Current Events, Health & Fitness, Northwest Indiana Mom Blog

I am not an overly adventurous, outdoorsy type person.  I don’t mind the outdoors, in fact I prefer fresh air and sunshine, I just don’t like some of the things that come with it.

Creepy-crawlies.

Snakes.

Mosquitoes.

Wasps.

Ticks.

Lions.

And tigers.

And bears.

….you get the idea.

And I used to be so afraid of some of these things I would totally avoid anything that might bring me a chance encounter with any of them.  But not anymore.  I think as you get older you become less concerned about the things that go bump in the night, or at least are able to set aside the irrational fear and try it.  At least once anyway.  I’ve done plenty of things that I will never, ever do again but at least I tried them once to know that I didn’t like it.

One of the things that people seem to be afraid of doing is zip lining, and I’ve done it 3 times so far and it really is a lot of fun.

My latest zip lining adventures was near Pensacola, Florida at our latest Brandcation Event: Bloggers Gone Coastal at a place called Adventures Unlimited.  And zip lining wasn’t the only thing we did, we went tubing as well.  Which, in hindsight, is one of those things I probably will never do again, but at least I did it and I enjoyed myself.  Sorta.  When I wasn’t too busy scanning the shore for snakes and the water for fish, not to mention the dragonfly (that was a big as a cat) that landed on my head and wouldn’t leave.  But if you like those sorts of things (I named the dragonfly Ted since he clearly wanted to be my friend), you’ll have a good time.

Our day at Adventures Unlimited started with our group of 32 women being broken up into smaller groups for ziplining.  Set amid the state forest surrounding fresh springs and Coldwater River, Adventures Unlimited allows you to soar through the air on a Canopy Zip Line with tours for every level of adventure.    Since I had already been zip lining before, I pretty much knew what to expect and really just could relax and enjoy myself.

And having these two young, handsome gentlemen as our guides helped too.

Brenden and Michael (despite my being old enough to be their mother) were sweet and funny and seemed very concerned about safety and making sure everyone had a good time.

The second half of our day was dedicated to a tubing adventure down Coldwater River.  The trip is roughly a 3 1/2 hour leisurely float down the river, but honestly if you are not prepared for a strenuous adventure, I found it to be more physically demanding than zip lining.  I had fun because of the people I was with, but they warn you it is not for someone who isn’t prepared for a wildness experience, and I do agree with that.

photo courtesy of: http://www.kidsumers.ca/

Overall we had a blast at Adventures Unlimited.  The staff was super friendly and helpful, their small store has almost everything you need if you come unprepared (they even had water shoes, waterproof bags, snacks, underwater cameras and more) and the facilities and park were beautiful and ideal for an outdoor adventure.

More information about Adventures Unlimited:

Canoe, Tube, Kayak, Ropes Course …

Discover the FUN of outdoor adventure!

Adventures Unlimited offers  Canoeing, Kayaking, Tubing, and Camping  along Coldwater Creek past secluded, sugar white sandbars, through Blackwater River State Forest of Northwest Florida .  Zip on the canopy tour, on Zip Adventures (www.floridaziplineadventures.com) at Adventures Unlimited’s Coldwater Creek Headquarters near Milton, Florida. Rent a cabin or cottage, spend a weekend in the Adventures Unlimited campground.

I remember the first thing I did after I found out I was pregnant for the first time.

Well, first I panicked, then I bought a book.

You know…THE book.

The book that every pregnant or once pregnant woman refers to every day during those 9 months.

“What to Expect When You’re Expecting”

This wildly popular book now has a movie based on it – “What to Expecting When You’re Expecting” is only in theaters starting on May 18th.

I don’t know about you, but personally for me, painting my kid’s nurseries and finding just the right colors to create our dream nursery was a daunting task and something I didn’t take lightly.  In the movie What to Expect When You’re Expecting (only in theaters), a couple picks out paint colors for their baby’s new nursery. Find paint colors that you and your little one will love with Glidden® Brilliance Collection™ Paint, available at Walmart.

There are so many amazing color choices out there, but Glidden® wants to make your life a little easier by providing you with some tools and resources to create your dream nursery.

Dream Nursery Interactive Widget

The interactive widget below offers a series of questions that will help lead you to just the right color scheme that fits your (and your baby’s) personality and lifestyle.  Simply answer the questions and at the end the widget will provide you with some color palettes that best fit according to the way you answered the questions.

