Geeky moms and dads need to leave the house too, right? While I love seeing you here on the blog, I want you to get fresh air and sunshine. If you need someone to give you some points for your effort, try one of these apps to gamify your outings. Geo-location apps turn walks with baby into a scavenger hunt. Nerdy parents will love to use foursquare, ingress, or geocaching apps to take their love of video games into the great outdoors.

1. foursquare. For adults with or without kids, wherever you go.
   Use your phone to “check in” to various real-world places whenever you arrive. If you visit one place often enough, you will become the mayor. You can also earn badges of honor for achieving different milestones in the game such as checking in 10 times in a day or going to 5 different movie theaters. Using the social features, you can find out which of your friends is nearby, share tips with each other, and leave photographs of your experience. I don’t know why I’m soooo very into it; there’s no practical application (aside from my documented obsession of data for its own sake!). As of this writing, I have more than 3,000 check-ins and a dozen mayorships.
   Get foursquare in the iTunes app store or Google play store.
2. Geocaching. For parents and kids alike, exploring for treasure.
   Use your phone (or an old fashioned website) to find hidden caches of miniature bits and bobs. I’ll admit that I’ve never done this, but I think it sounds really fun for just the right sort of geeky family. Shiloh tells us all about geocaching with her big pregnant belly and little infant sidekick and Whitney describes her family’s experience with geocaching including some smartphone apps.
   This Groundspeak Geocaching app is about $10 in either the iTunes app store or the Google play store but comes highly recommended.
3. Ingress. For parents and big kids, capturing specific locations.
   For Android phone users only, Ingress is an “augmented reality” game where you have to walk to different “portals” in your area/town. These portals are actually real landmarks, sculptures, and other public, historic or artistic sites, that you may never have noticed before. The goal is to capture these portals for your team, and link them together. The game requires you to be physically near these locations, so it gets you out walking and seeing new and unique landmarks in your local area. The game theme is pretty nerdy though: the two teams are the Enlightenment, who are welcoming new alien technology to the earth, and the Resistance, who are against the aliens. You choose either side to begin, and then your allegiance doesn’t change. My husband and eight year-old go walking for hours each weekend to play this game.
   Request an invite at http://www.ingress.com.

These are the geo apps we’re using. Do you have a geeky guilty pleasure that gets you out into the real world? Do tell!

His first Easter, four-month old Julian slept through the whole thing, but when he got his first taste of modern American celebrations of this holiday, Julian never looked back. Since he is not actually Christian, his experience of Easter was limited to the hunting of plastic and hard-boiled eggs. And hunt he did.

It was so much fun, that I realized we should be doing this in the backyard whenever boredom strikes. The more the merrier, so this might be something to suggest when your relatives are visiting. A little fresh air is good for everyone.

So the activity of the day is to conduct an age-appropriate treasure hunt for pre-verbal toddlers.

Materials needed:
- three or four of the same object, such as golf balls, tennis balls, or plastic eggs. (We use lemons from our backyard tree).
- small gift bag
How to do it:
- Place objects in a grassy area in plain view.
- Hold a small gift bag on behalf of your little scavenger.
- Announce the hunt: “Let’s go find some golf balls!”
- Model the desired behavior: “I found a ball – now I’ll put it in the bag!”
- Help child “find” another object and place it in the bag.
- When child is not watching, take “found” object and toss it from the bag back onto the grass for more finding fun.
- Practice this exercise periodically so that when Easter rolls around next year, your toddler will be kicking butt and taking names.

My middle school ex-boyfriend, Neil, is now a rookie dad to a toddler (ain’t facebook great?). He likes to take his son, Graham, out in the Burley trailer for coffee dates. Neil drinks the coffee while Graham sips his leche.

Neil reports:

Even in the fun Portland winter weather, I like to take Graham out as much as I can. He’s recently been asking to go for rides in the Burley, so I take him to a coffee shop that’s ~1.5 miles away. He usually falls asleep, but didn’t yesterday. We did that trip again today. 3 for 3 now. We’ll see what he does tomorrow.

Don’t underestimate the power of sitting and sipping your normal beverages in a special place. I used to watch parents of toddlers serve their sons little demitasse cups of foamy or whipped milk at our corner cafe. Adorable. And sometimes free!

