Show Us What You’re Thankful For and You Could Win BIG!

Posted on by Jennifer Fontaine

We are doing something BIG for you to show our thanks.
Enter to win the #ThankfulForFamilies #OutdoorFamilies giveaway!


Steps  to Enter:
  1. Post a NEW photo of your outdoor family on Instagram making sure to include both #ThankfulForFamilies AND #OutdoorFamilies and tell us why you love your family!
  2. Follow ALL of our awesome participating hosts to win! Tap on MY photo(@YOURINSTAGRAMNAME)  to see where to go next. Follow that host, and find THEIR awesome prize in their feed. Tap on their photo to see where to go next. Repeat until you have come full circle.
  3. Check out ALL the awesome giveaways and make a comment (one per photo) on the prize(s) you want to win!


Giveaway entry rules:
  • Contest will run from November 19-30, 2015.
  • Entrants must be a resident of US or Canada
  • Entrants’ Instagram account must be a public account.
  • Entrants must post a new, original, and taken by you photo (a re-posted photo or tagging an old photo will disqualify you) to Instagam of their family, or members of their family, outdoors.
  • All photos entered in the contest must be tagged with BOTH #OutdoorFamilies AND #ThankfulForFamilies.
  • Entrants must comment on Instagram on the specific prize they are entering to win. Photographs of prizes will be distributed among all the hosts’ Instagram feeds. Entrants need to only comment ONCE per prize. Additional comments DO NOT equal additional entries.
  • Entrants may post a photo once per day to their Instagram feeds for additional entries, up to  12 entries total. All photos must use the two contest hashtags.
  • All photo entries must be submitted by 10 pm MST on November 30th.
  • All winners will be chosen randomly from all submitted entries at the end of the week and announced on each of the blogs after December 1st. Notifying comments will also be left on the winning photos on Instagram.
  • Hosts will do their best to contact winners. If prizes are not claimed within 48 hours of notification, the prize will go to the next winner.
  • This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Instagram.
What you can win:
**PLEASE note prizes have various shipping capabilities which are described below**
Participating Bloggers (who worked hard to round up these great prizes!):
*Make sure you check out all of these great blogs!*
  2. The Adventures in Parenthood Project: http://www.AdventurousParents.com
  5. Outdoor Families Magazine: http://www.OutdoorFamiliesOnline.com
  7. The Mommy Hiker: http://www.MommyHiker.com
  8. Rockies Family Adventures: http://www.RockiesFamilyAdventures.com
  9. The Kid Project: http://www.KidProject.org
  10. Rockieschick’s Adventures: http://www.Rockies-Chick.com
  11. Play Outside Guide: http://www.PlayOutsideGuide.com
  13. Tales of a Mountain Mama: http://www.TalesOfaMountainMama.com
  16. Colorado Mountain Mom: http://www.ColoradoMountainMom.com
  18. Mountain Mom and Tots: http://www.MountainMomAndTots.com

19. Active Kids Club: http://www.activekidsclub.com/

By Jennifer Fontaine

Celebrate Kids to Parks Day in Southern California and Beyond

Posted on by Jennifer Fontaine

In Southern California, we have so much to be thankful for. Wide open spaces surround us, but the hustle and bustle of life can easily get in the way. Thanks to the National Park Trust, they are inspiring families all over the US to get outside and get exploring.

Start by making the Kids to Parks pledge to get outside May 16, 2015, alongside 287,827 other families. In doing so, you will be automatically entered for a chance to win their GRAND prize, a Nikon COOLPIX L830 camera and a boatload of other prizes guaranteed to help you have fun outdoors, so round up the kids, slap on the sunscreen and get OUTSIDE!

To find a Southern California participating park near you, check out the National Park Trust park events page. There you can search by local community to find the closest park or the coolest park. There is also a great family resources section full of free cool stuff for kids like activity guides, an adventure book, inspirational stories and awesome tips for families who are not so well-versed in the great outdoors.