A full version of this nursery quiz can also be found on My Colortopia.  My Colortopia is powered by Glidden® Paint and consists of a team of bloggers who are knowledgeable in painting and home decorating D.I.Y.  The Colortopia team shares their expertise and advice on their blog and in an advice column.  They not only help you choose the right colors for your project, they give you advice to get your through the entire process to create a room you will love.  They also provide practical advice on things you might not have considered that may affect your color decision such as this great article: Do Nursery Colors Affect Sleep Habits.

Dream Nursery Mood Boards

In order to help announce the inclusion of Glidden® Paint in the new movie, Glidden® is giving away a dream nursery!  The winner will receive a $2,500 Walmart gift card to furnish and paint the nursery of their dreams.

To help inspire you, three of the Colortopia Team bloggers recently created mood boards for a dream nursery using Glidden® Brilliance Collection™ Paint and other products from Walmart.  You can see the mood boards on the My Colortopia site with a key that contains a link to each product used on the Walmart website.  Lindsay’s board is my favorite because it’s fun and full of bright colors and patterns and animal characters.

Lindsay's Mood Board

The other two mood boards are great too, take a look:

Nicole's Mood Board

Melissa's Mood Board

Which one is your favorite?

Enter to Win a Dream Nursery

You can enter to win a $2,500 Walmart Gift Card that you can use to buy paint, furnishings such as a crib and other necessities, bedding and everything else you need to create a dream nursery that you and your new addition will enjoy for many years to come.

To enter visit the Sweepstakes page on Circle of Moms.

• One winner will receive a $2,500 Walmart Gift Card
• 50 entrants will receive Color Tester Packages featuring two hues from the Glidden® Brilliance Top Nursery Color Collection

The giveaway runs now through June 7, 2012 and the winner will be announced during the week of June 18th on MyColortopia.com.

For more information about the contest and to see Lindsay, Nicole and Melissa’s dream nursery mood boards with links to the exact products they selected from Walmart, visit: Enter the My Dream Nursery Giveaway!.

Our Brandcation Event kicked off with a bang on Friday May 4th with what we called the Blogger Beach Olympics.

The activity was a series of fun “ice breaker” type events on the beach and across the resort property we were staying at and was sponsored by Jambu Footwear.  There were 4 teams representing each of the 4 condos we were staying at during Brandcation.  My team was called “The Ladybugs” (thanks to my daughter) and we had the wings to prove it.

We had the following events:

• Scavenger hunt across the resort grounds
• Sand castle building contest (of the White House)
• Raft relay race
• Hula hoop contest
• Hula outfit relay race

These activities really were a lot of fun (especially to watch) and I think it helped make this group made up of many strangers get to feel comfortable around each other in very short order.

While my team did not win the entire event, we did come in first in the scavenger hunt, because…well, ladybugs clearly possess superior intelligence.

They borrowed a cart AND a driver.

photo courtesy of: http://www.kidsumers.ca/

The 4 team leaders (Trisha, Lynsey, Nicole and myself – see this post – Brandcation: Bloggers Gone Coastal) remained on the 11th floor of one of the condos and got to watch the four teams (each wearing different colored shirts) scavenge across the resort and it really was hysterical to watch, especially the golf cart zooming in and out of different areas with wings flapping in the wind.

Thank you Jambu for your support of our event, the Blogger Beach Olympics was truly memorable, right down to the prizes!

Yes.

That’s a sheep.

Long story.

In addition to sponsoring this activity, Jambu provided tote bags that came in very handy for our swag.

Make sure you check out Jambu on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s been a bit quiet around here lately because we have been planning our latest Brandcation blogger meetup event that took place in Pensacola, FL last weekend (May 4-6).  It’s been a crazy few months organizing and coordinating leading up to the big event and I have to say that each one seems to be even better than the last!

I’m working on sharing some details, sponsors and great photos with you but I wanted to start out with my favorite photo from the event so far.

Below is a shot of the four of us who worked very hard to make the event happen, Nicole, Lynsey, myself and Trisha – from left to right.

Stay tuned for much more from Brandcation: Bloggers Gone Coastal!

Toby is sad at bedtime having to say goodnight to Abby.  After only a week he already knows the routine and I think he misses her at night.