Recently we met with an empty nest couple to pick their brains about parenting. Among all the good advice and perspective, they said that one of the things they did right was family camping trips. John and I immediately high-fived each other, because we put in the sweat of relocating our family to the woods on a regular basis.
They said that there was something about camping that brought their family together. Their kids got along better, they got along better, they had an easier time with their children on their camping trips. We feel the same way about it.
John and I always notice how much longer the weekend feels when we're camping. Often our weekend family time flies by, but when we're camping it stretches out to a full time of good old fashion family togetherness. With the hustle of raising four children, we cling on to any ways that we can make time feel slower and longer.
This was Lark's first official camping trip and he did great. Babies at this age are great campers, and they are happy spending all their time out of doors.
We finally branched out of our usual park and tried somewhere new, which was just as beautiful. I had to bail early on our hike to feed Lark, but I can't wait until we return again to explore. The woods and creek were breathtaking!
Our trip was made better by including our friends and neighbors. All the kids got along so well. They picked flowers (weeds), road bikes and scooters, played in the water pump, ran around, and entertained each other. John was just commenting about how easily our kids play with other kids and how cool he thought it was.
We closed out the trip with a visit from Pops, because all the good camping in middle Tennessee is within an hour of his farm.
It was another great camping trip for our family. However this feeds into how our children are shaped, we know that it slows down our pace and gives us good family memories. We couldn't be more grateful for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment