Your guide to getting outdoors with your family. Hiking. Camping. Walking. Exploring. More.
* Thanks to Poolmaster, JoJo Maman Bebe, and Zoku for sending fun summery products. Even though I live in the Arizona desert (where the sun is intense and temperatures soar!), I always look forward to summer! I love the long, lazy days of swimming, reading, sleeping in, staying up late, writing, eating watermelon + cherries, […]
I never thought I'd be a swim team mom. As a child, I took swim lessons from my city's Parks & Rec department and paid a quarter to swim at the public pool near my house, but I never learned the four strokes. Nor did I know the "language" of swim - IM (Individual Medley), DQ […]
As the weather cools, we Arizonans breathe a sigh of relief. We sit out in the garage, with a bowl of tortilla chips and medium salsa - playing with chalk and riding bikes until the orange sorbet sunset surprises us. We hold out hope that soon we will be able to pull out our boots […]
It's harder to be a parent in the summer in Arizona. For me anyway. In the spring, fall, and winter ---> I have "help" with the kids. No, I'm not talking about a nanny, an Au pair, a daycare, or even school. I'm talking about NATURE. She accompanies us all through the day, teaching my […]
3 miles there. 3 miles back. 6 miles total. We see deer (three of them!), rabbits, squirrels, multicolored lizards, spiderwebs, and a bird's nest. When we get to the falls, there isn't any water (but there IS plenty of shade). We munch on trail mix, Clif Bars, fruit roll-ups, and yogurt-covered raisins. Then, Tim asks, […]
This photo was taken at approximately 2:15pm today - after a 6-MILE hike with the girls. Note my flushed cheeks from the warm weather (the high was 86 degrees today). We hiked up Seven Falls in Bear Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains. And this is "real" hiking - with stream crossings, rock-hopping, and trekking […]
Yesterday, we went on a 2-hour hike as a family. We crunched leaves, skipped rocks over a creek, listened to the wind whisper through the trees, touched tree bark, and marveled at the majesty of Nature. As we wandered up-and-over, around-and-across, I thought to myself, "THIS is what childhood should be. This discovery, this simplicity, […]