Cragmama "Not all who wander are lost…" JRR Tolkien

Yearly Archives: 2013

Ducksday Kids Outerwear: A Perfect Combo for Rain and Snow (and GIVEAWAY!)

Ducksday Kids Outerwear: A Perfect Combo for Rain and Snow (and GIVEAWAY!)

  While Ducksday might be a household name to outdoorsy families overseas, this kid’s outerwear company has just recently started offering their products stateside, through the family-owned Ollie and Stella Children’s Outfitters, operating out of Ann Arbor, Michigan.  What first caught my eye about Ducksday gear was that it offers a solution to the annoying part of outdoor play in the wet and cold – so much bulk your kid can’t move!  Not only do all those layers take up tons of valuable packing space, but countless times I have taken more than 20 minutes to get my little guy geared up enough for an F4 tornado only to have him…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Guidebook Update – With a Sneak Preview!!!

Guidebook Update – With a Sneak Preview!!!

  After turning in a giant lump of manuscript to Earthbound Publishing at the end of the summer last year, my work on the guidebook has been pretty sporadic the past few months.  Mostly I’ve just tweaking a few revisions here and there and wrapping up some interviews.  However there has still been one large item on my punch list that had remained unchecked for a long time, mostly due to logistics…The North Face.  Not the jacket company (although one of those would have come in handy!), but the North Face of Stone Mountain.  For most climbers, it’s always been…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

A Good Reminder from a Toddler…

A Good Reminder from a Toddler…

  “Hey Mommy, I love you,” says a little voice coming from beside my bed.  I smile and say it back, fumbling in the early morning light as I lean over to help my struggling toddler climb into bed with me without whacking me on the head with the armload of books he’s toting.  He cozies up into the nook of my shoulder, all the while pronouncing his love for “sweet, snuggly Mommy.”  Somedays we’ll snuggle in silence for almost an hour (especially if we fall back asleep!), and other times it’s only for 15 minutes.  Sometimes he’ll get bored with me and roll…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

Toddler Science Experiments: Ice Ice Baby!

Toddler Science Experiments: Ice Ice Baby!

All winter long I’d been wanting to do a science experiment with C involving water turning to ice, but our sub-freezing temps have been few and far between (and for some reason, using the freezer felt like cheating…unless it was July, of course).  But one day last week we finally saw the forecast we’d been waiting for – a low of 22!  We gathered our supplies and headed outside.  Here’s how our experiment worked: 1.  Collect – We walked around the yard with a large muffin tin, picking up nature items off the ground.  We used twigs, pine needles, clover,…Read the rest of this entry →

Share

A Year Ago Today…A Reflection on Health and Happiness

A Year Ago Today…A Reflection on Health and Happiness

A year ago today I was not a happy hiker, camper, or any of those other cute little clichés used to describe outdoors enthusiasts.  A year ago today I bashed my foot into the  rock face and had to be carried away from the cliff like a sack of potatoes.  A year ago today I went to sleep in tears from frustration, pain, and self-pity. But that was a year ago, and this is today.  Today I smiled as I thought about our family adventures from this past weekend.  Today I will laugh with my little boy outside in his sandbox. …Read the rest of this entry →

Share
“Not all who wander are lost.” —JRR TOLKIEN