Last year my wife told me that I would be taking the kids camping for
spring break. I was hesitant, but she needed a break of her own. The
kids and I had so much fun with last year's trip that this year I told
my wife I was taking the kids again, whether she needed a break or not.
That's right: 1 dad, 4 kids, 6 days, 5 nights, 9 billion billion gallons
of salt water, and a billion billion grains of sand.
Probably the highlight of this year's camp was seeing a pair of dolphins swimming near the beach! This was our first time seeing dolphins in the wild--very exciting for us! We had some cold, windy days, but that didn't stop us from having fun.
Partway through the trip a thought gnawed at the back of my mind: "What if at some point my kids stop liking our Spring break trips?" I put this thought aside, realizing that, though it could happen, it shouldn't get in the way of us enjoying the current trip. The next morning I saw that one of my kids had scrawled with a piece of charred wood on the board walk "Dad loves me." If that's the message they're getting from these trips, then it is definitely worth it.
We went on a lot of nature hikes. Saw a lot of wildlife. Bailey and I took an interest in birding last year. Together we try to identify what birds we see. This year, Abby took an interest in sea shells. She and I bought a guide to help us identify them. I think that the naturalist activity that Lucy and I will enjoy together is wildflower identification and photography. I told her that as soon as she learns to read I would buy her a wildflower field guide. Here are some photos from our trip, with a few superscriptions.
Night-before pack check
Ready to head out
First night: hot-dog roast
Crossing the pedestrian bridge over the bay.
A nature hike
Second night: smores!
Cold mornings
Mussels
Muscles
A wild pony
An oyster catcher
We look forward to next year's trip, which may be at a different place altogether. Stay tuned.
3 comments:
Looks like you had a wonderful time. I can tell you from experience the kids will remember these vacations. You're an awesome Dad Jamie!!!!
This looks so fun. My kids have fallen in love with the birds that hang around the house here. My parents subscribe to the magazine Birds and Blooms, now we have a subscription too.
The "Dad loves me" part made me say, "Awwwww!" I'm guessing that at some point you will have teenagers who think that going camping with Dad is dumb because everything Dad likes is dumb, but after a few years they'll grow out of it, and they'll be really grateful for the spring break trips they got to take with you.
I love that you have a different nature activity with each kid. You are definitely an awesome dad!
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