The baby version of this activity is Pretend You’re in Paris.

Sometimes you just gotta get out of the house. We say it all the time. You might not really want to, but if its noon and you haven’t showered yet or if it’s 4pm and you’ve been rattling around your cage all day, IT IS TIME. I’m getting stir crazy on your behalf.

Armed with a little one and a stroller, here are five super duper easy activities to do right NOW (and please girl, if the baby is crying, just push through, $5 says he’ll chill out once you get rolling):

1. Take a sensory tour of the neighborhood. Stop and smell the roses and crinkle the trash beneath your feet. Enjoy a baby’s eye view of the world. And chill the eff out.
2. Walk or run your errands. Put on your jogging shoes and make it all the way to the post office or take-out restaurant. Impressive, you just got something done!
   [Preschooler variation to engage cooperation: go huntin']
3. Take a walk on the wild side. Rather than strolling your usual haunts, seek out the bizarro sights and sites. Take photos.
4. Pretend you’re in Paris. Is your baby small enough that you could enjoy cafe culture without whining? Go for it.
5. Scope out some big wheels. This activity is perfect for those vehicle-lovers out there. Can you park in front of a construction site and entertain your kid? For how long?

All you need for these mini adventures is a small child with age-appropriate carrier and yourself. Report back on your success stories or botched attempts! Now, git.

We asked Christie Mellor, author of The Three-Martini Playdate and the new Fun Without Dick and Jane, to suggest an activity for rookie moms. Put the fun back in some of your routine outings by “going hunting” with your toddler or preschooler. Here’s how:

You want to spend a nice morning with your baby, but you need to sneak in a few errands too? It’s time to go hunting! Going Hunting is much easier if you can walk, so choose a few errands that are in walking distance of your house or apartment, if possible. Insert baby into a sling or front carrier — or a stroller if it’s easier — and head out.

Describe to your child in enthusiastic tones that you are Going Hunting, and as you start down the street, tell your child that you are hunting for… Buses!! When you see your first bus, point to the bus while exclaiming excitedly that you found a bus. A bus! Get them all hopped up about the bus. Bus! Bus! Dang, a bus! Big bus! Yay, for the brave bus!

Repeat the exercise with the next bus you see, until you notice your child making similarly rowdy noises the moment he spots a bus. Jeez, it’s a bus! Can you believe it? It’s a freakin’ bus, did you see the size of that thing? Whoa! That is some bus. Bus! You may hear only squeals and gurgles, but trust me, your child is simply astounded at the bus he has spotted.

So you head to your little neighborhood park, and announce that you are hunting for…squirrels. Squirrels! Holy cow, check out that furry squirrel! Park benches, ducks, trees, pigeons, you can go hunting for anything that you know you will be seeing a lot of. If you’re on a city street, you might hunt for red cars, or tow trucks, garbage trucks, more pigeons.

Eventually, you may need your child to enthusiastically help you track down a grocery store, so that you can pick up a few necessary items, and of course after all that excitement you may need help hunting down a nice cup of coffee for yourself (and maybe an apple juice or a biscuit for your hunting buddy.) Happy Hunting!

Thanks to Christie for sharing her activity with us. Find out more about what Christie is up to on ChristieMellor.com, pre-order her new book on Amazon, or read my enthusiastic sleep-deprived book review of her last book (when Milo was a newborn).

[Photo by John 'K' via flickr]

We’re happy to introduce guest blogger Beryl Young, a photographer and mom who is teaching a photography e-course, Radiate, launching this June 2012.

As a mom to an extremely busy and active 20 month old I know how tricky it can be to capture that perfect portrait of your kiddos outdoors in sunshine doing the things they love to do best. With summer breaks and family vacations right around the corner I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I always keep handy when it comes time for capturing those important family moments and memories.

1. Have a Plan. For best results, I make sure to have a location, time of day, and ”smile-maker” plan in mind BEFORE I start shooting (more on my “smile-maker” strategy later). Also, I need to know WHO is in the shot. If I’m in the picture, I’ll need a timer and a tripod at the ready. Or sometimes I host a photo playdate where we can take turns taking photos of each other.

