Travis and I have always been big fans of going on hikes. Whether it's in Mill Creek Park, Boardman Park or traveling to farther trails. Getting out into nature and getting lost in the woods is truly beautiful. It helps clear your mind, it relaxes your entire body, and it's honestly just healing. We used to be able to get out far more often than we do now, but believe it or not, having four boys makes for a crazy busy schedule and we can't get into the woods as much as we would like. But when we do, hikes with the boys are a completely different experience. Watching them discover the world around them and get so excited about all the things they find is a magical thing to witness. As adults we lack that skill, we have such a hard time finding joy or beauty in the things around us. Kids, however, they see it all, they feel it all, they find excitement in it all. So that was one of my goals this summer, to get them into the woods as much as possible so that they could explore and find that joy for themselves.
Last weekend Travis and I took the boys to Boardman Park. For a little over an hour we wandered through the different trails collecting pieces of the nature around us. I gave each of them a large mason jar and I would randomly call out parts of the woods that they had to find and place in their jars. They would all run in different directions trying to find the best item that they thought fit into their collection. There were multiple occasions where watching the boys explore and get so excited over what they found, made Travis and I look at each other and smile. It was even more fun to see what each found beauty in. Each one of them is so different in their likes and dislikes and it's interesting to see how that comes to play even in a hike through the woods.
Liam is more practical and to the point. He would listen to what item I called out and would find that exact thing, just one of each and he was determined to find every item. Peyton wanted the biggest and best items. If I called out an acorn, we would look until he found the biggest and best acorn. When I said they had to find river rocks, he insisted on getting into the water and finding the nicest rocks. Once his jar starting filling up he got so excited over the fact that it looked like a good home for an animal of some sort. (He even came home and found a slug to put inside) Caleb was more of the creative minded one. He found some of the coolest, most beautiful pieces. His leaves were multi colored and different shapes, his acorns were green instead of brown and he was a big fan of the pine needles and ferns. When we were leaving he held his jar up and said "Mommy, doesn't it look so pretty in there?". Emmitt, well he was the most fun to watch. He would wait to see what things his brothers picked up, run full speed into the woods and hold up his treasures with the biggest smile on his face. If there was anything on the ground he thought was interesting, he picked it up and straight into the jar it went. His jar at the end of the walk was almost full the the brim and he was so proud of it.
As I mentioned in my first blog post, we may not travel far or go anywhere fancy but this adventure proves exactly why none of that is necessary. Sure it's amazing to be able to explore new places, but just 20 mins from our house, with an hour of our time, we had the most wonderful time with our boys.
So grab a mason jar, pick a trail and take your kiddos on an adventure of your own. See what wonder they can find in the woods!
Tori
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