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How Will You Enjoy The Outdoors This Season?
Finally, we’re right in the middle of my favourite time of year! Fall! That’s right, I said it! As much as I love the Summertime, sometimes it can get a little too hot for my liking, whereas Fall is exactly where I want to be. I like to think of myself as Goldilocks and Fall as the perfect bowl of porridge.
Sure, the end of summer means that baseball season is over and the swimming pool has to close, but there are plenty of indoor facilities available in case we need to get our fix of baseball and swimming. What I love most about fall is the ability to get outside and active with my kids, without feeling like I’m going to pass out from the heat.
With that said, my friends at Kamik, a Canadian family-owned company, sent us some new boots to test while we take part in a few of our favourite fall activities, which I have chronicled below.
Without further ado, here are our favourite fall activities. Please feel free to share some of yours in the comments section!
Sports – The one constant in our lives, outside of taxes, is sports. In fact, I’m not sure a day has gone by in the last 2-3 years where we didn’t take part in at least one sporting activity, whether it be organized or otherwise. There’s something inherently Canadian about dragging the hockey nets down to the road on a chilly Fall day, and hearing the shouts of, “CAR!”, as we lose track of time in a big game of road hockey.
We may throw our coats on top of the net because we get so hot from all the running around but there’s no replacement for a solid pair of warm boots to keep us moving comfortably. My son’s Drizzly boots were lightweight while the soft fleece lining kept him warm. On top of that, if you’ve ever taken a slap shot in the foot with one of those frozen orange balls, you’d know why I loved playing little roads in my new Griffon Kamik’s.
Nature Walks – As mentioned in the previous list item, I’m not a huge fan of the heat that comes with summer. The minute the weather starts to turn is when I break out my warm clothes and start wanting to go for more family walks. We are lucky enough to live in an area with some great trails and even in the tougher terrain, my daughter’s Takoda boots lived up to the hype of being warm and comfortable enough for our little adventure, but not too clunky, translating effortlessly from nature walk to city stroll.
Geocaching – This one is a newer fad for us. After hearing about it for a year or so, I decided to look up exactly what geocaching was and man, do I wish I had discovered it sooner. For those of you who have never done it, geocaching is like a giant treasure hunt in your own city! We downloaded the app and it leads you to different areas to look for a hidden treasure. Along the way, it gives you different clues to help you find it and it is so much fun to do as a family.
Now, some of the caches were harder than others and we weren’t always successful, but the thrill of the hunt and the excitement on the kids’ faces was totally worth the time investment. Also, don’t go into it expecting to strike it rich or anything, as most of the treasures were small things such as stickers or pencils, but it was still a blast!
There are so many more activities we take part in throughout the fall and winter, and I will be working with Kamik over the course of the next few months to prove that their boots are up to the test that our long, cold winter season brings. So far, they have easily passed every test we have thrown their way and I can’t wait to start seeing that snow on the ground! I know, I’m a monster.
Disclosure: My family members were provided Kamik boots for participating in this campaign. To discover Kamik’s latest collection for yourself, visit www.kamik.com.
The Greatest Winter Jacket Ever Made!
I don’t do many reviews on the blog anymore, opting for a more humourous editorial style approach, but Dickies Canada recently sent me their Dickies Pro™ Glacier Extreme Puffer jacket to try out and I urgently need to talk about it. I will begin by sharing something completely honest. When I saw the price of the jacket was $79.99 I immediately discounted it as a viable winter option.
Whether it be skating on the outdoor rink, tobagganing or building snow forts, we spend a lot of time outside during the winter, so proper protection from the cold is a must. My new jacket arrived on one of the colder days we’ve had so far this winter so I decided to give it a go on one of our many trips to the tobaggan hill. To be totally transparent here, I brought along my expensive, bulky winter coat just in case the Dickies jacket didn’t do the trick but, spoiler alert, it never left the van and hasn’t been worn since.
Within 15 minutes of getting to the hill I was so warm that I had to unzip my new Dickies puffer jacket to cool off. If I had to describe the feeling, I’d say it was like bringing summer to a winter party. As an active winter outdoorsman, I love how thin the Dickies Pro™ Glacier Extreme Puffer jacket is because it allows me the flexibility to do things like wiping out while surfing on my tobaggan, wiping out on the ice while trying ridiculous deke moves against 8 year olds and wiping out while walking my kids to school when my car doesn’t start because why would it start it’s only -25° outside and everyone wants to walk 20 minutes in that weather… Sorry, this morning was a little rough.
All that to say that while I don’t do reviews anymore, I am in love with my new Dickies Puffer jacket and would highly recommend that you give it a shot before spending $300 on a bulky ski jacket that won’t even keep you as warm as this one. Oh, also, the toque I’m wearing in the above photo is from Dickies Canada as well and is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn on my head since that time my husky decided to share my pillow with me one night 10 years ago.
You can check out all the great products that Dickies Canada has to offer by heading to the Dickies Canada website and browsing their selection. They have everything from vests to jeans and everything you need to feel comfortable during the harsh winter weather. I only have these two items to base my opinion on at the moment but if the rest of their gear is anything like this we are going to have a long and happy relationship!
*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post but Dickies didn’t ask me to review the jacket, I just loved it so much that I went in that direction. Go buy this jacket, now!*
The Hypocrisy Of The Foot Pic
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that I am not a huge fan of the pictures of other people’s feet that seem to invade my internet feed on a daily basis. I could never figure out what it was about a picture of a foot that made anyone think, “I need to share this amazing foot picture for all the world to see!”. For the longest time I was beating on the #NoFeetPics drum…until now.
You see, I recently agreed to work with one of my favourite stores in Mark’s on their #ForAllWalks campaign, which required me to try out some shoes from their new line. Being someone who has never owned a really nice pair of sandals I was excited that Mark’s had their Merrell Kahuna III Sandal on the availability list. Once the sandals arrived my wife correctly pointed out that in order to properly discuss them, I was going to have to take a picture of me wearing them… A FOOT PIC, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
I quickly started running through alternative options in my head. I got away with it in my first post by pretending to use them to swat at wasps, which I did actually do. Then I thought, socks and sandals, but I think we can all agree from the cover photo that this is a way worse option. I came to the conclusion that the only way I can come out of this with my head held high is to do the thing that I have been railing against for years.
The bright side to this conclusion is that I really love the Merrell Kahuna III Sandal so if I have to post a picture of my feet, I’m happy to do it while wearing them. Side note before we get to the finished product, these are truly the most comfortable and versatile sandals I have ever owned and have become my go to footwear whenever we are running out of the house to go play outside. Alright, without further ado, I present to you a picture of my feet!
I’d like to thank Mark’s for including me in their #ForAllWalks campaign. All of the shoes I had the chance to try out have been amazing and have really opened my eyes to the importance of investing in good shoes. I highly encourage you all to head on over to the Mark’s website and check out what they have to offer. You can also interact with the Mark’s social channels by visiting them at their Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages!
Disclosure: I was compensated for my participation in this program but I truly dislike all of the feet pics that have infiltrated the internet. I mean, they’re feet, people! Feet!!!!