Mother’s Day is almost here so I though I would share some of my favorites that make being and Adventure Mom even more fun.

Day Hiking Backpack – This REI pack has tons of room and is the most comfortable backpack I have ever used.

First Aid Kit – I LOVE this kit and carry it with me on all our adventures. I also love that it is compact and you can order refills.

Swim Shorts – These shorts are amazing for hiking, paddling or swimming. I love wearing these while kayaking or in Costa Rica when hiking to water falls. Size down one for the best fit!

Portable Charger – A must have for any mom on the go! I love that this one has built in cords and can be plugged directly into the wall.

Hoka Trail Shoes – These are my favorite hiking shoes, I have used them for years and have taken me many miles in the backcountry!

Chaco Sandals – I lived in these sandals last summer in Florida as well as in the Mediterranean and Costa Rica. These work well on the trail and all day at a theme park

Free People Packable Jacket – This jacket is very warm while still packing down into a tiny bag, making it perfect for layering and traveling. Plus it comes in tons of cute colors.

Colorado Kids Hiking Book – This is such a fun book for anyone who likes to hike, I know they have additions for other states as well.

Nathan Hydration Bladder – I use this bladder in my hydration vest for runs and in my day pack for hikes. Never had any issues with leaking or sloshing.

2024 Mother’s Day Gift Ideas HERE:

2023 Adventure Mom Gift Guide HERE:

Some more Mother’s Day gift ideas found here:

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, you are changing the world!

Winter is here! At least in the high country it is.

We love visiting Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park any time of year. I often come here when I am not sure what the conditions might be because it is a flat easy hike if you want it to be or you can add on as much as you like.

It was very cold and windy so I am glad I brought all of the kids snow gear, I just wish I had heavier gloves for all of us. We LOVE these winter gloves for skiing and playing in the snow.

We also use THESE micro spikes when it’s icy or we need more traction.

We have had these Target snow boots for years and love them, they work really well and hold up. They wore THESE when they were in toddler sizes, held up for both kids. You don’t always need really expensive gear to get out and adventure. Paired with THESE wool socks their feet stay nice and warm, they are starting to get a bit small, especially for Cannon (8 years) so we are going to grab THIS set.

We also bought these balaclavas for the kids for skiing and winter hikes. They wear them under their ski helmets and under knit hats on really cold days.

We have had many different sizes in THESE snow bibs, they have held up well and we have been able to hand them down to Emerald. When the kids where little we liked to get them THESE down bunting.

Under their snow gear the kids both wear THIS base layer from 32 degrees. Then depending on how cold/windy/snowy it is they will wear a sweat suit, jogger set or fleece as a mid layer.

We LOVE these packable, down jackets! They are warm, durable, pack down and are comfortable to wear

For the kids’ birthdays this year we let them choose an experience while we are in Florida or a party. Both wanted the experience and Emerald chose to visit Legoland Orland! 

This is such a fun a little park, it was easy to get around and perfect for me to manage just me and the kids. 

Cannon and Emerald were the perfect ages to visit Legoland (6 and 8). They were both big enough to ride all the rides but not too big to get bored. 

We got a buy one get one free deal on tickets so we opted for two days and added on the waterpark. 

We loved all the Lego theming, the rides were fun and the kids loved all the opportunities to build with legos. 

Without the addition of the waterpark you could easily do this park in one day, we never waited in line more than 25 minutes. No “fast pass” or special tickets needed. 

May sped by in a flash, when friends with school age kids call it Maycember because there is just so much going on they have it right! We had a great month celebrating everything.

The month started with a quick trip to Moab to celebrate Mother’s Day, we had so much fun camping, hiking and spending time in one of our favorite places.

We did some backyard camping to work on remembering how to tent camp. Hoping to get out in the mountains once we are back in Colorado late summer/fall.

We finished up the school year and celebrated Emmy graduating from Kindergarten.

For the last bit of May we drove north to visit Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. It was chilly but we were lucky enough to find campsites inside both parks. Our original plan included Glacier National Park but it was very cold and the Road to the Sun was still closed.

We saw so much wildlife and loved spending time out camping since our summer will see much less camping than we normally do.

Our time in the Grand Tetons was so beautiful, we haven’t visited these parks since 2020 when all the visitor’s centers were closed. We fully enjoyed getting to do the Jr. Ranger Programs and do some fun hikes.

When we got home we had to say goodbye to Cory for a couple weeks while he worked in Florida. We will be joining him for the rest of the summer mid-June.

How was your May? Jam-packed or peaceful?

What is your favorite National Park? Mine is Yellowstone!

Mother’s Day is almost here so I though I would share some of my favorites that make being and Adventure Mom even more fun.

1. ARIZONA BIRKENSTOCKS

I am in love with Birkenstocks and wear them year round. These Arizona soft foot bed keep my feet happy all summer. I also love the rubber version for beach/pool days.

2. HOKA TRAIL RUNNERS

These are my FAVORITE hiking shoes for summer! They are light and grippy, I have hiked and ran hundreds of miles on trails in these without any trouble.

2. NORTH FACE BACK PACK

I love this pack for both a day hike and for travel. There are great pockets for your laptop and all your tech gear that can be replaced with a water bladder for summer hikes.

3. HYDRO FLASK MUG

Everything is better outside in the summer, even coffee. I love my Hydro flask mug for camping, early mornings at the trail head and simple back yard hangs.

4. PEEPERS SUNGLASSES

These glasses are so lightweight and comfortable. They can be ordered with a prescription if that is something you would like.

