Family Hike

You make the announcement on a sunny Saturday morning, “Let’s go for a Family Hike!”  The support pours in immediately, ‘do we have to’, ‘it’s cold out there’, ‘how long will we be gone?’  Kids! 

Thankfully I get to play my Mom card and today I have decided we are going on a Family Hike so that is what we shall do!  Coats, hats, mitts, boots, splash pants on and the whole family is in the car for the 5 minute drive to the trails.  I know they will love this.  ‘How long is the drive?’, ‘where are we going?’,  ‘why do we have to go?’, 'are we there yet?'  They are really looking forward to this.

Funny thing is, they have a blast.  The day is gorgeous and surprise, surprise, Mom is right.  A Family Hike is just what we all needed.  The trail was a new one for us and the kids loved exploring.  We found ice on the path into the trails, a bridge across a small creek, boulders to climb, a ladder to get up a huge embankment, a stump to sit on, a log to climb on and sunlight bouncing off the snow at the top of our climb.  The kids collected sticks, threw makeshift snowballs, chased each other, chased us, climbed, slid and laughed.

Sometimes, you need to nudge everyone out of the house to get some exercise in the crisp winter air but I'm pretty confident once you let them loose on the trails, they will be happy they were so eager to go! I say when it comes to Family Hikes, Mom knows best.  Get outside and have some fun.

     

The Ultimate Family Photo!

 If your kids are like mine, they cringed when I announce we are going for family photo's. Sometimes I am convinced they sabotage the session on purpose thinking I'll cancel it, when in reality it just makes the fun go on for much longer than anyone likes!

I am a huge fan of family photo's.  We take them at Christmas, in the Summer, in the Fall, at birthdays, on the ski slopes, at the beach, at the park. . . you get the idea.  My kids roll their eyes, grumble under their breath and eventually smile pretty for gorgeous memories I am positive they will thank me for one day!

However, at our most recent photo shoot, I did not need to beg smiles out of them.  They were all over the family photo shoot when I told them their props would included climbing ropes, our warehouse, ski's, pretty dance costume and a goofy expression!

You see, you have not had an ultimate family photo until you have met Justin Van Leeuwen! I was introduced to Justins work via another very unique family photo of Julie Coles family of 8. Thinking my family wasn't large enough to qualify (only 5) I starting chatting with Justin on Facebook and Twitter.  I was in the market for not just any family photo, but one that showed the real us.  No pretty clothes and cute matching shoes, no studio, no fake smiles. The criteria was: it had to show our family, our personalities, our business and tell our story.

Justin was the perfect photographer for the job.  It began innocently with me sending Justin photos of our business space, links to our websites, blog post about our family, and a few shots of the kids to help him get to know us.  Then Julie Cole visited our office and sent a silly tweet about how great a photo would be of the kids climbing the racks of IronKids & Adult Essentials Gummy Vitamins in our back warehouse.  Justin's light bulbs started firing and The Lowther Race to the Finish photo was born.

It took only 6 hours of shooting which included 2 hours of arranging vitamins, 1 hour of wardrobe changes, 30 minutes of suspending one child by ropes and harness, 20 minutes of fan blowing, 1 finish line, 1 bike, 1 pair of running shoes, 1 pair of ski's, 1 pair of skates, 1 fork lift, 1 amazing assistant and a few hundred photos.

I hope you love our new family photo as much as we do.  I don't think it needs explanation.  It is us. Our family, our business, our story, our passions, our fun side.

Here are my photos of shooting day. Below is the amazing finish product.  What do you think?

For the photographers own summary of our amazing day, visit jvlphoto.com

Our Family 2011

For more on our family business, visit our Iron-Kids website.

Fitting it in!

I was lucky, I was raised in an active family and as result, I have always understood the importance of a healthy lifestyle. It has always been important, but it hasn't always been easy. In University I had other priorities, after my knee surgery it wasn't possible, for 6 months while pregnant and recovering from baby #1’s c-section it wasn't advised . . .then baby #2, then there was baby #3! It has been a struggle to find time to get out running through the years, but I kept at it, started over many times, and now I am a proud Mom with healthy active kids!

I have the same busy life all moms do with kids, a husband who travels and a work from home office with a great view, but no child care! Getting out my front door without kids is very tricky. Over the years I have gotten quite creative! I will run to my child’s soccer game while the rest of the family goes in the van, when I drop a kid at a birthday party I run around the neighbourhood until I can pick her up again. On days I used to work in an office, I would run on my lunch hour and then sit at my desk a little sweaty all afternoon! Any alone time I saw in my schedule, I put on my running shoes! My husband & I hire a babysitter for an hour so we can bike or run together. My running happens because it has always been my priority. I find as moms with long to do lists, we tend to put the workout at the bottom. We have to make our health a priority to find windows of time in our busy days.

Three of my proudest achievements after the birth of my 3 children, is crossing a ½ marathon finish line with my husband and each of our daughters in a jogging stroller when they were just 8 months old!!

We signed up for the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll ½ Marathon happening 7 hours away and just 8 months after the birth of our first daughter. I did whatever I had to to get in those runs. I started with the run/walk with her in the jogging stroller for 3km and once I could run 3km without stopping, I added 5 minutes every weekend. Within a few months I was running 2hrs and ready to try my first ½ marathon. Race day was not the funnest 2 1/2 hrs in the rain, but we did it and my baby has a finish line photo and medal on display in our house.

12 months later I had my 2^nd baby girl and my elaborate training program started again! This time it was a bit trickier to fit in runs as I was not a double stroller kind of girl!! Eight months later my husband and I crossed the finish line at the Ottawa ½ marathon and she too has a finish line photo and medal hanging in our house.

Then we had baby #3 . . when the heck would I ever run again?! We committed to the Quebec ½ marathon just 8 months after her birth. I got up early, I ran in the cold, I ran when I was tired and I ran when I would have rather sat and had breakfast with my family. I took my babies to the local YMCA and put them in programs and babysitting so I could run on a treadmill. We crossed that finish line in our best time yet with our 3^rd daughter and she too has a medal and finish line photo.

I proudly display my babies photos and medals and talk to them often about how great they were in those races. I want my daughters to see the rewards of setting a goal and following through and to understand that it takes dedication and effort. My kids are 5, 7 and 9 and have already done their first triathlon and two family 5km runs . . . we are a truly an active family!

It is a priority to be a healthy mom, a healthy role model for my girls and to raise healthy kids . . . I am committed to it, even if it means I have to run to swimming lessons!

How do you fit in exercise?