Adventures

Last week Fatboy sent everyone an article (http://www.drive.subaru.com/Winter08_Feature.asp), an excerpt from a book about the importance of getting kids outside so they can connect, personally and physically, with the natural world.

The author makes in interesting point about how, back when we were kids, we were outside a lot and knew the world immediately around us, but didn’t really think about nature in a larger sense -- and that nowadays, the reverse is true: kids don’t know their back yards much but they know about global warming and recycling.

Anyway, for the last few months, Amy and I have been trying hard to go on what we call Adventures every weekend.

Saturday mornings often start with, "Declan, wanna go on an Adventure?"

"Yeah!" and he’s running for the door.

We pack the kids in the car, head out, strap the baby on with the Bjorn and wander. A few favorites:

The Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, just a few miles from our house. Strange to find a wildlife sanctuary in Portsmouth, but there it is. That’s where the photo above was taken. It’s got a lake and some surrounding marshlands, with trails. Usually there are birders quietly walking around with binoculars, hoping to spy the rare Blue Bellied Babbling Blusterer -- which Declan just flushed out by running past and screaming, “Let’s throw rocks in the water!” It’s an easy place to get to for a quick wander before nap. One time Kaleigh came with us and I remember it as one of those magical hours I’ll always remember.

The Chesapeake Arboretum. A winding collection of trails (in which we got lost our first time out. Note to self: pick up the map next time) through the woods. It’s very near a business and hospital area, so when you’re there, in the woods, listening to the birds and looking up the trunks of towering pine trees, it’s funny to think there’s a Wal-Mart right over there that you can’t really picture from inside. It’s here that we taught Declan Poohsticks -- one of Kaleigh’s favorites when she was young -- which consists of throwing a stick into the upstream side of a stream from a bridge, then running to the downstream side to watch it come out from underneath. He loves it. Who wouldn't?

Chicks Beach. The beach at the Chesapeake Bay. It has all the sand and water and seagulls and shells we need without all the madness that can sometimes come at the Oceanfront. Declan currently has a love-fear relationship with the ocean and bay. He’s totally intrigued, but it freaks him out a little sometimes. I remember Kaleigh going through phases of loving and being terrified of the ocean. Chicks Beach got a thumbs up from Mom when she last visited -- this is where I think she and Dad should get a condo for wintering here in the south.

Seashore State Park. A beautiful and huge nature preserve in Virginia Beach with lots of walking and biking trails, bridges for Poohsticks, Spanish moss, osprey nests, turtles, roots. “What are those, Declan?” “Roots!” “What are they for?” “So the trees can drink!” Declan’s good enough to put up with our questions -- and of course his answering doesn’t slow him down from kneeling to check out a bug, running his fingers along bark furrows or collecting rocks.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens. It’s always been a beautiful place to go and lose yourself in great gardens and walkways, but recently they built a kid section that Declan loves. It’s got fountains for wading through in the summer and a few exhibits about different cultures and landscapes that include things to crawl on and through. Mom and Dad got us a season’s pass for Christmas so I’m sure we’ll be visiting much more often now.

These Adventures are so good for all of us, to be out there, together, breathing fresh air and checking out the endlessly fascinating details of the world. Oh, and throwing rocks in water, which remains Declan’s favorite pastime.

Come join us.