5. STANLEY ADVENTURE QUENCHER

I know this water bottle seems over hyped but I think it lives up to it. I have both the 30 oz and 40 oz and love them both. I use the 40 oz in summer more because it really does stay cold even in a hot car. My kids are always “sharing” my water with me so it’s nice to have a sharing size. I also find I drink more water than I normally would when I have my Stanley.

6. SWEET PACK

I love this bag for summer, it’s so light and I don’t worry about staining the Vegan Leather. It’s also great for travel, I have taken it all over Italy and use it as my daily bag.

7. BOGG BAG

I love this giant bag, I use it all year but in the summer I use it almost daily to go to the pool. It fits everything (and more) that we need. It’s also great for soccer games and trips to the beach.

Please share some of your Adventure Mom favorites!

We have been road tripping with the kids since they were very little, and we have found that a few things make everyone have a great time. Add in a giant bag of snacks and you are good to go!

1. Lunch/Snack Box  – We have used these lunch boxes for years and they are holding up well! We use these to bring food from home or to put food in from a restaurant, it seems to cause way less spills!
2. Storage Clipboard – My kids love to draw so these are great for keeping paper and pens handy on trips and on the go.
3. Wet Ones– These are always with me because of so many reasons but when you can’t always wash hands on a road trip they are extra handy!
4. Pencil Bag – Each kiddo has a pencil bag to keep crayons and colored pencils, I don’t quite trust them with markers yet!
5. Kid Safe Headphones – We have had these for years, I like that they have a cord or they can use bluetooth.
6. Digital Drawing Pad – These are so fun when you don’t want to cart around pencils or crayons!
7. Activity Books – Any kind of sticker or activity books are fun, bonus points if it fits the theme of where you are traveling.
8. Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet – Key for travel also these things are tough, they have been dropped so many times.
9. Emesis Bags – This is the least fun of the list but so helpful if you have a kiddo that gets sick. You. can use other bags but these seal and we have found them helpful.

What are your favorite kid essentials for road trips?

Winter is not my *favorite* season but there are some amazing adventures and just like last year I am trying to embrace winter instead of counting the days until it’s over. So here are some fun, family friendly winter activities:

For clarity I will define “winter” as January through early March.

• Visit the Colorado Ice Castles
• Go winter camping

• Go sledding
• Make heart shaped sugar cookies for Valentines day
• Go on a snowy hike

• Go to Breckenridge to see the International Snow Sculpture Completion
• Put together valentines baskets for the kids

• Make bird feeders
• Build a snowman/snow fort
• Deliver valentines to friends
• Visit the Ice Caves

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What is something you love to do in the winter?

We have had bucket lists for last:

summer 2021 summer 2019  fall 2019  fall 2021 winter2021 Christmas 2021 and spring 2021

One of our family goals for the year is to do 100 hikes this year. I am not sure if this goal is even possible at 2 hikes almost every week. It’s a lot and maybe too much, but I wanted a push goal after doing the 52 hike challenge successfully the last couple of years. We have the added incentive that we really want Luna to be a great hiking/camping dog and the more we take her out while she is little the more likely it is that she will be a great little hiker.

Some of our “rules” that will make meeting our goal easier:

• We can count repeating a trail. I don’t think we would have time to find and hike 100 new trails this year. It’s about getting out on the trail not always discovering new ones.
• Short hikes count
• Neighborhood walks do not count. Just walking from our home will not count.
• When on a “hiking” trip each separate hike counts!

We plan to document our hikes on the 100 hikes page here on the site!

Have you done a hiking challenge before?

2023 was an amazing year in so many ways, we had many family adventures and fun experiences. I don’t regret all the time we spent together. I do regret not spending the time to get back to myself and improving myself. I set some pretty high goals for myself in 2023, started out pretty strong then somehow lost track and didn’t get back to it.

On a personal goal side I didn’t reach many of my goals and I am determined to work on feeling like myself again. My family is supportive I just need to make better choices with my time (go to be earlier, get up earlier, etc). A new year always feels like a great chance to start over:

Personal goals:

1. PT/strength everyday build a solid strength training routine
2. Run a 50 miler 
3. Make room! Everything has a place and everything in it’s place.It is time to declutter. 
4. Join the 4am club – better sleep habits.
5. More greens
6. Get back to writing everyday.
7. Run every day – I would love to complete a full year run streak, but this will be the first one to go if it has to because of injury or family needs. 
8. Calm + gentle parenting 
9. Spend quality time playing with my kids and enjoying them while they are still young.
10. Find ways to check off two big bucket list trips this year.

We also have some family goals for 2024, listing those later. Do you have any goals for 2024?

This years Christmas felt a little flat and rushed to me after spending much of early December nursing then losing Humphry. We were also very sick with RSV that turned into multiple infections. My biggest hope is that I was able to keep the magic going for the kids.

My kept the traditions alive with lots of Elf on the Shelf antics, baking, going to holiday festivals and visiting Santa.

While we didn’t get to do as much as I had planned but our time was well spent with Humphry while we could.

Having to say goodbye to Humphry was one of the hardest things we have had to do. It’s been painful and while the grief comes in waves but we are getting through it together.

I love them so much.

And then we found that this little precious girl needed a home for Christmas.

We adopted a rescue Boxer Mix puppy, just 8 weeks old. We love her so much already, a little sunshine, our little Luna.

We had a sweet little Christmas together and hope that yours was lovely.