Free Family Fun at Hoosier Outdoor Experience

Do you ever accidently stumble into an activity that you are pretty sure will become part of a long-standing family tradition?  That is exactly what happened to us this weekend.  I highly recommend that if you live anywhere near the Indianapolis area, you consider making the Hoosier Outdoor Experience part of your family plan for next year!

Mr. Crum is completing some volunteer hours for a class that he took this spring.  He received an email last week that there was a need for volunteer bus guides during the event, and he chose to go.  We decided at the last minute that the whole family would head to Indianapolis with him and spent a little bit of time checking out the event on their website.

Let me tell you what, the website did not prepare us for the actual magnitude of the event.  There were over 50 activities for families to participate in together.  This is designed to give people just a small taste of what adventures lie ahead of them when they spend time outdoors.  I'm talking everything from biking, to hunting, to tennis... and so much more!  (Did I mention that all of the activities are FREE?)

Here is a brief overview of what I did with our 3 little guys (now ages 11 months, 2.5, and 4):

We started our afternoon by learning about how to use a pump and filter to get drinking water in a river or lake.  The boys participated in a contest - I'm pretty sure we did NOT win that.

Next we got to see and touch a variety of animal pelts.  Here are a raccoon and a beaver.

The boys really enjoyed digging for artifacts and bones in this little simulated dig area.

Abe Lincoln paid a visit at the park.  The boys were much less interested in hearing his stories than their mama was, so we moved on pretty quickly.

My big guys each got a turn to try and shoot arrows.  Manasseh really wanted to take one home with us - they were actually fairly reasonably priced, but mama was holding out for some other type of souvenir.

There were several large stuffed animals to get photos with - this is the only one I actually got all 3 boys to stand together in.

The boys used tulle and suite cakes to make little bird feeders.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of Manasseh's little cheer when he got his frisbee into the disc golf basket.

There was a lot of food - if I had planned ahead we would have carried sandwiches in with us. The boys loved the corn and hot dogs that they got to eat while we were at the park.

Manasseh decided to learn a bit about the outdoors while we waited in line for the rock wall.

My sweet 4 year old getting ready to scale the rock wall.  He's been climbing since before he could walk (I'm not joking, not even a little bit) and I knew he'd do well.  He surprised me and got nervous, he didn't make it up very far.  But it sure was fun watching him try something new.

A real tortoise that they got to touch.

AND they touched a snake.  They are fascinated by the ways different animals feel.

One of the stations was building bird feeders.  This was a great activity.  We love building together AND we get a new feeder to put near our new patio!

We caught a fish!

Manasseh begged to take the hook out of the fish's mouth - his mama sure wasn't going to do that.  I was going to let this friendly DNR guy do it.

There were cool tents all over the place.  Manasseh played in this one briefly before we boarded the bus to get back to our van.

Waiting for daddy to be done with his work, the boys enjoyed playing together in the median by the parking lot.

Time for some rest.  We had a fantastic day and can't wait to go back next year WITH daddy.

I think next year we'll plan to take the whole weekend at the park, we might even find some place to camp nearby to have the FULL outdoor experience.

Honor the Earth Giveaway Hop

I am SUPER excited about partnering with GeoPalz for the Honor the Earth giveaway hop!  If you haven't heard of GeoPalz, please take a glance at my spotlight post.  They make incredible pedometers for kids, and have a fantastic service for families!  I don't think I have ever been more excited about a pedometer!

GeoPalz wants to help YOU Honor the Earth this Earth day by encouraging your family to get moving!  We're learning to walk to places nearby instead of driving.  

One lucky winner will receive a GeoPalz pedometer for their child!  Of course, you can always choose to keep it for yourself if you prefer.

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.  Don't forget to read the review to learn all about GeoPalz great products.  Also remember to check out the other great giveaways happening as part of the Honor the Earth hop!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Honor The Earth with your FEET! (sponsor spotlight)

In the Crum household we are battling every day.  We battle to live a greener life, we battle to eat healthier foods, we battle to maintain blood sugar... and the list goes on.

As a diabetic I am highly concerned about what my family eats and how we exercise.  I don't want my 3 beautiful boys to grow up fighting the same battles that we are struggling with now.  We are working on teaching them to live healthier lives by helping them learn to get exercise every day.  

One way that we practice this is through the use of a pedometer.  The Crum family, along with some of my extended family, are taking literal steps toward health.  We are walking "together" although live in different cities.  Each day we report in with our number of steps in a battle toward health.  At the end of the month the one with the most average daily steps will take home a trophy.  We will start again with counting steps for next month.  The winner so far?  My mother (I think).  

Okay, the truth is, the kids are kicking our butts.  They are inspiring us to work harder, walk more, and live healthier.  They are encouraging us to practice what we preach and put our foot where our mouth is... 

At the Crum house, as we learn to increase our steps, we are also learning to Honor the Earth by using our van less frequently.  We are learning to take care of our needs without adding to the poor air quality.

Now, for the sponsor:

GeoPalz!

This has got to be the coolest pedometer we have ever seen!  They are stylish with cute icons on the front so they look cool.  Monkey loves to show his off to anyone that will pay attention.  

This is my favorite.  Isn't it cute?  Earthy and feminine.  Love it!

First I want to tell you about the great quality of pedometers the GeoPalz sells. 

They are made with kids in mind.  The pedometer has a bent angle on the end of the clip to hold it firmly in place on pants or shoes.  There is also a "leash" with it so you can attach it doubly - if it somehow manages to slip off, it will still be holding on with the leash.  Believe me, with an active young boy, this can be useful.

These are durable.  Monkey has dropped his a number of times.  He takes it off regularly to look at the numbers and is not good at putting it back on himself.  When he looks at it, it has frequently landed on the floor.  The cute cover over the pedometer seems to help with protecting it.

GeoPalz calibrates to the individual step.  This gives a more accurate picture of how many steps are being taken.  

The pedometer also has a time and date function.  That helps with tracking steps. One great thing about this function is that you can't forget to reset it in the morning - it 0's at midnight.  (If your time is not set properly, it will reset itself in the middle of the day).

Here is the direction sheet.  I called my sister when I opened it up.  I learned about GeoPalz from her, so she was the one to gripe at about this.  What a huge set of instructions.  It took a little while for me to figure it all out and get the pedometers set up correctly.  It was not as difficult as I expected based on the size of the instruction page.  

We also had occasion to do a little problem solving.  One of the pedometers did not work right for some reason, customer service was very helpful and had no problem replacing it.  They have a lifetime guarantee on their products!

Check this out, not only are these pedometers adorable (who would have thought you could use a word like "adorable" when talking about pedometers?), they offer a website for tracking progress.  You can use their website for free!  Your kids can even earn prizes for accomplishing goals.  There are a variety of neat prizes for kids who own a geopal - they EVEN have prizes for people that sign up with a free account.  

One of the newer features?  Family tracking.  That's right, I can put all of the members of my family on the GeoPalz site, and monitor progress right there with a chart that shows each family member side by side.  I also get an email every week telling me how my children are doing with their walking.  

GeoPalz has an excellent program for helping families get active together.  They have already helped us in the battle against diabetes.  They also help us as we learn to better care for our Earth.

The price?  GeoPalz sell for only $25!  That price is totally worth it for the quality of the pedometer and the service of the website.  Make sure to check them out today!

Thanks GeoPalz!

GeoPalz will be offering a pedometer to one of my readers during the Honor the Earth event from April 12-22.  Happy Earth Day!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, I received a product or products in exchange for review.