the “Olivia Essentials” below). The second is smaller and fits snugly inside the first. This bag has all the first aid supplies (listed below as the “Olivia Medical”). (more…)

When I was growing up, the days immediately after Thanksgiving were as fun as the Big Feast itself (which, for the record, is one of my favorite holidays—what’s better than focusing on the things in life that make you grateful?  Focusing on the things in life that make you grateful while eating).

We’d head out camping.  Seems like no one else went camping after Thanksgiving and we usually had the whole backwoods to ourselves.  A warm fire, lots of hot chocolate or apple cider, and a new place to explore—life was perfect.  We’d always bring along the Thanksgiving leftovers, and cook them up in the Dutch ovens.

So, looking for something to do in the days after you’ve filled your belly?  Forget the Black Friday sales events and crowds, I’ve got the perfect cure for a Turkey-induced hangover.  Head outside to work off the extra calories you and yours ingested the day before.  And bring the leftovers!

Here are two Dutch oven recipes that use up common Thanksgiving leftovers (and one that follows the Thanksgiving theme, but starts from scratch).  (more…)