#ThankfulforFamilies #OutdoorFamilies Giveaway!

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I feel so blessed looking back on all the outdoor fun my mountain family had this year. This Thanksgiving I’m teaming up with 20 awesome outdoor family bloggers to share the gratitude love. You know what that means! Giveaways!


We want to flood the internet with our #OutdoorFamilies and #ThankfulforFamilies Instagram photos. Share your favorites on Instagram for a chance to win some great prizes.

Enter to win the #ThankfulForFamilies #OutdoorFamilies giveaway!


Steps  to Enter:
  1. Post a NEW photo of your outdoor family on Instagram making sure to include both #ThankfulForFamilies AND #OutdoorFamilies and tell us why you love your family!
  2. Follow ALL of our awesome participating hosts to win! Tap on MY photo(@YOURINSTAGRAMNAME)  to see where to go next. Follow that host, and find THEIR awesome prize in their feed. Tap on their photo to see where to go next. Repeat until you have come full circle.
  3. Check out ALL the awesome giveaways and make a comment (one per photo) on the prize(s) you want to win!

Giveaway entry rules:
  • Contest will run from November 19-30, 2015.
  • Entrants must be a resident of US or Canada
  • Entrants’ Instagram account must be a public account.
  • Entrants must post a new, original, and taken by you photo (a re-posted photo or tagging an old photo will disqualify you) to Instagam of their family, or members of their family, outdoors.
  • All photos entered in the contest must be tagged with BOTH #OutdoorFamilies AND #ThankfulForFamilies.
  • Entrants must comment on Instagram on the specific prize they are entering to win. Photographs of prizes will be distributed among all the hosts’ Instagram feeds. Entrants need to only comment ONCE per prize. Additional comments DO NOT equal additional entries.
  • Entrants may post a photo once per day to their Instagram feeds for additional entries, up to  12 entries total. All photos must use the two contest hashtags.
  • All photo entries must be submitted by 10 pm MST on November 30th.
  • All winners will be chosen randomly from all submitted entries at the end of the week and announced on each of the blogs after December 1st. Notifying comments will also be left on the winning photos on Instagram.
  • Hosts will do their best to contact winners. If prizes are not claimed within 48 hours of notification, the prize will go to the next winner.
What you can win:
**PLEASE note prizes have various shipping capabilities which are described below**
Participating Bloggers (who worked hard to round up these great prizes!):
*Make sure you check out all of these great blogs!*

  1. The Adventures in Parenthood Project: http://www.AdventurousParents.com
  2. Outdoor Families Magazine: http://www.OutdoorFamiliesOnline.com
  3. The Mommy Hiker: http://www.MommyHiker.com
  4. Rockies Family Adventures: http://www.RockiesFamilyAdventures.com
  5. The Kid Project: http://www.KidProject.org
  6. Rockieschick’s Adventures: http://www.Rockies-Chick.com
  7. Play Outside Guide: http://www.PlayOutsideGuide.com
  8. Tales of a Mountain Mama: http://www.TalesOfaMountainMama.com
  9. Colorado Mountain Mom: http://www.ColoradoMountainMom.com
  10. Mountain Mom and Tots: http://www.MountainMomAndTots.com
  11. Colorado Mountain Mom: http://coloradomountainmom.com/

Best Gear of the Year + Links to Holiday Gift Guides

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Every year I like to look back on the best gear of the year. What did I try? What was awesome? And I’m not the only one. More than 15 outdoor family bloggers got together this year to share our picks for holiday gift giving. Check out my choices and the links below to get some great Gift-spiration just in time for the holidays.

Velobling Jewelry – Unique jewelry and accessories made from recycled bike parts. They are beautiful. Watch for a giveaway coming soon!

Features: Recycled bike parts, made in USA
Uses: Unique jewelry and accessories.
Price: $12 – $155

ChicoBag Produce and Snack Time Bags – I had never thought about using reusable bags in the produce department until ChicoBag gave me some to try. Now I use these bags every week. It’s a small way to make an environmental difference and I don’t have a bunch of plastic bags to throw out every week. I also use their Snack Time RePETe reusable bags when packing my son’s lunch every day.

Features: Three different materials for different food needs. Packable, light-weight, reusable.
Uses: Produce, snacking, food storage.
Price: $12.99 – $16.99

Earth Creations – This eco-conscious clothier uses dirt to dye clothes. At least that’s how it started. I love the bicycle inspired design of this T-Shirt they sent me, as well as the comfortable cotton feel.

Features: Organic and sustainable clothing colored with natural dyes.
Uses: Mens, Womens and Kids clothing.
Price: $10 – $115

Aquabot by Lunatec – My kids would choose this as their top gear choice of the year. This water bottle add on presurizes your water, turning an ordinary bottle into a multi use tool. Cleaning, drinking, waterfights, the Aquabot can spray up to 25 feet. See my review here.