2. Happy kids = Happy camera. I shoot at my kids’ happiest times of day to get the most natural smiles. Bribes can work wonders too. I have offered trips to a favorite ice cream shops, later bedtimes, extra TV, whatever it takes! Remind them of that special activity while you are taking the pictures.

1. Be creative with your ”smile-maker” plan – The smile maker is my collection of props and scenery that serve as a backdrop and entertain my child star. I like to use this time to work my creative magic!! I have so many fun ideas: Set up a lemonade stand in your front yard and capture photos of your little girl serving refreshments to all her friends; light a bonfire outside in the fire-pit before dark and take a photos of everyone toasting marshmallows and making s’mores; take a trip to the pool and capture your little one dipping his or her toes in the water for the very first time. For more inspiration, I like to browse pinterest.com and find unexpected ideas to style an activity. Once the plan is in motion, the kids are having so much fun playing that getting them to give a smile or two for the camera is a breeze.

4. Turn off the flash and find the light – Spending the day indoors chilling in the AC to beat the heat is no way to capture bright summery images. The pop-up flash on the camera often leaves kids looking ghostly and washed out. If I’m stuck inside, I enlist kids to help you find the room where natural light is best. Look for sunlight streaming in and use those places to your advantage. The best times of day for outdoor photos will be early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun isn’t directly overhead (and when it isn’t terribly sweltering either!). Before you click, check their faces and make sure you don’t see any hard sun or shadows.
   

5. Know when to call it quits – When the kids start throwing a tantrum or are getting bored and running you ragged it’s time to call it a day. Remember there’s always tomorrow if something doesn’t quite go as anticipated.
   

6. Have Fun!

If you’re looking for more tips, tricks, inspiration, and worksheets for planning your summer photo taking adventures I encourage you snag a copy of my Momtographer Tips and Tricks Guide or any of my other freebies available HERE. Happy snapping!

Guest blogger, Beryl Ayn Young, serves as chief photography muse over on her personal blog and serves as teacher of photography courses aimed at nourishing the mind, body, and soul. She believes feeding the spirit with lifelong learning, photographic healing, & a glass half full perspective. Beryl leads classes and offers mentoring aimed at teaching you how to improve your camera skills and cherish life’s journey. Come discover how photography + self exploration + editing techniques = a radiant new YOU during her upcoming photography e-course, Radiate, launching this June 2012.

Huge thanks to BOB for sending me a stroller to review.

My husband and I — well, mostly him — have been driving BOB jogging strollers for more than six years but this past month was our first time testing the BOB Revolution SE with the swivel wheel instead of just the straight wheel for running. And now I finally understand the difference.

The locked-in straight wheel allows you to run fast and far; you need to turn corners by lifting up the front; we have been huge fans of this for both real jogging and running errands outdoors. Alec used to run Holden to his nanny share throughout his very verbal toddler days.

The swivel wheel allows us to bring this comfy off-road powerhouse of a stroller to urban life and crowded places. It steers easily with one hand even around corners. The basket is a good size (though it gets blocked when baby reclines) and it looks comfy enough that I wish it came in my size. The BOB SE allows us to lock the swivel wheel in place when Alec or I are ready to run. Ok, I’m sorry, I am gushing.

At 8 months and change, Sawyer is barely old enough for a run so we haven’t tested that feature (ok the real excuse: we also have 2 other kids). We recently kept it in swivel mode and got all muddy on a family fun hike. I thought I picked an easy two-mile loop but it turns out that I’m not so good with trail maps. Whatever you do, do not tell Holden and Milo that we walked four and half miles through the heat and hills. I wasn’t totally sure that we’d all make it out in one piece, but Sawyer was loving it. And also sleeping for half the time despite the terrain.

Super chill on his family fun hike

Sound asleep on bumpy terrain

Last weekend, we braved the Maker Faire with the BOB. The stroller was a champ, nimble in tight places but perfect when we went off-road (in the grass) to dodge flaming dragons or noisy robots. I was surprised and impressed.

Note robots and crowds swarming

Protected and playing (should be sleeping)

+++

Disclosure: this amazing stroller review was sponsored by BOB who sent me one after I’d already purchased two on my own. Nice timing, BOB!

