I always enjoy meeting other kindred spirits, whether it be in person or in cyberspace, so I’ve been thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate recently with 3 other adventurous mommies on a few writing projects we’re cooking up (more on that later, but you can stay in the loop by following us on Twitter @AdventureMoms.  Anyway, Kristen Lummis is one such Mommy, and she graciously offered to contribute a Green Hour post for me!  Kristen’s family is to skiing as ours is to climbing!   She lives in Western Colorado with her husband and two teenage boys, and recently had a chance to experience a Green Hour with the ladies in her family. The following is a guest post describing her adventure…

My niece was visiting us last month. She lives in the Denver area and we live on Colorado’s Western Slope. She is 8 years old, full of energy and loves to be outdoors. So do I.

So on a cool Saturday, despite the threat of rain, my mom and I took her hiking on the Colorado National Monument. Here is our report from the Devil’s Kitchen Trail.

1. Lots of Prickly Pear Blossoms. As the mother of boys, I am used to spotting lizards, oohing and ahhing over cool rocks, and recognizing unique shapes and uses for twigs and sticks. My niece pointed out the varying colors of the cactus blooms….and spotted lizards. Sticks and rocks, not so much.

2. Plenty of Room to Run. And run she did. She ran, she balanced, she climbed and she skipped. An open trail, a pleasant day and nothing to do but enjoy being alive in the splendor of nature.

3. Time to Practice Trail Boss Skills. My niece is a second child, the second daughter to boot. We let her choose the trail, lead the way, read the signs and set the pace. We pointed out the cairns marking the trail and she became our official cairn-spotter. She was our trail boss.

While hiking with her, I was reminded of an article I recently read entitled “Leave No Child Inside.” Concerned about the trend of more and more kids spending their summers indoors with TV and computers, a consortium of outdoor agencies and groups in the Chicago-area are urging families to turn off the technology and get outside. Stating what should be obvious, one of the organizers put it thus: “(Children) are excited to be outdoors.”

Yes, I can vouch for that. No matter where you live, children are excited to be outdoors. After nine months of school, some time in the sunshine, lying in the grass, hiking on a trail or chasing butterflies is exactly what our kids need. Open the doors, get outside and this summer, leave no child inside….or for that matter, any adult either.

You can read more from Kristen over on her personal blog, Brave Ski Mom.  She’s got a lot of interesting goodies on her site, including a fantastic explanation of why all moms, but especially ski moms (and I’ll add climbing moms…) are brave.