All posts by Outdoor Post

How to trick your kids into enjoying hiking!

10/12/2012 Outdoor Post 4 Comments

I did a post with a couple tips on hiking with young children a little while back. It was more on keeping your kids comfortable then entertaining them so I thought I would do a new one with some tips and tricks on hiking with children!

I am not above tricking my children into forgetting how many miles they have been walking!

I want them to enjoy their time outside not dread it!

Here is a list of ways I “trick” my children into enjoying long walks/hikes:

1. Play I spy! This has been a game changer for me. The boys love playing it! We play it in stores, on walks, and on hikes.

It is easy also! Just find something odd say it out loud and see who finds it first! Then it is their turn to do the same.

2. Give them a map.

For some reason kids just really like to look at maps! If you have a GPS device that is even better!

3. Give them a compass and teach them how to use it.

4. Bring along animal/plant identification charts

I really like the laminated ones I found at a nature center!

I recently found these also though and really want to get them!

5. Have a special treat waiting at the car/house, or if you are walking try to walk to a place you can buy something for them. I love actually going somewhere when walking instead of just going in a circle! We walk to the park, walmart, or a gas station often. The boys actually ask to go to them even though it is a five mile round trip!

You could also bring a special treat with you.

6. Do a nature scavenger hunt! I just did one while up visiting family in Minnesota and all the kids loved it!

We did the Nature Bingo I found here.

More ideas here and here.

7. Tell stories.

I actually learned this from reading Little Woman! You start a story and then they have to continue it. It is so much fun and keeps their mind off the fact they are walking! It does take a little work to teach them how to do it if they have never done it before but it is worth it!

8. Lastly pick a fun location! One with lots of animals, fun bridges, or rocks to climb!

Robbers Cave State Park

Ray Harrel Nature Park

Turkey Mt. Wilderness Area

Also the Mary K. Oxley Nature Center and the RSU conservation Trail.

I hope this post helps make hiking more fun for you and your kids!

Camping, Canoeing, Outdoors, Parks

Voyageurs National Park, International Falls, MN

10/05/2012 Outdoor Post 2 Comments

While up in Minnesota a couple weeks ago visiting in-laws my husband and I went on an overnight canoe trip!

It was at Voyageurs National Park.

All campsites in the park are accessible only by boat. There are NO drive-to campsites in Voyageurs National Park.

There is no fee for the campsites but a free permit is required.

We started at the Ash River Visitor Center and went north to Lost lake for the first night.

It was like we had our own private lake!

If looking at the campsite map it is campsite K19, I highly recommend it!

My father in-law let us use his hobo stove that he made, while we were there.

It worked great!

It takes very little fuel and boils water very quickly!

We were in bear country so most of the campsites had these food lockers.

We tried these freeze dried meals for the first time.

You can find this brand at Walmart, the pasta ones were pretty good but the eggs were just odd.

The consistency was throwing me for a loop!

Next time I think we will just bring instant oatmeal…

The colors were so beautiful!

We hiked a little ways away from the campsite to get a better view of the sunset.

It was mostly bushwhacking.

Ducking and weaving can be a little bit tiring…

We decided to stop short of our goal because we were pretty sure we would not get there until well after the sun was already down.

I made Nick really nervous here.

Right at my feet is a steep drop off.

I might have been a little less then cautious to get this shot set up…

I did not fall though!

So it is almost like I was being careful.

But not quite…

The next day brought some of the hardest paddling I have ever done.

We were going against these waves for most of the morning.

I might have a bad habit of stopping when I think we are going under.

Nick would have to yell at me to keep paddling.

I am pretty sure I would have tipped the canoe over many times if it were not for him!

I regretted every time I skipped lifting weights before this trip.

I was literally yelling at myself to finish strong just to keep myself paddling.

My arms were jello.

I am still not sure how I kept paddling.

We got our map from National Geographic.

It really came in handy and it was waterproof, which was really good because both it and I got wet.

The person in the front always gets wet in rough water.

The alternative was me being in charge of steering and keeping us from tipping though.

Wet it is.

We went all the way around Round Bear Island to Lost Bay for our second night.

On the campsite map it is K16.

Surrounded by water.

So amazing!

We did some more bushwhacking to the North of our campsite after we set up.

There was a trail north of us and I thought we could maybe get to it from our campsite.

We ended up turning back after a while though.

We were following a game trail about the shape of a barrel and it had a LOT of bear scat.

I talked a lot.

If nothing else I bored any bear around us into leaving us be.

Enjoying a beautiful sunset!

I unzipped my tent after a long night of listening for bears and this is what greeted me.

Amazing.

Even though the water was a lot calmer on our last day we still decided to portage the canoe instead of going back around Round Bear Island.

We used the 1/4 mile portage from the Long Slough to Lost Lake(were we had stayed on the first night).

Nick told me the canoe did not weigh much.

He lied.

I was again left regretting every missed arm workout.

I really wanted to check portaging a canoe off of my mental “things I have done” list though.

I did half of the 1/4 mile…

Heading back to the Ash River Visitor Center on Kabetogama Lake.

It was bittersweet to go back.

I loved waking up to the stillness.

I loved waking up to air the same temperature as the outside.

The feel of the breeze on my face all day.

Woods all around me.

It truly is a beautiful place.

I hope to go back some day.

Hiking, Outdoors, Parks

Robber’s Cave State Park Cabins ~Wilburton, OK

08/24/2012 Outdoor Post 1 Comment

We finally got a chance to try out the cabins at Robber’s Cave State Park!

The one we stayed in was laid out so that the main bedroom, kitchen, and living room were all in the same room.

The extra pull out bed was actually on the porch when you first came in.

We were there to celebrate this little man’s 6th birthday.

As an outdoor lover it makes me so happy to have one of my boys request a cabin for his birthday!

I took the boys for a walk down to the Cabin office to get an ice cream cone the first night we were there.

I decided to take the coon ridge trail back because I thought it might connect to another trail I saw near our cabin.

It did not…

We hiked a little bit further then I had planned but it worked out fine.

We hiked the whole trail on the last day we were there.

The park by the cabins is really nice and the boys loved having it so close.

Sunset on Lake Wayne Wallace.

We camped by this lake a couple years before.

I love watching the light fade away over the water.

I would never leave home if I lived on a lake.

At least not at sunset.

The next morning we headed to the Bella Starr lodge to watch the sunrise.

I found the perfect spot the night before while I was wondering around(lost).

Then we headed to the cave to rock climb before the heat came.

He loved it!

I think that Robbers Cave is a great place to take your family, it is so much fun!

With that being said, there are a lot of cliffs with very steep drops.

If you have children that do not mind or stop when you tell them to I would not recommend it!

We are very big into trail safety.

The first thing Nick did was bring the boys over(holding hands) to a steep drop to talk about what would happen if they did not listen and were not careful.

We also hold hands near any drop offs.

We found this little guy inside the main cave.