I Love Dirt! by Jennifer Ward, is described as “52 activities to help you and your kids discover the wonders of nature”.

Does it live up to this claim? Yes. Although I’m not sure I would call them all ‘activities,’ maybe something more along the lines of ‘conversation starters,’ ‘exploration ideas,’ ‘questions’?

What I liked about this book:

• Even if you know nothing about nature, you’ll still feel confident using these activities.
• It doesn’t matter where you live – urban or rural, east coast or west coast, near a little patch of green in the city or on 5 acres in the woods – the activities are meant to promote exploration wherever you are.
• The kid-friendly explanations that accompany each activity are awesome!
• Each activity has a Q&A box. The first time I read this book I just went through and read all the Q&A’s– they’re mostly just kid friendly factoids, but obviously parents love them too…
• The activities are open-ended, therefore very little structure. As a result I must warn you that your child will likely have far more questions than you can answer. It’s great!
• The size of the book and the durability of the thick paperback cover make it a perfect candidate for your backpack.

This book may not be for you if: (more…)

I just ordered another Apollo Lantern from Black Diamond. I’ll soon be the proud owner of 2 of these. Here’s what I love about this thing:

• We’ve had our first one for 2-3 years, it’s still working as good at the day we bought it, and we’ve put it through a lot.
• It’s small, but get’s pretty bright. We stopped packing our coleman lantern the day we bought the Apollo. It’s so much easier to pack, use and maintain.
• It’s versatile. Hang it in the tent /van as a nightlight (dim setting), clean up dinner by the light of the lantern, read, use it as a spaceship (Ari’s favorite), or if your Joe, use it to attract the nocturnal insects your studying. This is why we need more than one.
• The battery life is amazing.
• It’s also small and light weight enough for backpacking.

I don’t know… just thought I’d throw this out there incase you needed a little help spending your REI dividend or have a little extra tax return laying around…

A good ‘technical’ description and a few more reviews can be found here.

That’s me and my daypack above, and my dog, which I don’t typically add to my daypack; unless of course your passing an owl in a slot canyon or walking through a grove of Cholla. I guess technically I shouldn’t say it’s MY pack, I married into it. I’m not sure why it’s been my favorite over the past 10 years. It’s a camelback but I never put the bladder in it, I’m not a fan of the outer strapping system and it’s not like it’s THAT comfortable…guess I’ve never really thought about getting a new one. I guess there’s just something to be said for well-worn gear?

But that’s not really the point of the post, the point is what’s IN the daypack. I take this pack with me every time I embark on a day hike with the kids, and when I say day hike I’m talking 3 miles max.

For the sake of ease there are several items that stay in the pack. At first glance it looks like a lot, but most of it you can fit in a small Pack-It Sac.

1. Toilet paper – Snotty noses and bathroom breaks.
2. Dog poop bags – For dog poop as well as bathroom break TP or used diapers.
3. Diapers
4. Bum wipes – Obviously for bums, also for hand wiping after holding a grasshopper and it spits up on you, etc…
5. Knife – Because every pack needs a knife.
6. Suckers – ‘Incentives’ for when your child is toooo tiiiiirrrreeed to go on.
7. Small first aid kit – 10 Bandages, 2 Gauze Pads, 4 Alcohol Wipes, 2 Triple Antibiotic Ointments, 2 Sting Relief Towelletes, 2 Antimicrobial Towelettes, 1 small roll athletic tape.
8. Bandana – Forgot a hair thing, forgot TP, need a tourniquet, babies bald head getting sunburned… always handy! (more…)

I resisted a minivan for years. Instead I preferred to shove a kid, a dog, a weeks worth of camping/outdoor gear (and on one occasion 3 chickens) into or on top of our wagon. There was zero floor space anywhere, I couldn’t move my feet, rarely could you see out the back window, it smelled like dog breath and because we didn’t have tinted windows I once saw someone taking a photo of us with their cell phone. It was apparently a sight to behold.

I finally caved after Isaac was born. It took one road trip with an additional kid/car seat and I was done, a 2001 Toyota Sienna it was. You may be asking why not an SUV? Well, minivans are just far superior. Theeeey ummm, well, they… Ok, maybe superior isn’t the right word, how about practical? Economic?

Things I’ve learned (and trust me, this took time) to love about our minivan.

1. We paid cash for it. I wanted a Honda Pilot, which would have meant taking out a loan, which would have meant going into debt, which I’m really glad we didn’t do.

2. It’s versatile. Around town we only have the front seats in, this allows maximum child access for the driver and  plenty of room in the back for gear. On road trips we switch it up and only have the back bench in. This allows space in the middle for a cooler, a crate of food and a crate of toys/books and the bouldering pad (which is great for changing diapers, taking naps or eating lunch on road trips in the winter. Oh, or bouldering). All other non essentials are piled up in the back on our makeshift shelving system or on top in the rocket box.

3. We can sleep in it. And quite comfortably actually, unless you count the time I slept on my arm funny and couldn’t move it for 2 weeks. This configuration involves the back bench, the bouldering pad folded out and a hammock along the roof. (more…)

I’m part of a co-op preschool, me and 4 other Moms rotate once a week hosting 2 hours of madness in our homes.  A few weeks ago I got to plan a lesson around the letter S. I focused the activities around the “senses” that start with S: sight, sound and smell. We had class indoors due to a chilly morning wind, but I’m including notes on what I had planned to do outside had the weather cooperated or had I warned parents to dress their children accordingly.

