CamelBak Eddy bottles are perfect for back to school


I know some people swear by them, but I hate sippy cups.  Really, really hate them.   I’ve never had one that didn’t leak, had a million parts, or that didn’t take up my entire cupboard with plastic parts, accessories and odd-shaped cups.  So, instead of investing a ton of money on a very short-lived item, I asked my friends for an alternative to the sippy cup.

Their answer was the CamelBak Eddy bottle that has a neat bite-valve mouthpiece and straw.  One quick look around our Stroller Strides class or a day at the park with friends and CamelBak was the clear preference of moms and kids. 

That next week, I went and loaded up on some CamelBak Eddy bottles and immediately fell in love.  I had worried that at age 18 months my daughter would be too young to use a cup with a straw, but because the bite valve needs to be engaged in order to drink, she didn’t inhale water like she did with other cups.  If it had been a problem, the rumor is that you can simply remove the straw and they can use it more like a traditional sippy cup, but we’ve never done this. 

The CamelBak Eddy quickly became our go-to bottle for days out at the park or on the town, vacations, dinner time beverages, and for playtime here at home.  On our recent Chicago trip and two day train trip home, these bottles pretty much saved our sanity.  No worrying about where we would find drinks while out and about, and no stressing over open cups, missing pieces, or whose drink is whose because we all had our own Eddy bottle at the ready.Camelbak goes everywhere


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Seattle style for the great outdoors from Kaidel Sportswear


Family cycling jerseys from Kaidel
As our header would have you believe; we are big into biking as a family. I’ve posted before about how Spandex-free biking is the way that I roll, typically with skirts, dresses, cute little flats, and other items you wouldn’t expect to see on someone pedaling past you. But, what you don’t know is that my husband secretly wants to be a real biker. You know, the kind that doesn’t wear flip flops.

The past few years have been a slow upgrade process; first with the fancy new street bike, then with quick clip pedals, and then the biking shoes to fit the pedals. The next step was getting him to look more like a biker, with appropriate clothing and gear so he could go out on all day rides comfortably.

So, naturally when Kaidel Sportswear, a Seattle company, contacted us with the chance to try out their family cycling and running jerseys, we said yes. And, as excited as I was to find some fun Seattle-themed biking gear for hubby, I also loved that they carried childrens bicycle jerseys as well so I could get father/daughter cycling jerseys.

Father daughter kaidel jerseys

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Deuter Fox 30 kid’s pack fosters a love of the outdoors from tot to teen

My daughter likes nothing more than to match hubby and me.  While this is completely adorable, it makes shopping very difficult as I have found that it’s almost impossible to find matching items for us that we both really like.  In her size we find cartoon characters and excess amounts of pink, and adult sizes don’t go small enough to fit her. 

Thank goodness there are companies like Deuter that specialize in both adult and kid’s gear that is the real deal.  No frills, no cartoons.  But, that doesn’t mean they scrimp on features, in fact quite the opposite. 


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We got to review the Deuter Fox 30 backpack for our little explorer this month and she was beyond thrilled.  She had been eyeing it at REI for quite a while and talking of all the reasons she needed it, so it wasn’t surprising that she was jumping up and down excited when she realized she got to try one out. 


Adventure awaits

While our next serious camping trip is still a few weeks away, we’ve already gotten a ton of use out of this amazing bag.  From weekend trips to days out, the Deuter Fox 30 has been a lifesaver carrying the kids gear, their toys, or just the large amount of stuff we seem to require for all-day excursion. 

Whenever we can, we let my daughter pack her own stuff in the bag and then she can help carry any gear we have, any souvenirs {AKA rocks, sticks and other treasures} she picks up, and can access her stuff whenever she wants.  We also went out and got her a Camelbak hydration pack that can fit right into the Deuter Fox 30 so she can drink through the straw secured at her shoulder all along the trail instead of having to stop for each sip.    

Little kid packpack from deuter

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Travel must-have: The Scrubba Wash Bag

As people who travel a lot, we have learned that it pays to pack light.  No one ever brags about how much luggage they had to haul around on vacation, but ending up with no clothes to wear halfway through vacation is no one’s dream, either.  At this point, we’ve gotten our packing down to … Read more

Fitness goals made easy with AT&T

It’s that time of year again when you shed your sweaters and jackets and get all ready for warmer weather and summer clothes… and then you realize that the dreaded swimsuit season is on the horizon again.  But, this year I’m going to be ready for it, thanks to a very welcome present from AT&T. … Read more

Spy Tec Inventio HD 720P video recording sunglasses {Review}

by Tyler, editor and reviewer Even from a young age, I was obsessed with spy technology.  I used to stay up at night thinking of how cool it would be if cameras could fit in the palm of your hand, if fingerprint scanners could lock your valuables or if Hollywood’s technology would ever be a … Read more

Enjoying the sun and making smart Steps with Walgreens #BalanceRewards

This is a sponsored post. One thing we are adamant about with our kids is that they grow up in an active family.  We try and go biking, hiking, and exploring whenever possible, but when we’re not able to do that, we simply walk everywhere.  With spring weather slowly arriving in the Pacific Northwest, we’ve … Read more

We’re cruising with the Prince Lionheart chop balance BIKE

My kids love our family bike rides in their trailers and front toddler seats and are dying for the day they can take off down the trail on their own.  Unfortunately, they don’t have the balance or coordination necessary to send them off without training wheels, which is why we love Prince Lionheart’s line of … Read more

Choose Your Own Adventure with Cloud 9 Living

Here at Rave and Review we clearly like our stuff. It’s really great to find that item that just blows you away with how well it works, or with some simple but brilliant design feature. But truth be told, we really only consider all the gear around us as items that make our days easier … Read more