Getting Active As a Family

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Did you know August is Health Awareness month? There are a lot of reasons that I’m sure you’ve heard a thousand times to stay aware of your health, and I’ve been making an effort to eat healthier and be more active in my every day lives.

We’ve always loved getting outdoors with our boys. It’s so good for them to run and explore the wild, and gets me moving way more than I do when they play inside. This week for family night we took the boys hiking at a nature trail. It runs along a creek with remnants of old bridges from the Civil War and has huge exposed rock faces; it’s breath taking. We’ve really been trying to do more active things for family activities and I’m surprised we haven’t taken them there before.

As part of our outing, we wanted to pack a little picnic we could enjoy while we relaxed on the shoals. We’ve gone to Sam’s Club before to shop for outdoor adventures supplies like Kayak paddles and life jackets, but this time we ran in to grab some healthy food to take along. They’ve got everything you could possibly want for healthier living, from sneakers and running clothes to vitamins, to great produce and more. They even are doing free health screenings on September 12^th which is a great opportunity to get re-motivated about being healthy (I know I can always use more motivation).

We were so lucky that the weather was nice Tuesday evening. It’s the first day that’s been cool in a long time, and while I’m not ready to say goodbye to summer yet, I did love the cool breeze. We hiked our way down to the creek, and then unpacked our dinner and tried to get the boys to eat before running off to play. I packed chicken salad sandwiches that were so easy to throw together with Sam’s Club’s premade Chicken Salad and their bakery’s croissants. I threw in apples and bananas for everyone and cheese sticks for the boys and we were good to go. Lightweight, easy to carry, and not bad for you. I made sure to pack plenty of waters too; this pregnancy I can tell a huge difference between when I’m well hydrated or not.

Once they were done eating, we splashed in the creek, threw leaves and branches in to watch them float away and just let the boys wander around and explore.

We ended our evening with a way-too-close-for-comfort encounter with a Copperhead which reminded me why we probably haven’t played down here before. Thank goodness for spotting it, and Brandon having lightening reflexes grabbing them away. That’s another good reason I want to stay in great shape- if we’re gonna be an outdoorsy family, I’ve got to be in good enough shape, even pregnant, to protect my kids from danger. Lately I’ve been browsing Sam’s Clubs’ Healthy Living Made Simple Magazine for more ideas on how to stay active and healthy. It’s got awesome articles on everything related to active lifestyles and healthy living, even articles on things like how to help your baby like the water (which can be a lot harder than you think). I want to incorporate a lot more of their food tips into our weeks, since that’s one of the easiest things to control in your families health, and we have definitely not been eating the most healthy since we’ve been so busy moving in and un-packing.

We’re always looking for more ideas of how to stay active and healthy, let me know in the comments what has worked for your family and check out the Healthy Living Made Simple Magazine to get inspired to improve your way of living!