Winter is here! At least in the high country it is. We are having a 70 degree here on the front range!

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. Cannon is using this pair this year. 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 (7 years) so we are going to grab THIS set.

I have THESE snow boots from Keen that I got the first year we moved to Colorado for winter hiking and snow shoeing. I LOVE these boots after 14 years they are still like new, waterproof, great traction, comfortable and warm. They were such a good buy!

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.

Do you like to hike in the winter?

Do you have a piece of gear that you have loved for over 10 years?

We are pretty far into the season already but we always have a fall bucket list to work through so here is this years:

• Run a family 5k hopefully a real turkey trot
• Go to a pumpkin Patch

• Drink Fall themed beverages from Starbucks
• Share hot chocolate with the kids
• Spend Saturday playing soccer games
• Get lost in a corn maze

• Attend a fall festival
• Carve Jack-o-lanterns
• Get dressed up and go trick or treating

• Bake pies
• Make Boo Baskets for the kids

• Make fun halloween themed snacks
• Go for a hike in the mountains

• Play in a pile of leaves
• Go camping
• Make fall crafts with the kids
• Put up Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving Book Nooks

Previous Falls:

We have had bucket lists for Fall 2022 Fall 2021  summer 2021 summer 2019  fall  winter and spring.

Today kicks off Cannon’s birthday week! Yes, week…..we like to celebrate big because it’s fun. Totally unnecessary, but fun.

This year we are scaling back a lot because instead of a big party and lots of gifts we are doing a big trip instead. Cannon is really into Super Mario and Universal Studios just opened a Mario themed land so we are gifting him an experience instead. He is even asking his grandparents for interactive souvenirs for the trip. We are a big fan of experiences over things but also know that sometimes you need (or want) things to enjoy said experiences.

Here is a list of things Cannon either wants or would want if he didn’t already have them:

1. Hiking Shoes – We have had many sizes of Merrell hiking shoes and we love them, they are great for around town and technical hikes. They have lasted being handed down multiple times.
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. Packable Rain Jacket – These rain jackets have come in handy on all of our trips lately as well as hikes when a rain storm can come out of nowhere. These pack down very small into their own stuff bags and come in lots of colors.
4. Down Jacket – Even on our trip to Switzerland in August it was cold enough to need a jacket. We love these down jackets because they are light, pack down small and have a hood for when you don’t have a hat.
5. Kid Safe Headphones – We have had these for years, I like that they have a cord or they can use bluetooth.
6. Kids Backpack – We love to use these on hikes and on airplanes. THIS ONE is great for toddlers too.
7. Digital Camera – So fun to take photos while traveling, still works after being dropped many times.
8. Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet – Key for travel also these things are tough, they have been dropped so many times.
9. Head Lamp – This is so fun for camping!

Some specific things we are getting Cannon for our trip:

Cannon really wants a Power Up band for Super Mario Land and an interactive wand for Harry Potter World so his grandparents gifted him money to buy those in the parks. We are also going to upgrade his Fire Tablet that is five years old now.

Do you gift experiences over things? Cory and I love to do this and now our kids are into it too!

Summer is fast approaching and I thought it would be a good time to share some of my favorites for the season. I love summer and getting out with my kids is my very favorite. Here is some gear that makes summer even more enjoyable. 

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. 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 am excited to take it to Italy with my.

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 summer favorites so we can add them to our wishlists!

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful day regardless if you celebrate or not.

We gave the kiddos their Easter Baskets this morning because we wanted them to have some time to enjoy them before we left for our trip. We will still do an Easter Egg hunt in the morning.

I tried to do mainly useful items in their baskets with a couple treats and little toys.

They loved their baskets and can’t wait for the Easter Bunny to come tonight.

Normally we have soccer all morning on Saturdays.

This week Cannon’s team had a bye week so it was just Emmy who had a game. It was fun seeing her play but also nice because we had a lot to get done.

We spent the rest of the day racing around getting ready for our spring break trip. We were too sick and it was too snowy to go during our spring break in March so we moved it back three weeks and now we get to go! Cannon won’t miss any school because it’s testing week, his grade doesn’t test yet. Emmy will miss school but we think it’s worth it for the adventure.

We took some breaks to dye eggs and have fun but mostly it was trip prep today.

What are your plans for the weekend? Ever had to reschedule a trip?

My very favorite mornings are slow mornings where everyone is home and no one is rushing off somewhere. Cory worked from home and we did homeschool until it was time to go to gymnastics. We had some errands to run to get things ready for our trip that we are leaving for on Sunday.

Then more school and outside time because it was so nice out.

I walked while the kids road their bikes.

I am trying to get at least 7000 steps a day for my health outside of any exercise I do. It is going to be a lot easier to hit that goal now that the days are getting longer and nicer.

I am super jealous of Cannon’s fat bike, but I am excited to start riding on trails this summer. Cory bought me a sweet new mountain bike, I love it!

In the evening we had a glow egg hunt for the kids, it was too bright to really be a glow hunt but they had fun and were up way past their bedtimes anyway.

Everything is better with friends!

What are your plans for the weekend?

We were supposed to get 4-5 inches but woke up to less than an inch, it’s always hard to predict the weather here.

regardless it was VERY COLD so we stayed inside all day.

I do believe in no bad weather, just bad gear…..we just don’t have gear for 25 below zero wind chill. I think anything below zero is past our limit and I am okay with that.

We did our normal school things, we started reading the classic Winnie-The-Pooh and I have never read it so it’s fun to do so with the kids. This book was given to my brother when he was just four years old so that is pretty special too.

In the afternoon the kids played in the basement while I did some PT and ran a few miles on the treadmill. I watched a couple Billy Yang videos while running. I loved his A {Trail} Love Story.

I do my strength training without shoes to strengthen my feet, but always run on the treadmill in shoes. I once ran in socks on a treadmill for a running gate analysis and got a terrible heat blister.

After dinner Cannon had his first night of basketball, he LOVED it. Emmy loved that her friends showed up too so she had some girl time.

What is your limit for enjoying time outside?

I woke up a little early today to get a couple miles in. I am happy with my long runs but really need to work on getting more miles in earlier in the week.

It was back to our “normal” routine….this is Emmy’s concerned face that dad was doing her hair (he did a good job).

We changed up the sensory bin from Valentines to St. Patricks Day.

We did our normal school things and started a mountain biome mini unit study. It was fun to do a little guided drawing with the kids with our Snow Bear read aloud.

We played outside when we could because it was 60 degrees and we are expecting 4-5 inches of snow tomorrow and temps in the teens.

Weather here in Colorado is always a wild ride. We have already had a VERY cold snowy winter but I welcome that over a drought any day.

I had a check up with my GP in the afternoon, seems as you get older the more and more time you get to spend at the doctors office. In a few years I will need to start getting all the really “fun” screenings.

We decided we needed a fun pizza picnic.

Humphry was very hopeful he would get some, he did not.

How has your winter been?