Features: Fits standard Nalgene and CamelBak water bottle tops. Easy to use. Variable setting for spray or stream.
Uses: Cleaning, Drinking, Water Fights
Price: $20-$28

Monkey Mat – Perfect for an outdoor baby or frequent picnicker. The Monkey Mat came in handy on several outdoor adventures when I just needed a place to put Mountain Baby for a minute. Diaper changes, picnics, sitting by the splash pad, the Monkey Mat was my go-to ground cover. See my review here.

Features: Water Resistant, lightweight, conveniently clips to a stroller or backpack.
Uses: Picnics, Hiking, Ground cover. I used it on the side of a parking lot when I couldn’t find a place to change the baby.
Price: $19.99

LuminAID Solar Lantern – My husband purchased the PackLite 12 early this summer. It’s light weight, inflatable, solar lantern that accompanies us on every campout. See my full review here.

Features: Light weight, inflatable, solar charged
Uses: Camping, Emergency Preparedness
Price: $22.95

Lifestraw Go – This was one of the coolest products I’ve used this year. There is something awesome about scooping water right out of a river and taking a big swig. See my review here.

Features: Built in water filter for easy use.
Use: Water filtration, Hiking, Camping, Emergency preparedness
Price: $34.95

Liberty Bottleworks – Water bottles made from recycled aluminum right here in the USA. The unique and colorful designs instantly drew my eye. See my review here.

Features: Double wall aluminum, unique threadless cap style, awesome art.
Use: Water Bottle
Price: $23

Butler Over Boot – Little G loves these bright rain boots. Designed to be worn either with the included liner or over the child’s own shoe, the Butler Boots are fun, easy to put on and really cute. Full review coming soon.

Features: Wide opening with toddler friendly fastener. Durable. Fits over regular shoes or can use insert.
Uses: Waterproof rain or snow boots
Price: $49.99

Pakems – These packable boots have become part of my camping experience. It doesn’t matter if I wear sandals, sneakers or snowboard boots all day, when I’m done with the activities, the Pakems come out. They’re lightweight, compact and come with their own storage. And my kids loved coloring theirs. Full review coming soon.

Features: Lightweight, Compact, Warm
Uses: Packable shoe for relaxing after outdoor activities.
Price: $45-$65

Go Sun Stove – This Solar Oven, the Go Sun Sport, was really fun to use. It’s a unique outdoor cooking experience, requires no fuel and is shockingly lightweight. See my full review here.

Features: Lightweight, innovative design, requires no extra fuel source, quiet
Uses: Cooking and baking outdoors.
Price: $279

Looking for more? Try these awesome gift guides from some of the best Outdoor Families I know.

Hike Like A Woman- Holiday Gear Guide

Burley Build a Legacy Post

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I’m not a hardcore bike rider, although I do love a good ride. So when Burley approached me about writing a guest post for their blog I was like –  Who? Me?

Then I saw the Build a Legacy video on the Burley website and I realized anyone can build a legacy. It doesn’t have to involve epic adventures or giving millions to charity.
So I wrote up a short piece for their website. Head over to their blog to read the full story. I hope you like it!

When Real Life Hits

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October was a busy month in our Mountain Family. We had two birthdays, two camping trips, Halloween, school, preschool, work, doctor appointments, a broken rib, and a flooded basement.

Apart from the birthdays, Halloween and camping, none of that list is fun or exciting and all of it requires work. Loading, motivating kids, driving, packing, unpacking, costuming, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning – it feels like life has hit hard these last few weeks. 

We all know life has its ups and downs. We’ve all given and gotten advice on how to handle it. Simplify. Enjoy the Journey. Look on the Bright Side. But what about those times when you don’t want to look on the bright side? What about walking into your flooded basement after a five day camp out when you haven’t showered and your kids have been crying for the last hour in the car?

There are times when I want to curl up in a ball and cry. So I do. (Actually the crying was minimal, mostly I just vented to my mom on the phone.)

But then what? A moment of chaos strikes, hits like a hurricane, and leaves the debris in its wake. How do you react? What do you do next?

If you’re like me, then you wipe away your sniffles and do something. The smallest thing. The easiest thing.

I gave my kids a bath, then I took a shower. After that I made dinner while Mountain Dad ripped up soaking carpet in the basement. I did one load of laundry, then another. We moved one piece of furniture, then another. Slowly, step by step, we dug ourselves out of the chaos together. The basement still has no carpet and my to do list is a mile and a half long, but I know I can take small steps and eventually things will get done. That’s my only option.

Yes, sometimes life sucks. Yes, sometimes it’s a lot of work. That applies to everyone whether they have kids, live in an apartment, are 17 or 79. Everyone will have unexpected chaos in their life at one time or another. It’s okay to slow life down, focus on only the most necessary actions and realize that somethings are nice and good, but don’t need your attention right at that moment.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the past few weeks. Sometimes when real life hits, it hits hard.