Summer Trails {and DIY Water Bottle Holders}

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cutter® Insect Repellents.

My kids, especially Luke and Tate, love to be outside exploring nature.  And summer is the perfect time to hit the trails, enjoy the beauty of the outdoors, and spend time together.  A week or so ago, we grabbed some friends and hit a local trail for some nature exploration.

This summer, our mosquitoes are terrible!  They’re big, there are lots of them, and they’re biting more than I ever remember.  It can really take the fun out of being outside.  We didn’t want to come home full of itchy, red bites so I brought  along with us.

Cutter® Insect Repellent is a family-oriented brand that takes pride in helping families enjoy a fun and safe summer outdoors.

We sprayed all our bare skin …

… and to avoid getting spray in mouths and eyes, we used Cutter® All Family Mosquito Wipes on faces and necks.  The non-greasy formula feels light on skin and the wipes make it so easy to apply.

In addition to insect repellent, water was a must for our trail walk.  To keep the kids from having to carry their bottles {or really, to keep me from having to carry the bottles … wink}, I made simple DIY water bottle holders.

To make your own, you just need wide ribbon {mine was about an inch wide}.  Glue one long piece of ribbon in a circle and place it on the bottle as the carrying strap {be sure it’s long enough to drape across your body}, then glue two more pieces of ribbon around the bottle, attaching them on the sides to the carrying strap.  Be sure the pieces that go around are loose enough that you can slide a water bottle in and out.  Super easy and having your hands free makes a nature walk a whole lot more fun!

With our mosquito problem solved, we had a great time wandering through the trees.  If only we could have sprayed ourselves with something that would keep the copperheads away!

The kids had so much fun exploring, finding walking sticks, and looking for animals.

And I loved watching them explore although I would have been a bit happier if these signs weren’t placed strategically along the trail.  Yikes!

 worked perfectly and we all went home bite-free … the perfect way to end a hike!

Be sure to check out the Cutter® facebook page to learn more about their products and their “like to win” promotions that happen weekly/bi-weekly in the news feed.

What bugs do you dread most in the summer?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Cutter® Insect Repellents.