This lesson centered nicely around the following two books:

Introduction Book: My Five Senses, by Aliki

SIGHT

Book: What do You do With a Tail Like This, by Steve Jenkins, Robin Page (Read the section: What do you do with Eyes Like These)
– Do we use our eyes the same way as the animals in the book?
– What do we use our eyesight for?
– Let’s go on a scavenger hunt and see how well we can use our eyes.

Activity: Scavenger Hunt
Cut out or print off  small pieces of paper with the letter S. Write clues on the back of each paper that will lead the children to find the next clue. Hand a child the first clue, follow the clues to find all the letter S’s. Note: An outdoor scavenger hunt would be perfect for this.

Materials:
-Letter S Papers
-Tape

SMELL (more…)

I went to a baby shower last week for a friend of mine (and fellow outsidemom). She’s currently the mother of two very active and adventurous little boys and is now expecting a girl. Girls can seem somewhat daunting to the average outside mother, I mean, wonder if your daughter turns out to be incredibly, you know, girly? When I saw this book I knew immediately it was the perfect baby shower gift.

We got the DVD Critter Quest at the library last week. I liked  it for three reasons.

1. It’s a nature video for kids that as far as I can tell is actually accurate.
2. It’s geared towards children, so while there is a cheese factor, it’s no overly obnoxious.
3. It talk about critters that kids can actually observe in their own backyards or even in cities.
4. Ari’s been spitting out bug facts all day.

Just today this DVD caused us to have the following conversations:

Ari: Mom. What do slugs do when they are scared?
Me: Ummm, I don’t know. I think maybe they pull in their antennae.
Ari: Nope, your wrong. They curl up in a ball.

I had no idea this was a quiz, and was equally caught off-guard a few hours later.

Ari: Mom, what’s a pitfall trap?
Me: (really excited because I knew this one) It’s when you dig a hole in the ground, then put a bowl in it, when the bugs crawl along the ground they fall in and you…
Ari: (cutting me off) Nope, you use a jar, not a bowl.

I love being called out on a minor technicality by a 4 year old. Still the DVD obviously got him thinking. I can’t wait for the bugs to start coming out (did I really just say that?) so Ari can make and try out a bona fied pitfall trap of his own.

Ari learned to ride a bike at age 3. I could attribute this to his stellar athletic ability and make all sorts of assumptions about him being the next Lance Armstrong, but the truth of the matter is that it’s all in the method. Our friends got their daughter a balance bike, i.e a bike with no pedals, this one to be exact. The idea is that kids learn how to balance first, then incorporate pedals. Ari caught onto the balance thing almost immediately and loved his friends balance bike.

We couldn’t afford a ‘real’ balance bike so we made our own using this two step process:

Step 1: Buy a small kids bike (one your child can reach the ground on).

Step 2: Get a wrench, take the pedals off. (If you want to get more advanced you can take the cranks off too, but it takes a little more know how and a few extra tools)

Works like a charm. We put the pedals back on after about a month or two of balance training, Ari took off riding on the first try, he was even making skid marks on the sidewalk! (Kudos also go to our dog K-So who has put in some time dragging Ari around the block on his bike so he could practice his balancing technique.)

Back in the 90′s I perceived Cannondale as the brand that all the spandex wearing, rich wanna be mountain biking yuppies had. This was back in the day when we would go to Moab and bike slick rock, porcupine, etc in cut-off jeans, tevas and no helmets. A few things have changed since the 90′s, I started wearing a helmet, switched my biking foot gear from tevas to chacos and now have padded butt spandex biking shorts. And while I’m no longer riding the two sizes too big Iron Horse I had back in the day, I have been riding the same bike, my friend Jocelyn rode in some of those later days of Moab. Oh, and another thing has recently changed, I’m now a Cannondale owner.

Joe surprised me with a new bike, a bike I wanted but knew it was against our better judgment to buy it right now; even with a pro-deal on the table. Joe perceived it different, how can we afford NOT to get a bike when there is a pro deal on table. Our Brother-in-law manages a bike shop and therefore is entitled to a certain # of pro deals per year. He and his wife typically get new bikes every year but his wife (Joe’s sister) had a baby this year so there was a pro deal to spare, which they generously offered to us. Thankfully Joe went for it. We can always pay our savings back later. Right?

Here is her glamor shot stolen strait off the internet.

While in St.G visiting family I took her on a maiden voyage down Bear Poppy. A few noteworthy differences between this bike and Gary (my beloved late 90′s Gary Fisher):

1. The brakes work. Instantly.
2. When I go downhill it doesn’t sound like I’m dragging a bucket of bolts behind me.
3. The sifters shift promptly upon shifting.
4. It’s even smaller than Gary. So fun to maneuver.
5. When riding down a drop I don’t have to throw my weight back as far.
6. Riding uphill is effortless. I could have ridden up hill all day*. Now I can see how you people bike in the Wasatch.
7. Perhaps her only downfall is that I can’t catch as much air on the little kickers when flying downhill. Perhaps it’s because I have shocks that work??

Anyway, she’s nothing TOO fancy, but she’s all the fancy I need. I love it.

* And by all day I don’t actually mean all day.