I was made for this!!

A while back the awesome women's clothing company, Stonewear Designs, shared that they were looking for 6 active, socially conscious women to represent them as Grassroots Ambassadors. I was stoked to read this. Not only am I a fan of their clothes, but I'm a fan of the company and what they represent. First, I love that they promote healthy, strong, "real" women - rather than the super model like image of women that some other women's athletic wear companies promote. And secondly, they do great stuff! Stonewear Designs sponsors HERA Women's Cancer Foundation, an incredible foundation that promotes health, empowerment, research and awareness for women fighting ovarian cancer. I love supporting companies that not only make good stuff, but that do good stuff as well.

I also want to share why I think I would make an excellent Grassroots Ambassador for Stonewear Designs.

I believe in living an active, healthy lifestyle and encouraging others to do so as well.

I believe in promoting a strong, healthy image of women.

I believe in Yoga.

I believe in the great outdoors and sharing it with everyone.

And

I believe in climbing to the top of any obstacle in my way.

So if you believe I would be a great choice as an ambassador for Stonewear Designs, please share with them on their Facebook page, tweet them on Twitter (my twitter handle is @climbrunliftmom) or in an email to Cassie at Stonewear Designs @ cstrid@gthi.com. This is an amazing opportunity and I would appreciate as much support as I could get from you all! Thank you all so much!

Moab (Part 2)

Hey everyone, thanks for reading Part 1 of my Moab series! There was just way too much good stuff to squeeze it into one post. On our second day down there we were lucky enough to finally meet up with the amazing Melissa from Adventure Tykes and her son J for some family fun, Moab style! I was not disappointed, she is just as awesome as I thought she'd be and is quite the guru for family friendly activities and places in Moab. After throwing around a few different kiddo friendly locations, we decided on Faux Falls. 

The hike into the falls was super short. Although if you don't have a high clearance vehicle I suggest parking farther away and hiking the extra 1/2 mile in. Luckily, Melissa let us all pile into her truck to get to the trail head, my car was extremely happy not to be put through that. The initial sight of the cascading water against the red rock backdrop was just stunning. After checking out the waterfall, we hiked up to the top of the falls, with plenty of stops along the way for chasing lizards and finding sticks of course. The one part of the falls that scared me with the kids was how easy it would be for them to slip into the water at the top and from there it would be a gruesome slip and slide all the way to the bottom. So if you ever check this place out with your kids, keep them within arms reach near the water.

After checking out the source of the falls, we hiked back down and crossed the little stream to the other side. Here there was a shallow pool of water that was perfect for the kids to wade in and cool off. They quickly figured out that sand + water = mud and they were in heaven. (They ended up hiking out carrying about 5 extra lbs of sand and mud (per kid) by the end of the day.) The water was pretty chilly so they didn't play too long here and unfortunately it was getting late enough where we needed to start thinking about the drive back home. So we cleaned as much sand and mud as we could off the kids and headed back to the truck, said our good byes and were on our way back home before we knew it.

Moab will always have a special place in my heart because it is an amazing climbing locale. Between the desert towers and Indian Creek, a climber is in Sandstone Heaven there. But besides all that it is an amazing destination for mountain bikers and hikers of all ability levels. I love that this is a place that my kids love just as much as I do. For anyone looking to make a family trip there (or anywhere really), I highly suggest following Adventure Tykes blog. It is chock full of great advice for family friendly camping, hiking, and any other outdoor fun you could have while there.

Thanks for reading the trip reports!

This is a summer of adventure, hopefully we'll have many more to share :)

Track Time w/ the Kiddos

My schedule has not been the most accommodating to running lately. Since my running has be done with the kiddos my only options are the treadmill or the track. Thankfully, just a little over 1/2 mile from our house is the local high school. And since the treadmill is for worst case scenario only, the kiddos and I have ventured down to the track a few times. They ride their bikes there and I run there along side them.

Ava getting some laps in!

Running and I are still not on the best of terms, so the track actually works out really well for me.  The kiddos can play in the grassy area in the middle or run laps themselves.  I can run a few laps and then run some stairs for a bit. I can also incorporate some strength training to keep my heart rate up between laps and stairs. I usually try to work in 2 laps around the track, 2 laps of the stairs, and then 1 set of body weight exercises. I try to repeat this set as many times as the kids let me :) My run to and from the track also serves as my warm up/cool down

Monkey see - Monkey do :)

I haven't been able to stay longer than around 45 minutes, but it's still enough time for a few miles and enough strength training to give me DOMS :)  This has been by far the easiest way I've found to get my workouts in since having the kiddos with me 24/7.  I would say the kids love this as much as I do, but honestly, they love it more. There really is no excuses.

Do you have a local track that you use?

What are your favorite ways to squeeze in workouts with your kids?

Moab (Part 1)

A couple weeks ago, I was struck with a serious case of wanderlust. Enter Moab... Seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I had originally planned on climbing Castleton Tower to celebrate my 30th birthday, but those plans fell through. I wasn't going to let that get me down though, I packed up the kiddos and the camping gear and off to Moab we went anyways.

I had originally hoped that we'd leave early enough on Friday to get there and set up camp while it was still light out. However, that did not happen. I'm not complaining though. As hard as it is to set up camp in the dark with two little kids, the reward of waking up to the Red Rock surrounding you is completely awe inspiring. I've been to Moab many times, but it never ceases to amaze me.

If you've been on the internet in the last few months you've most likely seen this video for the World's Largest Rope Swing. This was filmed in Moab, UT and since the kids first seen this video they wanted to go see this arch (they actually wanted to go swing off it, but we compromised and just hiked out to see it instead). Corona Arch is a beautiful arch about 15 minutes away from town of Moab. It's a 3 mile round trip hike, which was the perfect distance for my kiddos.

Camping time!

Baby Cairn (Wilderness Crafts w/ the Kiddos!)

Taking a rest :)

Climbing up the trail

Taking a rest w/ Corona Arch in the background.

The kiddos and I

Yoga Girl!

If I poke a cactus will it hurt?

Lizard #6 of the day (we were counting, lol)!

The trail was perfect for the kiddos. There were 2 places along the trail that were protected by cables. The first, I'm still not sure why... But the second was almost necessary for the kids. There was also a part where you had to climb up a ladder, again I didn't feel it was necessary, but the kids thought that was pretty neat. So someone has obviously went out of their way to make the trail super accessible for everyone.

After our hike, the kids were pretty beat from the heat and crashed in the car, I just drove around for a few hours so they could sleep in the AC instead of taking them back to a hot tent. 

When we got back to our campsite, we had an awesome dinner of hot dogs (for them), corn on the cob and roasted potatoes cooked over the campfire. I had a few drinks and just relaxed. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening and was exactly what the kiddos and I needed. Perfect belated birthday celebration.

Watch for Part 2 - Faux Falls.