Family + Home |

Fall Family Strategy: Get Outside (And Dress Accordingly)

This blog post is in partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods. This post is not sponsored, but I did receive store credit in exchange for sharing on the blog. I hope you enjoy this post as much as I enjoyed creating it!

As the cold and rainy season moves in, figuring out how to survive a COVID/quarantine winter has been top of mind for me. Summer made living in a quarantine relatively easy because we could do so much outside. But now, the warm days are gone, replaced with clouds and cold temps. Normally, the Oregon winter drives me indoors, save a few dog walks, but this year I am vowing to do things differently.

COVID has changed how I view so much, and one thing is my perspective on the outdoors. For too long I have taken living in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for granted. However, right now, the outdoors is the #1 option our family has for doing anything fun outside the house. And this mom is determined to find a way to make it work.

There’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing, right? I think that’s how the expression goes. We just need the right layers.

I recently sat in on a Dick’s Sporting Good’s virtual event showcasing the new styles they carry, and I was surprised to see their offerings were broader than I expected. I always thought of them as a camping, or sports place (which they are), but they also have lots of good-looking coats, warm weather layers, and shoes for the whole family. And there are even sustainable options too! They carry an extensive collection of Patagonia items in youth and adult sizes, Danner boots of all sorts, prAna, Birkenstocks, and even Dr. Martens and Levi’s! I had no idea.

Needless to say, it’s a super easy place to shop for a whole family’s cold weather needs. I helped my kids pick out jackets online. My daughters chose some from the Portland-based brand Columbia Sportswear, and my son got the cutest (and warmest!) Carhartt Jacket. I added youth Carhatt beanies for them (which happen to be made in the USA!). To make things easy, Dick’s offers 1-hour curbside pickup, which means if your item is in stock at a local store you can pick it up the same day (without getting out of your car!). And for those of you workout buffs, the local store I went to had a curved barbell in stock and an amazing squat rack. By the looks of their website, some other stores have weights in stock too.

The biggest takeaway for me was learning that Dick’s has a vast selection of technical and stylish items, which is RIGHT up my alley. You guys know I’m all about clothes that are stylish and functional for real life. And since my real life now consists of finding fun outdoors, I find I’m more likely to get outside and hit local hiking trails if I like what I’m wearing. Let me show you what I picked out from Dick’s to keep myself warm.

As I mentioned, Dick’s has a large Patagonia selection, and I was very excited about this corduroy and flannel puffer coat. It’s super warm (600 fill power!) and made with recycled down. The jacket plus my beanie made me nice and toasty on our hike (and subsequent outings already!). I also opted for this little fanny pack because who wants to carry a purse when you’re busy exploring?!

Mr. Seasons got a matching Carhartt jacket to our son. Or maybe it was the other way around?! My little guy hates wearing coats, so it helps to have Dad wearing a similar one.

Back to my resolution to be outdoors (which my husband shares with me). Last weekend we headed to Hoyt Arboretum to see the fall colors and brave the brisk temps. Side note: face masks make great face warmers! Mr. Seasons and I wore ours too but took them off for photos.

It’s truly amazing what being outdoors does for everyone’s spirits. Something about being under the open sky makes the kids feel freer and I feel more at ease.

We are currently brainstorming a list of local hikes to hit this fall and winter. I’d like to get to the coast and show the kids Ft. Stevens, I think they’d enjoy the history. I also came across this very comprehensive list of hikes, and can’t wait to tackle some of them!

One silver lining of this Covid era: we might just become more outdoorsy people, and I am excited about that.

6 thoughts on “Fall Family Strategy: Get Outside (And Dress Accordingly)

  1. Absolutely know what you mean about this being the year of the outdoors! I’ve taken more walks than ever before in 2020. I need to get up to Hoyt Arboretum ASAP – thanks for the reminder of this little gem :)

    1. Same Stacy, same! Walks are the big entertainment around these parts. Thank goodness it’s so pretty outside right now!

  2. We just moved from California to the Midwest (it’s snowed already!) so I had to do a big winter gear haul! Having the right clothes made all the difference to being outside in the cold weather!

Comments are closed.