Get kids outside, and the entire family reaps the benefits. Reconnect with Nature for better health, and because it’s fun too! Explore outdoor education through hiking, biking, skiing, surfing, and other family adventures.
The right equipment can make all the difference, and never more so than when it comes to a performance sport like skiing. Because of that, with two young ski team members and a diehard Beer Gut League racer, our family boasts upwards of a dozen pairs of skis. Only one of them mine. Not that…
Now that snow has returned to the Capital Region, beat the winter blahs with outdoor adventures. Current spring skiing conditions, with area trails layered in deep powder and temperatures hovering at the freezing point, are ideal for introducing kids to Nordic skiing. Like Alpine skiing, cross country skiing is a risky sport where experienced skiers…
You don’t have to go far to find snow tubing near Albany NY. There are seventeen tubing hills within daytrip distance, most less than a two-hour drive away, and more not much further way. Somewhere between backyard sledding and Olympic bobsledding on the thrill-o-meter, tubing is a great way to get the kids outdoors. Much…
Skiing is a year round obsession in our home–we love to ski! While my son and I take a more seasonal approach to the sport, my husband starts planning the next year even before the annual Spring Fling closes out the winter season. Downtime in the offseason finds him assessing gear, scheduling a boot fitting, and…
Earning entry into the Adirondack High Peaks Forty-Sixers club has long been on my bucket list, and considering the proximity of the 46 mountain peaks, there was no good reason not to give a go. Last weekend, I finally embarked on what will likely be a very long term quest when I took on Cascade Mountain,…
My sister refused to join us at Vans US Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach, California. Her husband, an Orange County native, warned that it was going to be a “zoo,” and didn’t think it would be a good environment for their young children. But even he didn’t expect to wake up to headlines about…
I’ve been thinking a lot about why family vacations seem to bring us closer. Developing shared interests and just having time to spend together are big factors, but I think the main reason is that we bond over outdoor adventures with kids. Seven Reasons for Outdoor Adventures with Kids When I first read Extreme Kids: How to…
There’s one good thing about rainy days–waterfalls. New York has many waterfalls, including the spectacular ones found at Niagara Falls. But in New York’s Capital Region, we’re lucky to have the impressive waterfalls of the historic Indian Ladder Trail in Thatcher Park. What a scenic overlook! On a clear day you can see Vermont’s Green…
Of all the places I most enjoy in New York’s Capital Region, few surpass the Albany Pine Bush. When I was new to the area, hardly a day passed that I didn’t pack my young toddler, Kayla, into the Kelty carrier so that I could explore the hiking trails with my Yellow Lab, Mowgli, by my…
If you thought that the only way to capture great Niagara Falls photos was on a Maid of the Mist boat ride, think again. Having previously done the Maid of the Mist tour with kids on the New York side of the border, I wanted to experience the popular waterfall attraction in a new way. I…