Family Adventures with Bale Breaker

No matter who you are, becoming a parent will change you.
But I am a firm believer that change can always be for the better – you just
have to make it so. When our son, Ryder, came into our lives, we treated it
just as such; he was becoming a part of OUR life of adventure, and we were
determined to share this lifestyle with our new munchkin once he was born.

Over the past year and a half since he arrived, we have been
on countless adventures. On days that we can stay on the mellow side of life,
we take Ryder with us; to show him new places and experiences and to try to
teach him patience as well. When our work or goals are more extreme-focused,
Ryder stays with his grandparents while Andy and I head off together as a
couple, just like we used to prior to becoming parents.

Andy and I both work full-time, and although it can be very
tough to juggle everything at times, we split the responsibilities of our
little munchkin and our crazy work schedules instead of using daycare. 90% of
the time I can work from my home office, alongside 3 very energetic “helpers”:
Ryder, Lukos (our old, wise dog) and Chopper (our not so wise, but very sweet,
Puppy) – Which is awesome, but can also be an absolute ball of chaos all at
the same time.

In the late afternoons on many days of the week, after Ryder
gets up from his second nap (and after I’ve hopefully gotten a nice chunk of
work done for the day) we like to head out to the mountains together. After
throwing all of the adventure necessities in the Subaru, we’ll start driving
west, towards trails, lakes and a few hours of freedom as a family.

Some days we find ourselves running on the trail along the
Tieton River, Ryder on one of our back’s, all snuggled in his Deuter pack.
Other days, we’ll jump on our mountain bikes, and have a mellow pedal on the
local cross-country trails. And when the heat cranks up, we’ll go to Rimrock
Lake to cool off in it’s crisp waters or to get in some paddle time on our
SUPs. But no matter where we spent our adventure that day, we always take a few
moments while on the trail or at a beautiful view point to take in the beauty
around us – to have a snack, to chug some water, to enjoy that Bale Breaker beer that I always throw in my pack just in case our taste buds (or someone’s
we meet along the way) are craving a brew.

We are truly lucky to live so close to so many beautiful and
accessible locales to explore – and with sunshine most days of the year, the
blue skies can’t help but call your name to get outside, even if only for a few
moments. I have so many women ask me, “How do you do it all?” Well, it’s simple
– We make sure that we live every day to the fullest… and we do that by making
time for what matters to us the most: family. Yes, we have a work schedule and
due dates - and sometimes that leaves Andy and I with very little sleep and
rest when we try to add in “adventure time”, but it’s worth it when we get to
see the wonder and excitement in Ryder’s eyes when we take him to the trails,
to the ocean or even when Andy just takes him on a ride around our property on
our old Honda 90.

But as they say, life is short… and we want to spend as much
of it as we can with the people we love doing the things that we love. So if you
see Andy and I on the trail or on the mountain with Ryder on one of our backs,
say hi, share your story with us, and for goodness sakes, if you are of age,
ask us if that Bale Breaker “adventure beer” in our pack is still up for grabs…
because if it is, we’ll gladly share it with you, every single time.