I started this list a long time ago (like when I had a toddler in my arsenal of boys) but decided to finish it in time for Earth Day a mere three years after I began writing it. Presenting five earth-friendly ways to spend time with your toddler:

1. Eat > Share a smoothie (Here’s another smoothie recipe to try)
2. Get dirty > Release ladybugs or start a butterfly garden
3. Invent > Upcycle cardboard boxes
4. Ride > Get there with a bike trailer
5. Splash > Put on your wellies and jump in the puddles

Please share your ideas in the comments!

Related: 5 super green baby activities

In a college photography class, Sue Tenerowicz was introduced to letter art. Her assignment that was to go out in the world and find letters that the world created.  Then spell something.

She says, “A simple idea, but the concept stuck with me.”

“I’ve always used words in pictures to send a special message. Sometimes, it was a message written in the snow, captured in a photo, and sent to a loved one. Other times it was an “I Love You,” written in the sand to capture a beautiful testament with a glowing sunset on the beach.”

“When my husband, Rob, and I moved back to the Bay Area with our boys, I started noticing the letters that were all around us – like the great H on the span of the Golden Gate Bridge. I kept seeing letters in everything from fences to flowers.  It brought me back to that college assignment.”

I want to do this with my kids! I think it would be so much fun to go out on hunts for letters in their names, snap photos and then print them out for a bulletin board or the door of their room. (Although I’m sort of envying my friends who named their kids Max and Ty right now. I don’t know if any of us have the attention span to seek out Julian and Scarlett.)

I used images from Sue's site to make Scarlett's name

Want to try this?
Here are three ways to go (the first being the most hands-on):

1. Take your children on amazing scavenger hunts until you find (and photograph!) all the letters. Print your photos and choose one of these multi-photo frames to display your masterpiece.
2. Find your letters on flickr using this fun tool. Print and frame.
3. Let Sue do all the work for you and buy your chosen word from her on her website SpellItOutPhotos.com

+++
Letter art not your thing? Choose another fun makin’ it project from our growing list.

After returning from a jaunt to Tahoe with his toddler, Ainslie, our friend Doug gave me tips on fun stuff to do in the snow. (That’s right old friends, I’m embarrassed to admit it but snow is something we visit out here — not endure. And we “jaunt”).

For the baby set:
Walk around with Bjorn and congratulate yourself for being active.

Sharon reports:

We would have normally planned to go snow shoeing or skiing and planned a romantic dinner out. But we spent our time walking around the village, shopping a little, having a nice dinner, going for a long walk, and taking lots of pictures of Ainslie.

Our friends, Doug and Sharon, are total bad-asses. So, when they recommend to take it easy with your rookie baby, you should listen.

Last year, Whitney and I did their 22 mile charity bike ride and were proud to complete it. Sharon did the whole thing 6 months pregnant while Doug had a 30-pound toddler in the bike trailer.

Since my New Year’s resolution every year since Julian was born has been to walk 10,000 steps a day, and so far I have failed miserably, I have a new piece of advice for myself. I should be doing as many errands as I can on foot. I did so much better when I was on maternity leave and then when I was working 4-hour days. Now, I’m not doing nearly as much walking.

If you are reading this looking for a suggestion for the day, this is it: Run errands. For reals, girls, run them. Ok, walk if you’re not a runner. Put the kid in the stroller, backpack or front carrier and head out the door to the place you need to go. If it’s within two miles, this is a reasonable feat. For most of us, however, I’d guess we can get food or necessities less than two miles from home. We can do it. If you do it, come back here and brag. I’ll give you a virtual pat on the back. This is your 49th rookie mom challenge.

P.S. If you live up in the hills, you can drive to the bottom of the hill and start from there.

This challenge, your 48th, goes out to all the urban mamas who need a scavenger hunt for the day.

Take a picture of your baby in front of graffiti – as explained by Dutch, the dad who writes on Sweet Juniper. He has an awesome set of Flickr photos that inspired us to do this. We set out to find the best graffiti in Berkeley and packed up the boys and our cameras. Now, we have to get really brave and try all four five kids!

Please share your attempts here in our comments or on the Rookie Moms Facebook page. If you have any tips on getting your kid to stay put while you take the pictures, let’s hear them.

Your baby too young? Choose another challenge.