Check out these awesome Kids to Parks Day events in Southern California:

Channel Islands Tidepool Talk  (Ventura)
May 16, 2015
11 am – 11:30 am & 3 pm – 3:30 pm
Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura, CA 93001, USA
Phone: 805-658-5730
Website: http://www.nps.gov/chis/planyourvisit/event-details.htm?eventID=347557-307230

Story Time with A Ranger (Joshua Tree)  
May 16, 2015
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm
6554 Park Boulevard, Joshua Tree, CA 92252, USA
Email: lorna_shuman@nps.gov
Phone: 760-367-5521

Little Planet, Big Journey at Jumbo Rock Campground Amphitheater (Joshua Tree)
Joshua Tree National Park, National Park Road, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277, USA
May 16, 2015
8:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Email: lorna_shuman@nps.gov
Phone: 760-367-5521

Cabrillo Critters That Creep Crawl and Slither (San Diego)  
1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, San Diego, CA 92106, USA
May 16, 2015
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Email: Amanda_gossard@nps.gov
Phone: 619 557 5450 ex 4589

“Ready, Set, Wear It!” Life Jacket World Record Day (Oceanside)  
May 16, 2015
All Day Event
1950 N Harbor Drive, Oceanside, California 92054
Email: suzycoop@gmail.com
Website: http://www.readysetwearit.com

Be Outside – Kids to Parks at El Dorado Regional Park (Long Beach)
May 16, 2015
9 am – 1 pm
7550 East Spring Street, Long Beach, CA 90815, USA
Email: letthembelittle1@gmail.com
Phone: 310-918-7730

Need some more ideas? Here are fifteen! Now go outside and enjoy!

Hikes:

Fern Dell – Griffith Park

Malibu Creek State Park

Toganga Canyon State Park 

Eaton Canyon

Monrovia Falls

The Grotto @ Circle X Ranch

The Bronson Caves

Fryman Canyon Trail

Solstice Canyon Trail

More awesome Southern California parks:

Leo Carrillo State Park

Ernest E. Debs Park

Franklin Canyon Park

Temescal Gateway Park

The Ventana Wilderness

Limekiln State Park

By Jennifer Fontaine

Outdoor Families Magazine: Helping families across the globe fall in love with the Great Outdoors

Posted on by Jennifer Fontaine
It is no secret that I have been pretty absent from you all, my beloved Mommy and Daddy Hikers! I certainly didn’t expect it to happen, but about 11 months ago life took off on a completely different trajectory and I, being the heart-follower that I am, went for it! 

Not only have I been busy developing and executive producing a pretty awesome new television series, but more importantly to you guys, I have been busting my butt working on a project that probably would have never entered into my life had I not started this blog. So it is with the greatest pride and excitement that I  announce to you, my loyal readers, the launch of my newest baby! 

Outdoor Families Magazine! OFM launches in t-minus four days (January 15, 2015) and it will be a free digital magazine that encourages families toward lifelong appreciation of outside spaces. The magazine, available at http://www.outdoorfamiliesonline.com will strive to enrich the lives of multi-generational families worldwide by providing unparalleled outdoor and adventure related content meant to inspire a connection to, participation in, and stewardship of the natural world.


January Issue’s Cover

To commemorate our inaugural issue January 15, 2015, Outdoor Families Magazine will also launch the “Great Family Adventure” Photo Contest, inviting families from around the world to show off their awesome family adventures pictures! At the end of the two week contest, we’ll be presenting one lucky family with a two-night stay and three adventure-packed days on southern California’s Central Coast in the city of Oxnard, gateway to the Channel Islands National Park and Marine Sanctuary. In addition, our finalists will receive cool prizes from ten other awesome outdoor retailers including Hi-Tec footwear and Sierra Trading Post.



The magazine’s advisory board is comprised of more than 30 business and thought leaders in the outdoor family and adventure market, including my partners, our managing editor, Erin Kirkland, author of Alaska on the Go: Exploring the 49th state with children and our operations manager, Traci Lehman who will also be leading the magazine’s team of research and development experts who are passionate about supporting our magazine’s mission by documenting the benefits of outdoor time and identifying the barriers families face with regards to getting outside, so we can face these issues head on and find real world solutions.


Outdoor Families Magazine will be the go-to resource hub, supporting our already robust, engaged #OutdoorFamilies community and connecting with others who are interested in obtaining information related to family outdoor sports, activities and play, environmental stewardship, volunteering, adventure travel, mind and body nourishment and green living resources, ideas and tips. 

When I got into this crazy blogging world I never, in a million years, would have expected it to lead me where I am today; a member of The North American Travel Journalists Association, founder of a magazine, part of an absolutely incredible community of people. Throughout my wee three years, the one thing I noticed blatantly missing was a lack of relatable content available to families who simply want motivation and inspiration to get outdoors with their kids. I was dumbfounded by it actually and it is our hope that this magazine will fill that void. There are a lot of us out there, families who choose to go off-the-beaten-path, with our kids right beside us, along for the adventure. In the rapidly-growing market of outdoor family adventure we intend to thoughtfully lead the movement. I hope you’ll join us for the ride!

Join the Outdoor Families community on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and YouTube!
By Jennifer Fontaine