Happy Healthy Family - Take a Hike

My husband and I have decided to put a little more effort into doing things as a family.  From here on out, the weekends and holidays that the kids spend with us, we will carve out some time to do something active together.  Or at least something that stimulates the mind, body and/or spirit.

Our first attempt occurred this past weekend.  My kids were anxious to test out the gear we purchased for our New Mexico trip, so we decided to go hiking.  A quick google search for "Bergen County hiking" led us to the Palisades Park website and a list of moderate rated trails.  We chose Carpenter's Loop I - a 2.5 mile hike on even terrain with just one rocky descent - as our first official family hike.  All went really well and boy was I tired when we got home, the kids slept like rocks that night too. 

Packed some portable snacks in our Camelbacks and a cooler for the car where we would enjoy lunch afterwards.

Of course, I lugged my camera along.

My goofy tourists.

Some views.

The hikers.

The wildlife.

Sustenance.

I'd love to use these posts as a way to inspire each other to try something new or to get out there and spend some time with the ones more dear to us.

Tell me, what are your family adventures like?  Do you have set times when your family does things together?

Food Fest - New Mexico

The fam and I are planning to hit up New Mexico for our next vacation.  Preliminary deets and some really pretty New Mexico photos available here - New Mexico trip.  If all things go as planned, we will be heading out west in August.

Of course, being that eats are one of the most important parts of any trip, I'm asking all my lovely readers for any dining suggestions out in that neck of the woods.  Most of our trip will be centered around Santa Fe and Albuquerque (I will never get that spelling correct and it will always make me think of Bugs Bunny), but we also hope to head south to White Sands National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns.

For now I know we need to have huevos rancheros for breakfast, try out pizza with blue corn dough, and indulge in some sopapillas and indian fry bread.  That's all we have at the moment.

Lisa from Respect the Shoes was nice enough to give me some great places in Albuquerque, but the more the merrier.  In return, I promise to post a day by day report of our New Mexico eats upon our return so you can all drool over the yummy goodness.  Hello chiles!

So, ya got anything for me?